773 articles since 2009
The Pennington Publishing Blog
Grade-level 4-adult standards and assessment-based ELA and reading instruction. Free Diagnostic Reading and ELA Assessments
Articles · page 14
Writing Feedback Research
Since the burden (and privilege) of teaching writing falls so exclusively on the teacher or workplace supervisor, it makes sense to learn what works from the…
High School Teaching Grammar and Mechanics
Preview the most comprehensive, standards-based grammar program for high school: Cornell Notes, links, mentor texts, worksheets, sentence diagrams, and tests.
Reading Fluency Placement and Practice
Animal Fluency Articles are available as YouTube videos for individualized fluency instruction. Each article has been recorded at three different reading speeds (Level A at 95-115 words…
Should We Teach High Frequency Words?
My take is that teaching (or more likely practicing and testing) long lists of high frequency reading words (the sight words or tricky words depending upon one's side of the Atlantic) or…
Vague Pronoun References
A vague pronoun does not clearly identify its antecedent. An antecedent is the noun or pronoun that the pronoun refers to or re-names. Vague pronouns usually…
Double Negatives
One form of Non-standard English is the double negative. In Non-standard English the double negative is used to emphasize the negative; however, in Standard English the…
Formulaic Phrases
In both formulaic phrases and idioms, the individual words may not mean exactly what they say. Both types of expressions often suggest, but do not state,…
Meaningless Sentence Starters
Avoid beginning sentences with There or Here + a “helping verb” or a “linking verb." Revise to eliminate these words. To delete the unnecessary There or…