Archive
Tag: Mark Pennington
The i before e Spelling Rule
Although only 50% of English spellings conform to a predictable sound-spelling relationship, applying The i before e Spelling Rule will significantly increase spelling accuracy.
Why Johnny Can’t Write
Students need to learn how to write structured essays designed to inform and convince their teachers and professors. But how do you transform a creative, non-linear…
Why Johnny Can’t Use Good Grammar
Some years back, the principal walked into my room while my student teacher was delivering a lesson. After a few minutes, the principal signaled me to…
Why Johnny Can’t Spell
"Johnny could be a great writer, but his terrible spelling just gets in the way." It may be unfair, but society judges poor spellers quite harshly.…
Why Johnny Still Can’t Read
Meet Johnny. Although... you probably already know him. In fact, you probably have a Johnny in your class right now. It may also be possible that…
The Ten Parts of Speech with Clear Examples
Knowing the parts of speech is key to the grammatical language of instruction. Writers need to be able to accurately identify and apply each of these…
The Most Useful Punctuation and Capitalization Rules
Proper punctuation and capitalization are marks of an educated and careful writer. Here is everything you need to know about proper punctuation and capitalization in one…
The Four Myths of Grammar Instruction
Many Americans use poor grammar because of poor teaching. The “whole language” movement of the 1980s and 1990s relegated grammatical instruction to a simple editing step…