Archive
Tag: mechanics
Grammar Research and Balanced Instruction
A balanced approach to grammatical instruction just makes the best sense of the grammar research. An approach that involves direct grammatical instruction in partnership with plenty…
Standards and Accountability
The standards-based movement has ushered in a new era of accountability in public education with all of its attendant problems and teachers may be the ones…
Free Grammar, Usage, and Mechanics Resources
Find relevant articles, free resources (including diagnostic grammar and mechanics assessments), and tips regarding teaching grammar and mechanics in this collection from the Pennington Publishing Blog.…
Why and How to Teach Complex Text
A growing body of research presents a challenge to current K-12 reading/English-language Arts instruction. In essence, we need to “up” the level of text complexity and…
Why ELA Teachers Burn Out
Teacher burn-out is real. We begin with high expectations of ourselves and idealism; however, after a few years the drudgery sets in. ELA teachers seem to…
How to Evaluate Spelling Programs
With increasing attention on following Response to Intervention (RTI) guidelines, it makes sense to follow the criteria that orthographic research has established for quality spelling programs.
Grammar Instruction: Establishing Common Ground
Perhaps no instructional issue in English-language arts produces more contentious debate than the issue of how best to teach grammar. All too often we bog down…
How to Teach Grammar
Within the field of English-language arts, there is probably no more contentious curricular issue than that of how to teach grammar. The “Reading Wars” and “Writing…