apply knowledge of language structure, language conventions (e.g., spelling and punctuation)"

language use, patterns, and dialects

Students benefit much more from learning a few grammar keys thoroughly than from trying to remember many terms and rules.

Experiment with different approaches

show students how to apply it not only to their writing but also to their reading and to their other language arts activities.

If they know how to find the main verb and the subject, they have a better chance of figuring out a difficult sentenc

Traditional drill and practice will be the most meaningful to students when they are anchored in the context of writing assignments or the study of literary models

apply it to authentic texts.

Try using texts of different kinds, such as newspapers and the students' own writing, as sources for grammar examples and exercises.

entence combining: students start with simple exercises in inserting phrases and combining sentences and progress towards exercises in embedding one clause in another.

practice using certain subordinate constructions that enrich sentences.

All native speakers of a language have more grammar in their heads than any grammar book

If a word can be made plural or possessive, or if it fits in the sentence "The _______ went there," it is a noun. If a word can be made past, or can take an -ing ending, it is a verb

whole sentence or a fragment

verb phrase

subject

pronoun f

Students can circle the sentence subjects in a published paragraph, observe this pattern at work, and then apply it to their own writing.  

Most sentences start with information that is already familiar to the reader, such as a pronoun or a subject noun that was mentioned earlier.

end focus.