Thinking Through Grammar

Freshman level grammar program that uses sentence-combining and other construction exercises to lay the foundation for high school grammar and writing.

Senior level grammar program that uses sentence-combining and other construction exercises to lay the foundation for high school grammar and writing.

Introductory grammar course that uses sentence-combining and other construction exercises to teach basic grammar.

Many writers, even experienced ones, admit that one of the most frightening objects in their world is a blank piece of paper. Susan Horton feels that too many teachers, students, and writers themselves make writing harder than it needs to be. So much emphasis is placed on form and grammar—the "rules of the game," so to speak—that the essence of the writing process, the sheer joy of saying something new, is lost. Thinking Through Writing is, in Horton's words, "a 'Back-to-Basics' book"—but one with a twist. "I'm talking about the real basics," she says. "Not grammar, but basics like what writing is and is for, how you get an idea, and how and why each idea demands its own kind of organization, and how ideas turn into essays, and, even more basic, about how your mind forms ideas in the first place. You can use this book with or without a teacher in front of you. It is put together not to tell you what to do or how to write as much as it is designed to set things up so you can discover for yourself how writing works (yours and everybody else's), and, in the process, how your mind works as well. It's a kind of 'watch yourself think' book. There aren't many answers in it, but there are lots of questions: lots of things to try to explore and discover and play with. Even more than that, this is a book that tries to teach you not just how to answer questions, but how to find questions to ask." As a writer and teacher of writing for more than a decade, Horton knows firsthand the anxieties, frustrations, challenges, and rewards that are an integral part of that exciting craft. She also has extraordinary insight into the writing process itself, and it is that insight that she attempts to communicate in Thinking Through Writing. Sharp declines in standardized composition test scores and classroom performance during the past decade have created a "literacy panic" among educators and parents alike. As a result, composition is gaining a new prominence as an academic discipline. Horton's approach to the subject, emphasizing understanding oneself and one's craft rather than fear of error, is distinctive, original, and most of all, effective. Anyone who wants to learn how to write, how to think, and how thinking and writing are related will want to read this book.

Offers a range of research into how primary classrooms actually work looking at the development of specific curriculum areas and how they can be taught and assessed across the ability range.

This textbook provides an innovative introduction to core areas of grammar: a systematic guide to the structure of English, arranged hierarchically from the word to the sentence to the paragraph level. Using a linguistic framework, activities and exercises, and diverse authentic texts, the book connects grammar knowledge to writing development, strengthening student understanding of language as a tool for text construction. Students of linguistics and English language will develop foundational knowledge about grammar and texts, as will writing students. Aligning with state curricular standards around the world, the book will be particularly useful for students of English Education.