In short, possibly the most helpful books that I have found on grammar are those that help me with exercises and do not pander but are too the point. They are also clear and illustrative with topical and easy-to-understand examples.

There are numerous books on grammar -- though, in my estimation, not enough. Some of these books are juvenile, parodying the field and sprinkling it with witticisms and childish jokes. I find this irrelevant to helping me and, at worst, distracting.

There are also some useful sites on the web that sometimes sprinkle grammar with games and exercises. Two of these sites are the following:

Guide to grammar and writing (http://grammar.ccc.comment.edu/grammar/)

OWL. Purdue online writing lab (http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/738/01/)

In browsing for some of these sites, I came across the following reminiscence:

I remember when I was training to teach English as a Foreign Language and I encountered plenty of items of grammar that instinctively I knew how….

Grammar
In his post entitled 99.9% of proper grammar is obsolete, David Wertheimer makes a number of claims to support his hypothesis proper grammar is obsolete. His argument rests primarily on the use of anecdotal evidence from current digital usage. The first argument is that outside of mainstream publications, things like capital letters, subject-verb agreement and full-length the necessity of such things is "already starting to decay."

As a fundamental underlying philosophy, he notes that "grammatical expertise wastes time and money. The implication is that grammar is a luxury that does not necessarily serve the interests of functional communication. He notes that "there is a cut-off point" were even those people who are knowledgeable of proper grammar "inevitably choose a level beyond which they will make no [further] effort." The author adds some anecdotes and straw men in an attempt to bolster his claims.

At this point, when he claims that those who….

Grammar Presentation
The Hook:

The following sentence made it through the grammar checker in Microsoft Word: Having designed software all my life, Microsoft Windows continues to trouble me. What is wrong with that sentence? The problem is not apparent enough to warrant attention from the built-in grammar checker in the word processing software. At first glance, the sentence seems to work: it contains two clauses, one dependent, introductory clause and another independent clause. Noun-verb agreement is fine, and the sentence is not a run-on. However, it contains one of the most common (and humorously named) grammatical errors: the dangling participle.

A participle is a single word or an entire phrase that acts as an adjective although it is derived from a verb. Thus, a participle "participates" as both a verb and an adjective. The above example contains a participial phrase: having designed software all my life. However, a participle can simply be one….

The aroma of garlic permeates the air as it bakes. A first bite yields a warm blend of sweet full-fat cheese complemented by the acidity of the tomato, carried by the neutral crunch of the stable crust.
aty Jones and I are best friends. We spent every Christmas together at both her house and mine, because our families used to live right around the corner from each other in Elgin, Illinois. Her house was on St. Andrews Circle, and mine was on Wells Circle. When this picture was taken, aty and I were in first grade and were an inseparable pair. She did nothing without me, and I did nothing without her. We laughed like one person, always in harmony with each other when we played with our toys or in the yard. Our bond remained strong until middle school.

Come middle school our friendship changed. I hung around in one….

To this end, it requires them to give primary attention to meaning and to make use of their own linguistic resources, although the design of the task may predispose them to choose particular forms. A task is intended to result in language use that bears a resemblance, direct or indirect, to the way language issued in the real world. Like other language activities, a task can engage productive or receptive, and oral or written skills, and also various cognitive processes. (Ellis, as cited in de la Fuente, 2006, p. 264).
Alan V. Brown (2009), University of Kentucky, Department of Hispanic Studies, asserts in the study, "Students' and teachers' perceptions of effective foreign language teaching: A comparison of ideals," that although formulating teachers' and students' perceptions of L2 teaching constitutes a formidable task and sometimes may seem an endless chore, the assessment depicts an arena where research proves vital. The need….

David preferred the freedom of traveling by train.
Coordination: Suzanne liked the control that driving her own car gave her, and David preferred the freedom of traveling by train.

Subordination: Suzanne liked control, which driving her own car gave her; David preferred freedom, which traveling by train gave him.

2) Cuba is a popular holiday destination. Canadians flock to the south when harsh winter winds blow.

Coordination: Cuba is a popular holiday destination, and Canadians flock to the south when harsh winter winds blow.

Subordination: Cuba is a popular holiday destination for Canadians, who flock to the south when harsh winter winds blow.

3) Travel guides provide the best way to learn about an unfamiliar location. Meandering and exploring yield unique and fascinating travel experiences.

Coordination: Travel guides provide the best way to learn about an unfamiliar location, but meandering and exploring also yield unique and fascinating travel experiences.

Subordination: Travel guides provide the best way to….

Part a: Commas

Fortunately, Albert's determination has not been erased. He knows that yes, his work experience is of questionable value in the real world, but that won't stop him! The voice of his mother, who died recently, seems to be urging him forward: "Don't be pessimistic, Al. Whenever the going gets rough we have to put our noses to the grindstone!" That voice, its enthusiasm never waning, shields Albert from despair.

Part B: Semicolon

1) Driving in a rainstorm is always stressful; driving in a blizzard can be terrifying.

2) it was rainy and very chilly outside, but Marina decided to walk to work anyway.

3) in what seemed like a paradox to him, David was afraid of heights; however, he liked to fly.

4) Train travel isn't just for the faint of heart; it is also for those who enjoy the beauty of unfolding landscapes.

5) During the summer, Michelle has fun hosting parties for….

Purely from a technical perspective, my writing habits are actually not that bad: I know how to free-write my ideas; I am good at organizing them into logical order afterwards; I make good outlines; and then, I am able to develop those outlines into rough drafts and a final product. The principal problem that I encounter in my writing is that all of that tends to occur within a much shorter time frame than necessary for optimal results because of my tendency to procrastinate. In fact, I realize that I am now so conditioned to procrastinating that it is very difficult for me to get into the right frame of mind for concentration on my writing task unless I am already under significant time pressure. Once in a great while, I have had the experience of misconstruing a deadline and believing that an assignment (or an exam) was scheduled earlier….

Discuss what main idea means and what details mean.
10. Tell students to be thinking of a song that they would like to use for tomorrow's assignment. Tell them that they must bring the tape and the lyrics of the song with them. They need to pick a song that has at least 20 nouns in it and it must be appropriate for school. They will be formatively assessed on this assignment. They'll have 10 minutes to work on it during class tomorrow.

(For each formative assessment mentioned in Day 3's procedures, see the assessment section of this lesson for the criteria.)

Day 4:

1. Give students about 10 minutes to get their songs ready. (If time is an issue, students may play just a portion of their songs, however, make sure to play enough of the song so as to be able to answer the questions.)Have them write the nouns on a….

Grammar
Different views of grammar

There are a plethora of theoretical and practical views about the meaning, function and understanding of grammar. .These views often conflict, while there are also numerous areas of intersection and comparison. This paper will focus on two of the main theoretical trajectories in contemporary understanding of what grammar is.; namely the formalist-mentalist and functionalist views.

It may however be cogent to firstly discuss various underlying definitions and views of the meaning of grammar as these fundaments tend to provide an avenue of understanding of the central theories involved. The word grammar derived from grammatike or grammatike techne, which in classical Greek meant "the art of writing." ( Ezzaher, Lahcen E. 2001)

It is important to note that the meaning of 'grammar' was originally focused on "writing" and not speech. This is a crucial aspect as many of the contending linguistic and grammatical theories tend to privilege writing over….

Tools and Skills NeededAs a student of English 1301, one must possess a number of tools and skills in order to gain the most success from the course. Perhaps, the most fundamental skills would be basic grammar and mechanics proficiency. It is important to understand sentence structures, punctuation conventions and spelling; all of which effective writing depends on. Second, as an English 1301 student, one should develop their critical thinking abilities. In-depth analysis is necessary to produce written works that are engaging and substantial. Moreover, reading strategies also form an integral part of the language arts community; becoming well versed in skimming, summarizing and understanding both narrative and argumentative text forms will put students ahead when tackling rigorous coursework. Finally, students should become well-versed in organizing their thoughts into sentences and paragraphs effectively; this includes flow logic, topic sentences and transitional devices. All these tools combined can help students approach….

The introductory "like" is placed before a sentence, such as "Like, how are you," "Like, sit down," or 'Like, it's cold in here," and then there is the introductory "it's like" such as "It's like, she should mind her own business" (Grammar pp). The introductory "like" is generally a filler and does not affect the meaning, while the introductory "it's like" is usually an intensifier and gives emphasis to the sentence (Grammar pp).

Slang is also used in present for past, as in "I'm at the mall, and I see this cool shirt, and I buy it," here, present-tense verbs are being used with past-tense meaning (Grammar pp).

Another filler word is "stuff," as in "They sell hot dogs and stuff," or "They dance and stuff" (Grammar pp). Almost any kind or word or phrase can be followed by "and stuff," which can mean "and so on" or it can mean nothing….

e. cursing, swearing) and not using discriminatory language or language that is "racist, sexist, ageist" (Caldwell, 2004) or so forth. The concept of 'communicative competence" (Caldwell, 2004) is described as grammar that "relates to the nature of language teaching" in an approach." (Caldwell, 2004) that is fairly universally advocated in L2 teaching." (Caldwell, 2004) the mistakes that are made may either be in "form" due to lack of knowledge or through use of irregular past tense forms implying that grammar should be descriptive or mistakes in 'use" or knowing when the present perfect or the simple past tense should be used implying that grammar should be descriptive.
It is suggested by Tomlin (1994, pp. 141-42) that teaching communicative language in inclusive of (1) systematic attention to functional and structural aspects; (2) Situational and contextualized use of language in class; (3) Teaching and Learning being made transparent through representational support; (4) Focus….

Correction: The study showed that women are more likely than men to see color.

Original: Men blind to finer differences in color.

Correction: Men are blind to finer differences in color.

Original: During the lab my partner see only basic colors.

Correction: During the lab my partner saw only basic colors.

Helping the Student

Although it was difficult, I stayed with my conventional way of tutoring for these mistakes. We slowly worked through her paper line by line pausing at each mistake and I would let her try and figure out the proper form of the verb to use. An example of the conversation we had back and forth was as follows:

Me (reading out loud): The study find evidence that cones was effected...Lets stop there and go back. The study find is not correct.

Student: I see, would it be finded?

Me: Not exactly, lets look up the verb on the computer lesson and see what it should….

Prescriptive grammar are the rules governing how one speaks and writes, based on an English standard "norm," or how society in general believes the language of English should be spoken and written (ussel, 2003). Prescriptive rules by nature judge whether the language being used is correct or not. Descriptive Grammar is very different, in that rather than assigning rules regarding the manner in which one should speak and write, it examines how people actually do speak and right and attempts to account for variant grammar usage (ussel, 2003). Descriptive grammar allows for more variation of the spoken and written word than prescriptive grammar, and takes into consideration a native speakers intuitive ability to comprehend grammatical structure without actually studying the mechanisms behind it.
Prescriptive grammar assumes that everyone should or will be following an assigned standard for speaking and writing English. Linguists tend to more closely associate with descriptive language, which….

Bloom’s Taxonomy is a model that provides six different levels of analysis.  Bloom’s taxonomy is frequently used to evaluate essays.  The various levels of analysis it considers are remembering, understanding, applying, analyzing, evaluating, and creating.  If you are going to be writing an essay that will be assessed on a rubric using Bloom’s Taxonomy, you want to make sure that your essay addresses each of those elements.

In addition, it is important to understand Bloom’s Taxonomy as a pyramid.  You want to hit each level of the pyramid and then build on those....

The government can play a crucial role in supporting schools in rural areas by implementing various measures. Here are some ways in which the government can help:

1. Infrastructure development: The government can provide funds for the construction and renovation of school buildings, classrooms, libraries, laboratories, and other essential facilities. This will ensure that rural schools have adequate physical infrastructure to provide quality education.

2. Technology integration: The government can facilitate the integration of technology in rural schools by providing funds for the purchase of computers, projectors, internet connectivity, and other necessary equipment. This will enhance the teaching and learning experience for....

1. Analyzing the use of figurative language in WIDA language assessments
2. Exploring the role of syntax and sentence structure in WIDA writing prompts
3. Investigating the inclusion of literary devices in WIDA reading passages
4. Discussing the importance of vocabulary acquisition in WIDA language development
5. Examining the integration of cultural elements in WIDA language arts tasks
6. Evaluating the effectiveness of incorporating multimedia resources in WIDA language assessments
7. Comparing the language skills developed through WIDA assessments with traditional language arts instruction
8. Exploring the connection between WIDA language proficiency levels and academic achievement in language arts
9. Investigating the impact of language arts instruction on....

Writing an essay involves several key steps that can help structure your thoughts and arguments in a coherent and logical manner. Here is a general guideline on how to write an essay:

1. Choose a topic: Select a topic that interests you and is relevant to the assignment or prompt given by your instructor.

2. Research: Conduct in-depth research on your chosen topic to gather evidence and information to support your arguments.

3. Thesis statement: Develop a clear and concise thesis statement that outlines the main argument or purpose of your essay.

4. Outline: Create an outline that includes an introduction, body paragraphs with....