Spelling and Grammar Analysis

Some students appear careless in their writing and spelling, using random capitalizations, omitting punctuation, and spelling words as if they are just throwing the letters at the paper in any order.  I've seen this even in high school students.  My suspicion is that they are reading and writing (and thinking) so fast that they don't see the details.  And since writing instruction these days rarely gives children a solid foundation in "conventions" (another post, some day), students may not think these things are not important.

But of course they are.

When students analyze the spelling and grammar of selected passages, it helps them slow down long enough to notice the details.  You start by giving the students a short passage of good writing (a paragraph is fine), appropriate to their reading level.  Here's how it works:

1. For spelling analysis:  Have them choose 5-15 specific words from the passage: animal words, nouns, verbs, words with four or more letters, or two or more syllables-- whatever fits the passage and their ability.  As they list the words on a separate sheet of paper, have them divide the words into syllables.  Finally, have them underline each sound in the word with an alternating color.

Example:    e x      a m      p le               sh ee t

2. For grammar analysis, choose a specific skill/rule the student needs to work on and have the student analyze the passage for the use of that rule. For example, to practice capitalization, the student can divide a blank sheet of paper in two columns, labeling one "First Word in Sentence," and the other, "Proper Nouns and Titles."  Then he just finds every capitalized word in the passage and writes it in the appropriate column.  Note: when a proper noun begins the sentence, it goes in both columns.

Example:  My brother Rob is older than I am.  Rob lives near Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Any other grammar issue can be analyzed in this way.  If the student needs to work on subject verb agreement, have her find the subject and verb of each sentence and list them in the columns.  If she needs to work on punctuation, give her a list of punctuation rules that are followed in the passage and have her label each one.

Here's an example with the rule list and the labeled passage:

The main point of this analysis method is to have students pay attention to the mechanics of good writing.  The more they notice, the more they will process, and it will begin to show up in their own writing.