Book Review: Grammar to Enrich and Enhance Writing, by Constance Weaver

By: H.K. Hummel
Date: June 16, 2009

Summary: Constance Weaver advocates less fixing of mistakes in writing, more minilessons to clarify grammatical concepts, less grammar drill in isolation, and more skill building in the context of writing.

Constance Weaver has been writing about grammar for more than three decades, and her years of expertise are evident in her newest book, Grammar to Enrich and Enhance Writing .

Her guiding philosophy is “a pedagogy of possibility that is positive, productive, and practical.” She begins with an argument against a prescriptive approach to teaching grammar: “Traditional grammar instruction is a shotgun, one-time-only approach to mastering isolated skills.”

Weaver asks teachers to rethink the urge to correct “mistakes” in student papers. She says, “Instead of fixing papers, we now realize, teachers should be guiding student writers.” Her examples illustrate how teachers can provide better feedback by making adjustments to the ways they teach.

For example, Weaver advises teachers to pare down lessons and focus on minilessons that provide the most impact. She says “a minimum of grammar should be taught, in the context of and in conjunction with writing, for maximal effects on students’ writing.”

She cites studies which show that students receive the most benefit when they learn grammar skills in conjunction with writing practice. She believes that when students learn grammar in this way, they will integrate what they learn into their writer’s toolboxes, and draw on these skills when they need them.

She explains, “We want to demystify grammar and empower novice writers not to fear grammar but to use it as another tool in their writing repertoire.” By giving students tools that they will continue to use on their own, teachers help them to become independent writers.

Instead of fixing papers, we now realize, teachers should be guiding student writers

How do we go about doing this?

Students Become “Their Own Mechanics”

For Weaver, the emphasis is on repetition and practice. She reminds teachers that they will need to teach and teach again. She points out that teachers will see new mistakes occurring in the students’ writing as they learn new grammar points. But these mistakes, she declares, are good signs: the new mistakes show students are trying to integrate the skills they are learning.

Instead of grabbing a red pen, teachers should recognize that mistakes provide opportunities for praising the attempt, and then reteaching the grammar point with additional minilessons. Recursiveness, she argues, leads to better comprehension.

Weaver explains that if the teacher marks a mistake as “wrong” the student can become frustrated, or might begin to rely on the teacher for “fixing” such mistakes—a habit that, she argues, “breeds dependence.” Instead, effective grammar approaches should facilitate independence. She explains of students, “We want them to become their own mechanics—to be able to lift the metaphorical hood of their own prose, spot problems, and tinker with solutions.”

The Content–Correctness Conundrum

One of the most moving stories in the book recounts a day when Weaver read a student paper to graduate students in a grammar course for teachers. The paper was about the death of a grandfather, and it was moving enough to bring many of the students to tears. But when Weaver put the paper on the overhead, it became clear that it was full of errors in spelling, grammar, and punctuation.

Indeed, the paper was written by a reluctant student who rarely ever turned in assignments. Everyone agreed that if they had applied the district rubric, the paper would have failed.

Weaver’s example dramatically presents the conundrum: how do you work with students to see the strengths in their work (like style and voice) and simultaneously encourage them to continue with the revising process?

She describes the ways she supported this student with encouragement and gave her tools to revise on her own. Examples of similar teaching moments are found throughout Grammar to Enrich and Enhance Writing, and each one offers not only a tale of a happy triumph, but also a solid example for a way to make grammar lessons less intimidating and more effective.

The book includes chapters such as,

• “Editing: Approaching the Bugaboo in Diverse Classrooms”
• “Rescuing Expository Writing from the Humdrum: From Rhetoric to Grammar”
• “Making Decisions That Make a Difference: Grammar and the ‘6 Traits’ of Writing”
• “Rethinking How to Respond to Students’ Errors”
• “Code-Switching: Teaching Standard English in African American Classrooms”

Ultimately, Constance Weaver’s book offers ways to avoid perpetuating the “humiliation and defeat” that can all too often happen with prescriptive grammar approaches. Teachers of all grade levels will find useful content in Grammar to Enrich and Enhance Writing.

Related Resource Topics

• Teaching Writing - Responding to Writing
• Teaching Writing - Grammar and Usage