Corbett Pie - Jumpstart! Grammar: Games and activities for ages 6-14

JUMPSTART! GRAMMAR

This collection of simple to use, multi-sensory games and activities will jumpstart pupils understanding of grammar in action. If you are one of the thousands of teachers who feel insecure about how to teach grammar engagingly, and perhaps also lack confidence in your own grammatical knowledge, then Jumpstart! Grammar is the perfect book for you.

Fun games will focus first on helping children to hear the difference various types of grammar can make followed by activities to help them understand what different effects you can create with grammar, rather than dwelling on arid naming of parts. Technical terms will only be introduced once the children have established what the various features can do, with a particular focus on those terms that really help children discuss what makes language coherent and effective. By the time the children are asked to use the terminology, they will have a real grasp of what its good for.

Jumpstart! Grammar will prepare children for any grammar tests on the horizon in an engaging way so that they come to love playing with words and spinning sentences to make ideas dance. And, of course, they will be able to name the parts if that is what is required.

This indispensable, practical book celebrates the joys of language and coherent expression; of finding just the right words or phrases to express what you want to say.

Pie Corbett, educationalist and bestselling author, is well-known for his books on teaching creative writing, as well as many other educational books, schemes and anthologies. Pie writes widely in the educational press, provides training nationally and works as a poet and storyteller in schools.

Pie has written over 200 books and has worked extensively in schools as teacher, headteacher and Ofsted inspector. Some of his bestselling titles include: Jumpstart! Literacy; Jumpstart! Storymaking; Jumpstart! Poetry; How to Teach Storywriting 47; and How to Teach Fiction Writing 812.

Julia Strong is a former English teacher and deputy headteacher. She later became deputy director of the National Literacy Trust and director of the National Reading Campaign. She specialises in literacy across the curriculum and now works with Pie Corbett developing Talk for Writing.

Julia has provided training days for hundreds of secondary schools, and some all-age schools, as well as being asked by local authorities to run training courses for headteachers, school librarians and literacy advisers. She has written a range of practical books on literacy across the curriculum as well as secondary school English text books including English Frameworking and Literacy Across The Curriculum: Making It Happen that have proved to be bestsellers. She also coauthored Talk for Writing Across The Curriculum (5-12) with Pie Corbett.

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JUMPSTART! GRAMMAR

GAMES AND ACTIVITIES FOR AGES 614

Pie Corbett and Julia Strong

First published 2014
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN

and by Routledge
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017

Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business

2014 Pie Corbett and Julia Strong

The right of Pie Corbett and Julia Strong to be identified as authors of this work has been asserted by them in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.

Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe.

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Corbett, Pie.
Jumpstart! grammar : games and activities for ages 614 / Pie Corbett and Julia Strong.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-415-83110-9 (pbk.) -- ISBN 978-1-315-76941-7 (ebk) 1. English language--Grammar--Study and teaching--Activity programs. 2. English language--Composition and exercises--Study and teaching. I. Strong, Julia, 1948- II. Title.
LB1576.C7182 2014
425--dc23
2013050068

ISBN: 978-0-415-83110-9 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1-315-76941-7 (ebk)

In an article in The Times about grammar, Ted Hughes stated that conscious manipulation of syntax deepens engagement and releases invention. At the time, I had been teaching for a few years and had already found that playing sentence and word games could be an effective way of developing both written style and creativity. We played the games both orally and by writing.

For instance, as a quick start to a lesson I would put on the board a list of dull sentences for the children to improve. Another game that we often played was make a sentence. I wrote a word and they had to invent a sentence. What I noticed with this game was that starting from one word tended to produce rather dull sentences. However, if I wrote three words (eg donkey jelly because), the children produced much more inventive sentences. I realised that constraints actually helped the children to become creative.

I also began thinking about how making up a sentence orally made writing easier, especially for anyone who struggled. Often we composed as a class and I used key prompt words to help us develop the sentence. For instance, say we started with the word dog. We might think of something like, I saw a dog. We then used the prompt words and added in extra ideas:

The more we played around with sentences, the more the childrens writing developed. My key games were make a sentence, improve a boring sentence, sentence doctor (spotting mistakes) and joining sentences.