A Grammar Foldable By Any Other Name

by Lori

Surely, friends, you and I are alike in that we did not get in this business to repeat ourselves over and over again! The longer I use interactive notebooks, the better I get at doing it, and the more I realize that the notebook allows me to teach concepts REALLY WELL and ONLY ONE TIME! Then, there is no longer an issue of re-teaching the same concept. Instead, I am directing individual kids or small groups back to their notebooks to teach themselves or each other. So liberating...

Get this book! 

In this year's notebook with my 7th graders, I'm most satisfied with my blend of our Curly Classroom Grammar Foldable with Gretchen Bernabei's Grammar Keepers. In fact, I like it so much that I'm changing the name. The Grammar Foldable is now THE GRAMMAR KEEPER! Ta-da!

Here's what it looks like.

When I taught SIMPLE SENTENCES, I stayed true to the old Grammar Foldable style. However, I kicked it up a notch and added the notes from LESSONS 69 AND 70 in Grammar Keepers. In the new Grammar Keeper, students learn the structure of a simple sentence and they learn the Psst! Test (to test a complete thought) and the Verb Test (to determine whether or not there's a verb).

Inside of the SIMPLE SENTENCE flap.
Lesson 69 and 70 from Grammar Keepers.

Inside of the COMPOUND SENTENCE flap.
Lesson 71 and 72 from Grammar Keepers.

Moving on to COMPOUND SENTENCES, I taught the outside flaps just like the old Grammar Foldable shows, but I added the notes on the inside flaps from LESSONS 71 AND 72 in Grammar Keepers--joining sentences legally and illegally.

With those 2 flaps and those 4 Grammar Keepers lessons, my students had all of the components necessary to begin wringing out their own sentences. Magic. As a bonus, my kids also have their Sentence Wringer in two places...their Star Chart in the front of their notebook and in their Grammar Keeper. 

To finish the foldable with COMPLEX SENTENCES, I taught the parts of the sentence and used LESSON 75 on AAAWWWUBIFICATION to teach the mechanics of a complex sentence. 

Teaching is fun when you blend strategies in ways that work in your room. Teaching is really fun when those strategies allow kids to direct themselves. I built this foldable with my kids during the first weeks of school, and there is not a single week that has gone by that we have not referenced it. 

Give the GRAMMAR KEEPER a try, and let us know what you think! 

P.S. If you've never seen Gretchen and you don't know the Sentence Wringer and you don't own this book, I'm sure it seemed like I was speaking another language. Get the book. Hold it close to your heart when you plan, and promise you'll think of me.