Like a building rising brick by brick, writing unfolds one sentence at a time. The quality of sentences largely determines the quality of writing. The goal of this class is to provide sentence-composing activities that help students build better sentences. 

Each lesson will begin with the grammar “rules” for that particular lesson, but the emphasis, and bulk of our time, will be spent practicing with real sentences. I will primarily  seek to teach grammar in conjunction with everyday speech and usage patterns. It is important to continue stressing the basics at this age. We will go over the fundamentals and then build from there. I have found that students improve their writing at a steady pace when lessons play to the learner's strengths and build up their weaknesses. We will learn the rules of correct word choice and mechanics, and start with examples that come naturally - from the way we talk - to enforce these rules. Next, we will move onto more complex examples aimed at improving the students' writing. Brick by brick  - one sentence at a time. 

The class will be learner led. We will frequently circle back around to lessons (using different examples), Especially for commas and sentence structure. Lessons include:

Contractions, Homonyms and Commonly Confused Words
Subject-Verb Agreement
Pronouns
Misplaced and Dangling Modifiers
Coordination and Subordination
Parallelism
Revising Sentences
Transition Words
Sentence Fragments and Run-on Sentences
Apostrophes with Possessives
Commas
Punctuation in Clause Separation 

These lessons do not build on one another, so learners may join at any time.


Here is an example of a typical lesson:

A modifier is a descriptive word or phrase.

1. Place a modifier as close as possible to the word or phrase it describes.
    The woman who delivered the package spoke to the man.
    The batter with the red shirt hit a home run.

2. A MISPLACED MODIFIER is a modifier in the wrong place in a sentence. If the modifier is far from the word it describes, the sentence might change meaning or not make sense.

Read the following sentences and note if the modifier is in the correct place in the sentence or misplaced.

1. We saw many smashed houses driving through the storm.
2. The storm even wrecked the sidewalks.
3. Scarcely people could believe the damage.
4. The storm was barley over when people came to help. 
5. Nearly everyone pitched in.
6. First, a list was given to each owner with many items.
7. Then Marta picked up the clothes for the children that had been left in the box.
8. The house was rebuilt by the owners destroyed by the storm.

Describe a bad storm. Use at least three sentences that have correctly placed modifiers.

3. Every modifier must describe a specific word in a sentence.
    Example: Coming up the stairs, he heard the clock strike six. (Coming up the stairs describes he.)

4. A sentence cannot make sense if the modified word is missing. A DANGLING MODIFIER is a modifier that does not describe anything in the sentence. Watch for dangling modifiers and rewrite them. 

Dangling modifier: Driving down the road, a bad accident happened
Correct: Driving down the road, they saw a bad accident happen.
Correct: While they were driving down the road, a bad accident happened. 

Rewrite each sentence to correct the dangling modifier.
1. While passing a large rock, a clap of thunder made me scream.
2. Sailing up the harbor, the pier was seen.
3. Flying over the town, the cars and houses looked like toys.
4. While putting the chair together, the screw was lost.
5. Opening the jar, the sauce spilled all over the floor.
6. Walking up the steps, the packages fell.

Complete each sentence. Include a word that can be modified by the phrase that is already written.
Example: Eagerly waiting for news,
                 Eagerly waiting for news, I jumped at the ring of my cellphone. 
1. Going to my class,
2. Angry at her husband,
3. Already hungry,
4. Without thinking,