Karen Tischhauser

Enter the Rubber Chickens: Mini-Lessons, Activities, Competitions, and Songs That Make Grammar Memorable Karen Tischhauser

To make grammar memorable, you need some rubber chickens. On the day that I decide to insert the first grammar mini-lesson of the year, one of my rubber chickens makes its first appearance. I visibly hold it, playing with it a bit, so that someone needs to ask, "Why do you have a rubber chicken?" "For grammar!" I respond, and we begin. In order for grammar instruction to be memorable, it must be fun. Rubber chickens are fun. Enter the Rubber Chickens is a book of activities, songs, and mini-lessons for teachers of middle school students. It incorporates action, touch, play, laughter, music, and competition into the usually dry realm of grammar instruction. Students engaged in activities from this book will likely remember what they have done with the rubber chickens, thus remembering finer points of grammar. They will use what they remember in their writing, and that is what grammar instruction is really all about. This refreshing change to typical grammar instruction is not meant to replace an existing program, but to enhance good teaching. Information about grammar is discovered, repeated, and recorded. Then the laughing, playing, acting, singing, and remembering occur. After this, good writing always follows. Allow a few rubber chickens to enter your English and Language Arts classroom, and see what happens.