Sentence diagramming is a valuable tool to help students visually represent the structures of sentences. It’s true that it is not essential. There are many people who comprehend the deep structures of the English language that do not know how to diagram, but everyone who understands diagramming understands basic grammar.
However, one road that I’ve crossed in my instruction is how to grade diagrams. Often time students understand the grammar, but they forget the diagramming technique.  As a teacher, I had to ask myself whether to deduct points for small mistakes.  …

A handy chart for remembering the differences between British and American spelling.

Written in 1918 by Cornell University professor William Strunk, Jr., Elements of Style provides concise solutions for common language errors.

Rescued from the trash bin when I noticed one of my university professors throwing it away, Constance Weaver’s Grammar for Teachers helped solidify in my mind the necessary place of grammar in the classroom.

25 spelling and 25 language questions to prepare middle school students for standardized tests.

Middle schoolers tend to make the same writing mistakes.  Sometimes teachers are required to change the bulletin boards in the classroom.  Solve your bulletin board problems and help students identify their writing problems with this handy print-out for bulletin boards.  This bulletin board display covers many common writing problems: subject-verb agreement, commonly misused verbs, and warning against the obnoxious stuff and things.
Enjoy the file!
Avoid the Middle School Language Traps Bulletin Board (PDF)

The definitive grammar book, the one that sat on Ernest Hemingway’s bookshelf and sparked the sentence diagramming craze of the Industrial Era, is Higher Lessons in English: A Work on English Grammar and Composition by Alonzo Reed and Brainerd Kellogg.

I created this Easy Complement Finder flowchart for students that have difficulty determing correct pronoun-antecedent agreement. It should also help students locate and use pronouns correctly when dealing with direct and indirect objects.

Today I’m launching a new web service. I am offering writing consultation via e-mail. Just send me any e-mail containing grammar, punctuation, or mechanics questions and I’ll respond for only $3.

Robert Hartwell Fisk, editor of the Vocabula Review, has authored a helpful little gem of a book titled The Dictionary of Disagreeable English. Have you ever wondered if you should be using “affect” or “effect?” Are you unsure of the correct spelling of “receive” or when to use the word “salubrious?” This book will tell you the answers. Fiske’s book also features a handy reference that lets you know the best dictionaries to consult to help you fine-tune your usage of the English language.
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