Caught'Ya !: Grammar With a Giggle

Rating:
Summary: Not for everyone
Review: The book suggests 7-9th grade students and I tried it with my 10th grade remedial classes--english language learners and some special needs kids. Although I thought the sentences were solid and the vocabulary cues subtle but effective, after about a month my kids were bored with the Romeo and Juliet story. I tried the strategy of using my own story line, which the book explains and suggests, but they just never had the excitement of following a running story line through the week's warmups that I thought they would get. I think this is a super system but Keister's grade level recommendations are definitely not stretchable, and I would be even a little leery about using this with 9th graders. Overall an awesome strategy!

Rating:
Summary: Fun way to learn and review grammar skills for junior high
Review: This book is a great tool for teaching and reviewing grammar skills at the junior high level. A story unfolds, one sentence a day, and provides needed repetition of basic grammar skills. I use it as the sponge lesson each day at the beginning of my classes. The book also contains quizzes and writing lessons. The kids love it; they are honing their grammar skills, and they race to be "first" because that person gets to write the correct sentence on the overhead! It's amazing what a little competition can do! I teach in Texas with a state-mandated skills test hanging over us every year, and I'm convinced it has helped our 7th and 8th master the writing portion of the exam.