Patterns of Power, Grades 6–8

Inviting Adolescent Writers into the Conventions of Language

Jeff Anderson, Travis Leech, and Melinda Clark

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“Is this right? Is this how it’s supposed to look?” Adolescent writers often ask these kinds of questions because traditional grammar instruction focuses too much on what’s right or what’s wrong. The fear of making a mistake hides the true power of conventions – the creation of meaning, purpose, and effect, the ultimate reading-writing connection.

Join Jeff Anderson, with Travis Leech and Melinda Clark, as they explore grammar in a new way in Patterns of Power: Inviting Adolescent Writers into the Conventions of Language, Grades 6–8. Let’s lift middle school writers by focusing on possibility and producing effective writing that will transfer to the classroom and beyond.

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Description

About the Author(s)

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Description

Inside Patterns of Power, Grades 6–8, teachers will find a quick yet comprehensive explanation of the invitational process—the easy-to-follow, brain-based process created to invite adolescent writers to learn about and apply conventions of the English language through the celebration of author’s purpose and craft. This process is the foundation on which 55 authentic, flexible, and effective lesson sets were built. Through practical guidance and ready-to-use lessons, you’ll be fully equipped to teach grammar in an engaging and authentic way in just 10 minutes a day.
Inside you’ll find:

55 standards-aligned lesson sets that include excerpts from high-interest, authentic, and diverse young adult and middle grade mentor texts
Real-life classroom examples and tips gleaned from the authors’ work facilitating the Patterns-of-Power process in hundreds of classrooms
Resources to use in classroom instruction or as handouts for student literacy notebooks

With hundreds of teach-tomorrow visuals and implementation supports that include quick-reference guides as well as soundtrack lists to infuse the joy of music into grammar instruction, Patterns of Power, Grades 6–8 gives you everything you need to inspire your adolescent writers to move beyond limitation and into the endless possibilities of what they can do as writers.

About the Author(s)

Jeff Anderson

For over thirty years, Jeff has inspired writers and teachers of grades K-8 with the power and joy of the writing and grammar. He has written eight books for Stenhouse Publishers. He also writes middle-grade novels.

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Travis Leech

Travis Leech, coauthor of Patterns of Power: Inviting Adolescent Writers into the Conventions of Language, is currently a middle school instructional coach in Northside Independent School District in San Antonio, TX. He has thirteen years of experience in education, including teaching middle school English Language Arts and as a gifted and talented specialist. He has presented about engaging literacy practices and technology integration at the district, regional, and state levels.

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Melinda Clark

Melinda Clark, coauthor of Patterns of Power for Adolescent Writers, is currently the Academic Program Coordinator at John Jay High School in San Antonio, Texas. She has 31 years experience in education, including teaching middle school and high school English Language Arts, instructional coaching, independent consulting, and presenting at the district, regional, and state levels.

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Acknowledgments
Introduction: Wired to Be Inspired

Part 1
Chapter 1   Into Planning: What Do You Need to Do Before Teaching the Invitations?
Chapter 2   Into the Classroom: How Do You Teach Conventions with the Invitation Process?
Chapter 3   Into Application: How Do You Nudge Writers to Apply and Consolidate Learning?

Part 2
Chapter 4 How Do Writers and Readers Use SENTENCES?

4.1 What’s This About? Making Sense of Subjects in Sentences and Fragments
4.2 Use Sentences. Mostly: Making Sense of Simple Sentences
4.3 If There’s No Verb, Nothing Happens . . . or Exists: Sentences Need Verbs
4.4 Adjective Pileup: Coordinate Adjectives
4.5 The Compound Spell: Don’t Allow a Noun with Two Verbs to Startle You!

Chapter 5 Why Do Writers and Readers Need COMPOUND SENTENCES?

5.1 Compounding Interest: The Compound Sentence
5.2 Don’t Take That Tone with Me! The Compound Sentence and And
5.3 Two Sentences Are Better than One: Compound Sentences
5.4 But I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking . . . Wait, I Did! Compound Sentences and FOR
5.5 I Will Not Be IgNORred: NOR Version

Chapter 6 How Do Writers and Readers Use COMPLEX SENTENCES?

6.1 When Introductory Clauses . . . Subordinate Opener
6.2 To Comma or Not to Comma: Subordinate Clause Closer
6.3 Comma Don’t or Comma Do: AAAWWUBBIS Placement
6.4 Comma Which: A Relative Pronoun Clause
6.5 Comma Who or No Comma Who? A Relative Pronoun Interrupter
6.6 Beyond the Breakwaters: More than AAAWWUBBIS

Chapter 7 How Do Writers and Readers Use PHRASES and CLAUSES?

7.1 If You Continue . . . The Conditional Mood
7.2 Could You Say That Another Way? The First Interrupter Is an Appositive Experience
7.3 Double the Comma Fun: Interrupters
7.4 It Don’t Mean a Thing if It Ain’t Got That -Ing: Participial Phrases as Closers
7.5 Creating a Setting: Prepositional Phrases
7.6 Closing Time: Ending Sentences with the Holy Renamer
7.7 Thatery and Whichery: The Essential and Nonessential Clauses That Tell Which One
7.8 Whodunit: Who or Comma Who? What Makes a Clause Essential or Nonessential?

Chapter 8 What Does the MOOD of a VERB Do for Writers and Readers?

8.1 Subjects Come First: The Active Voice
8.2 Say It Plainly and Directly: What’s Indicative of the Indicative Mood?
8.3 Write Commanding Sentences: That’s Imperative!
8.4 To Be or Not to Be: The Basics of Infinitives
8.5 Wishes and Probability: If I Were You, I’d Understand the Subjunctive

Chapter 9 How Do Writers and Readers Use VERBALS?

9.1 Shopping for Participles: The Bling of Sentences
9.2 Inviting Understanding: Gerunds Are Activities
9.3 To Infinitive and Beyond! The Definitive Infinitive

Chapter 10 What Does PUNCTUATION Do for Writers and Readers?

10.1 This, That, and the Other: Serial Commas
10.2 And a One, and a Two, and a Three: Colons Introduce Lists
10.3 He Said, She Said: Colons Introduce Quotations
10.4 Birds of a Feather: Semicolons
10.5 Don’t Be Afraid; Use Semicolons!
10.6 Dashing Through the Sentence: Dash Interruption
10.7 A Little Extra: Using Parentheses
10.8 Where We Put Extra Goodies: (Parentheses)
10.9 Wait for It . . . Ellipses to Indicate a Pause or Break
10.10 Less Is More: Ellipses to Show Omission
10.11 Quotation Marks: Dialogue
10.12 That’s What’s Up: Apostrophes

Chapter 11 What Do PRONOUNS Do for Writers and Readers?

11.1 Who We Are: Introducing Pronouns
11.2 All Mine or My, My, My Boogie Shoes: Possessive Pronouns
11.3 Respect Yourself: Reflexive Pronouns
11.4 Make Yourself at Home: Reflexive and Intensive Pronouns

Chapter 12 How Do Writers and Readers Continue Using CAPITALIZATION?

12.1 Capitalize Names: It’s a Date with Proper Nouns
12.2 Capitalizing on Shortcuts: Initials, Initialisms, and Acronyms

Chapter 13 What Other AMAZING THINGS Can Writers and Readers Do?

13.1 Sophisticated Sentence Mash-Up: Compound-Complex Sentences
13.2 Comma Mash-Ups Can Be Gross: Coordinate Adjectives and Commas in a Series
13.3 Feeling Coordinated? Importance of Order with Noncoordinate Adjectives
13.4 Can You Correlate? Correlative Conjunctions
13.5 Conjunctivitis Connections: Conjunctive Adverbs

Conclusion: Moving from Correction to Connection
Appendix A
Appendix B
Professional Bibliography
Young Adult Literature Bibliography
Index

Reviews

Patterns of Power moves beyond prescriptive rules to offer a series of steps that, instead, help students to recognize and internalize language conventions in a way that makes them better readers, writers, listeners, and speakers. I love how this book teaches students to really think about language.

Kelly Gallagher
Patterns of Power will free you from the tyranny of old school grammar instruction and show you a process to guide adolescents toward joyful exploration and experimentation of crafting, creating, and conveying meaning. Whether you’re a grammar “phobe” or an expert sentence diagrammer, you will love this book.

Cris Tovani
In a Patterns of Power classroom, the conventions of language become possibilities. Here, rules are replaced by invitations as our “wired to be inspired” middle school learners engage in honest inquiry, asking themselves and each other What can this convention do for me as a writer?

Lisa Thibodeaux

Director of Secondary Curriculum, TX
Jeff Anderson is going to make me return to teaching middle school ELA. This is the kind of book that would have made me feel like I could provide concrete, meaningful writing instruction to my students. I am grateful, however, that as an administrator I have the power to put this tool in the hands of all my teachers and allow the work of these authors to reach thousands of students.

Chad Everett

Middle School Principal
Patterns of Power, 6–8 is a must-have for every teacher who longs to get their adolescents hooked on grammar. It gives middle grade teachers a simple, student-centered process that showcases what grammatical patterns do for readers and writers and how they lead to stellar writing.

Jodi Ramos

Middle School Teacher, Dept Chair, NYT education contributor
Anderson, Leech, and Clark have crafted a gift for middle school literacy teachers and their students. Patterns of Power, 6–8 provides abundant lesson ideas for engaging student readers and writers in ways that improve comprehension, communication and self-expression, as well as a deeper look at why this approach works. . . . Clear, empowering, and effective!

Donalyn Miller

Texas educator and author

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Patterns of Power, Grades 6–8

Inviting Adolescent Writers into the Conventions of Language