- Fix It! Grammar The Nose Tree [Book 1] (Teacher Manual): $19.00
- Fix It! Grammar The Nose Tree [Book 1] (Student Book): $15.00
Fix It! Grammar is designed for grades 3 and up. There are 6 books in the series:
- Fix It! Grammar: The Nose Tree
- Fix It! Grammar: Robin Hood
- Fix It! Grammar: Frog Prince, or Just Deserts
- Fix It! Grammar: Little Mermaid
- Fix It! Grammar: Chanticleer
- Fix It! Grammar: Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
The book your student would begin with would depend on their grammar knowledge. IEW has a placement test to help you determine which book your student should begin with, and I'd recommend taking a look at the test just to verify where you think your student should start.
Fix It! Grammar is a unique grammar program because it teaches grammar concepts through real stories. The stories use real sentences that contain real errors that your student might make in their own writing. Through marking up the sentences and finding errors, the student learns grammar and correct usage, with the long view that this will transfer to the student's own writing.
As mentioned above, we received Fix It! Grammar Book 1: The Nose Tree. This book, like the others in the series, is designed to be used over the course of one year. There are 33 weeks of lessons, and it should take about 15 minutes a day. We received the Teacher's Manual and the Student Book. They are both high quality, spiral bound books. With the purchase of the Teacher's Manual, you also receive access to a PDF download of the Student Book so if you prefer to print your own Student Book, this is an option.
Each student should have a notebook. If you have chosen to print your own Student Book, the notebook should have four sections: Fix Its, Grammar Glossary, Rewrite, and Vocabulary. If you purchase the Student Book, then the notebook would only have two sections: Rewrite and Vocabulary.
On the first day of each week's work, you read through the section titled "Learn It" with your student (this section contains the teaching for the week). There are grammar flash cards included in the Student Book, and your student should cut out any that are applicable to the day's lesson so they can review the concept. Next, you help your student mark up the first sentence in the reading. Once the sentence is corrected, the student copies the corrected version into the Rewrite section of their notebook. For Days 2-4, the student corrects the sentence for the day on their own, and copies the corrected version into their notebook. At the end of the program, the student will have a clean, corrected version of the story.
Each day's reading also has a vocabulary word. This word is in bold print, and the student is directed to look the word up in a dictionary, decide on the definition that best fits the sentence, and write a short definition in the vocabulary section of their notebook.
I used this with Luke & Ezekiel, and I started them in Book 1 to help them learn to recognize errors in writing. I used the method described above, though I did not always read through day 1 with them and help them correct the first sentence. Since they were already familiar with the grammar ideas, they did okay without my help, but this would not have worked if they were brand new to grammar. I love that they are learning to find errors in real writing, since this can be difficult to teach using a traditional grammar program. I loved that they were copying a real story as part of the program. The vocabulary was the weakest part of the program, but I think this has to do with the fact Luke & Ezekiel are in 9th & 8th grades. If I had chosen to use this with my 3rd grader, the minimum recommended age, I would definitely have had to spend time with him every day walking him through the sentences and he would have gotten more out of the vocabulary portion.
If you are looking for a non-traditional grammar program that will reinforce writing skills, definitely check out Fix It! Grammar. Click on the banner below to read reviews of books 1-5.
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