Let's go through a grammar book!

It's time for a change in approach. Yes, I have a very specific approach to grammar, and yes it works. However, some teachers don't have the luxury of teaching grammar in the order I believe is the most beneficial, and I would imagine there are many people who need help with a specific grammar question and not an entire approach. Before I start, I will say a few things. First, most aspects of grammar have a pattern as well as a trick for remembering how to achieve the correct answer, and I will do my best to offer both as much as possible. Secondly, the grammar book I have selected is a favorite, but shall remain nameless. I am only using it as a guide for the types of topics covered in most grammar books. Finally, I will discuss one lesson or topic a day. Lesson for today: Kinds of Sentences. It is not difficult to learn the four sentence types (declarative, interrogative, exclamatory, and imperative). Purpose and end punctuation help lead students to the correct answer. Sometimes students have trouble telling the difference between declarative and exclamatory for the simple reason that what the author is trying to use as something exciting and worthy of exclamation generally isn't all that exciting to young people, so I always tell them to pay attention to the intent. The most important aspect of the four sentence types is knowing about imperatives and their subject. Students must recognize an imperative and know that the subject is the implied or understood "you" which they must write in at the beginning of a sentence (in parentheses, I always tell them) or they won't have a subject. Knowing about imperative sentences is one of my foundation skills.