The Assembly for the Teaching of English Grammar

ATEG, an Assembly of the National Council of Teachers of English, is a national forum for discussing the teaching of grammar, and welcomes all views on the role of grammar in our schools.

ATEG maintains an Internet mail list where all aspects of the teaching of English grammar are discussed. To subscribe, go to the ATEG listserv website. Alternatively, send email to listserv@listserv.muohio.edu with no subject, no signature, and this one line in the message:

    subscribe ATEG yourfirstname yourlastname

ATEG membership is $12 per year. ATEG members receive three issues of our Journal. Membership checks may be sent to:

    ATEG
    P. O. Box 92
    Fishkill, New York  12524

Join us for the Twenty-first Annual ATEG Conference

September 16-17, 2010
Brigham Young University
Provo, Utah
More Information *The deadline for proposals has been extended to July 15.*

K-12 Classroom Resource of the Month:
How Sentences Work: An Easy Guide to Writing Effective Sentences

Your classroom visuals set the tone, express your values, and reinforce the rules and key ideas of your class. We know that classroom visuals can also serve as a valuable learning tool. Their presence is a constant reminder of various basic ideas that we want students to absorb through the visual cue.

Please feel free to use any of the visuals in our Classroom Resources.

Wishing you a successful school year,
Amy Benjamin, ATEG President

ATEG’s Resolution “On the Value of Systematic Grammar Study” is now available here.

Sneak Peek at Mary M. McDonald's Article for ATEG Journal

Article can be downloaded here: “Too Easy Grammar: The History of Easy Basic English Grammars”
Grammar can be made too easy when its presentation concentrates solely on parts of speech. The history of “easy” basic grammars is linked in the 1700s and today to the goal of helping a wide array of students obtain employment. While a noble goal, this emphasis excluded complicated syntax and semantic overlays that could have been addressed through practice (such as sentence combining or imitation) or excellent models of writing. Teaching students about the history of grammar can help them grow in accepting its complexities. The myriad of decisions that need to be made in writing needs to be welcomed as writers welcome the change to communicate effectively with their intended audiences.

When, Where, and Why - A Handout Excerpt from Geoffrey Layton's The Six Parts of Meaning

Handout can be downloaded here: “When, Where, and Why of Meaning”
From the author: The "six parts of meaning" are simply the who-what-when-why-where-how heuristic. My contention is that if our basic writing students can intentionally create these "six parts of meaning," they will have done a pretty good job of writing. My contribution is to show how each of these "meanings" can be created using grammatical constructions - in fact, they cannot be created without using these grammatical constructions - hence, my little slogan, "Grammar for the Right Brain" or "Writing in the Context of Grammar."
Geoffrey Layton's work on The Six Parts of Meaning will be featured in an upcoming issue of ATEG Journal.