Learn Grammar the Easy Way (Part 1)

Learn Grammar the Easy Way (Part 1)

Full Description

This course is designed for people who want to get a better feel for grammar so that they can strengthen their writing skills. Many times before a person has met you face-to-face, they’ve met you through your words. You may have sent in a cover letter and resume for a job. You may have written a memo recommending a new product or procedure and that letter was passed up the corporate chain. Perhaps, you wrote a letter to the local chief of police complaining about the traffic on your street. Yes, your words are your “calling card” in a lot of situations. As such, it is important that they present you in the best light possible. Having a better understanding of grammar and how its pieces fit together can really help you. The coursework in part one focuses on the basics of grammar: parts of speech and sentence structure. These are the building blocks from which all written communication is constructed. Students will get to test their understanding through self-quiz exercises and through short exercises assigned by the instructor. The instructor will be available via e-mail to tutor students as they have questions, etc. A self-test at the end of the course will allow students to evaluate their learning. The book used is "The Classic Guide to Better Writing" by Rudolph Flesch. (ISBN: 0062730487). It is available through amazon.com

Outcomes:

After taking this course, students will: A. Understand the basic parts of speech B. Have a better feel for sentence structure C. Understand how to solve common sentence errors and improve their writing.

Assessment:

1. Self-quizzes in their book 2. Instructor-initiated exercises 3. Self-Test

Week 1 In this first week, we discuss the “anatomy of grammar”: Just as the finger bone is connected to the hand bone, etc., a subject connected to a verb. And, an adjective is connected to a noun. I think you get the idea. From there, we’ll discuss sentence building.

There will be a variety of exercises. Don’t worry, it is not all “work”. I try to add some fun to learning. Week 2 This week, we look at punctuation and common sentence errors. In particular, we’ll be focusing on fragments and run-on sentences. The idea is to help you recognize when you have a sentence problem and to give you the tools to fix it.

Again, students will be working on exercises and at the end of the week be given a self-test to see how much they’ve learned in the course.

Contact Hours: 20