Understanding the craft of the writer through "Grammar for Writing"
It is now readily acknowledged that the teaching of formal grammar skills in isolation has little or no impact on the quality of children’s writing. What does make a difference is the teaching of grammar in context, through children’s writing, showing them how to extend and improve sentences, how to mimic authorial techniques, how to harness the grammatical rules to their own ends - in other words, how to understand the craft of the writer.

This course explores the practical application of grammar in context for middle to upper primary, S1 and S2. It offers a range of investigative approaches and provides an opportunity for teachers to explore these in a practical way. This course is particularly suitable for teachers who have had no formal grammar teaching.

The National Primary Strategy "Grammar for Writing" handbook can be made available on CR ROM for all delegates to take back into school, providing a structured and supportive resource for a whole year’s teaching. Run in South Lanarkshire, Inverclyde and City of Edinburgh.

• To deepen teachers' knowledge and understanding of grammar
• To explore how knowledge of grammar can be used to improve children’s understanding of the craft of the writer
• To introduce a range of investigative techniques for developing and applying grammatical knowledge in real contexts

• Consideration of current issues surrounding the teaching of grammar
• Support for teacher-knowledge of grammatical terms and features
• Exploration of a selection of units from the Grammar for Writing handbook
• Exploration of a range of generic grammatical and textual investigations linked to reading and writing