This 15-minute video shows how Jeff Anderson uses playful strategies and mentor text to engage writers in grammar and editing. In the "Apostrophe-thon," Jeff's sixth-grade students in San Antonio, Texas search through a mentor text excerpt to find examples of apostrophes and then categorize them as possessives or contractions based on a wall chart the class has compiled. Using real text, the students never fail to come up with some interesting examples such as "O'clock" and the two meanings of "they'd."

About the Author

For the past eighteen years, Jeff has taught at large urban Title I schools in Houston, Austin, and San Antonio. He is currently teaching sixth grade at Rayburn Middle School in San Antonio, Texas.