Curriculum FAQ
Can my students be successful even if they have had no prior grammar experience?
Absolutely. Weekly sentences start out simple and become more difficult as new concepts are added over the course of the year. The program comes with a student reference section divided by day of the week. Everything a student needs to know to complete the Monday assignment successfully is in the Monday section of the reference notes and so forth. Students don't need to pour over grammar books to find the help they need. Students will probably rely heavily on the reference notes for the first few weeks, and they will make many mistakes at first. By week three or four, however, light bulbs will start coming on. Since basic concepts are revisited each week, a student who doesn't understand a certain concept one week has the opportunity to understand it the next. In traditional grammar instruction, a student who doesn't understand a concept when it is first presented often finds himself behind the rest of the way.
What if I'm not very good at grammar myself?
The Daily Grammar Practice Teacher Guide and Answer Keys provide you with all of the information you need in order to teach the program successfully. Each book includes a grammar and mechanics reference guide, complete answer keys, and a list of teaching points for each sentence. The books also provide step-by-step instructions for implementing Daily Grammar Practice in your classroom. You'll be amazed at how much you yourself will learn while teaching Daily Grammar Practice!
If you are worried about being prepared to answer questions your students might ask, DGP Academy is perfect for you! DGP Academy provides short video lessons (about 1-5 minutes each) to accompany each day of Daily Grammar Practice. Dawn Burnette, creator of DGP, walks you through every sentence, explaining all of the concepts and answering questions that students and teachers often ask. It’s like having an expert as your own personal instructor!
To utilize the DGP Academy videos, teachers still need a copy of the teacher’s guide, and students still need either workbooks or photocopied help pages and sentence lists from the teacher’s guide. To learn more about DGP Academy and to see sample videos, VIST OUR BLOG.
Do you offer any training or professional development for teachers?
Yes! We offer FREE, LIVE webinars throughout the year. For information about webinars, click HERE.
If you need help getting started with Daily Grammar Practice, want to learn specific strategies for helping students use their understanding of grammar to improve as writers and as readers, or are looking for a grammar and/or writing boot camp, Dawn Burnette, developer of Daily Grammar Practice, can provide PD for your school or school system in person or online via Zoom. For pricing and availability, please contact Rod at rburnette@dgppublishing.com or 404-569-5247.
How can I find time to fit Daily Grammar Practice, Daily Spelling Practice, or Daily Reading Practice into my school day?
The thought of "doing grammar" every day may seem overwhelming with everything else you have to squeeze into your class session, but Daily Grammar Practice is not overwhelming at all. Although it will take two or three minutes of your class time each day, it will ultimately save time spent on grammar units and on re-teaching concepts. With Daily Grammar Practice, no additional grammar instruction is necessary.
Both Daily Reading Practice and Daily Spelling Practice take just a few minutes each day as well. Most teachers use them as bell-ringers or warm-up activities.
Does Daily Grammar Practice address any usage concerns?
Yes. Usage concerns are incorporated into the sentences that make up the Daily Grammar Practice curriculum and are pointed out in the teacher guides. To see all of the curriculum objectives covered at each grade level, click on the "English Samples" link under the Grammar category on the left side of your screen.
What if I start Daily Grammar Practice or Daily Reading Practice in the middle of the year?
Although you won't be able to work through all thirty lessons, your students will still benefit from the program. We suggest that you still start with lesson number one and then get as far as you can before the end of the year.
Do I have to use the student workbooks?
No, but the workbooks are teacher friendly and student friendly. You have to buy a workbook for each student, but the books are cost-effective and time-saving. Each workbook provides students with an introduction to the program, the daily help pages, and a separate page for each week's lesson. The workbooks are designed to be inserted easily into a three-ring binder. And, if your students are working below grade level, you can request workbooks without the grade level printed on the covers (for bulk orders only). If you choose not to use the workbooks, however, the Teacher Guide provides reproducible materials for student use. We also offer a CD that allows you to project each week’s lesson on your whiteboard. Please note that you can’t print from the CD.
Do DGP and DRP meet my state's standards?
Our materials meet, and in most cases exceed, state standards and CCSS. Click these links to learn more.