Encouraging readers of all skill levels to become more accurate and confident writers, this easy-to-use volume includes information on grammar, punctuation, spelling, and much more. A detailed index, general reference section, dozens of examples, and kid-friendly text make this book fun to read and easy to use.

Part 1: Grammar

1

(74)

Parts of Speech

2

(1)

Nouns

2

(14)

What Is a Noun?

2

(1)

Kinds of Nouns

3

(7)

Eight Uses of Nouns

10

(6)

Pronouns

16

(12)

What Is a Pronoun?

16

(1)

Personal Pronouns

16

(8)

Five Other Kinds of Pronouns

24

(4)

Verbs

28

(11)

What Is a Verb?

28

(1)

Main Verbs and Helping Verbs

28

(2)

Verb Tenses

30

(1)

The Three Principal Parts of Verbs: Present, Past, and Past Participle

30

(5)

The Verb ``To Be'' and Other Linking Verbs

35

(4)

Adjectives

39

(5)

What Is an Adjective?

39

(1)

Three Kinds of Adjectives

39

(2)

Comparison of Adjectives: Positive, Comparative, and Superlative

41

(2)

Where an Adjective Goes in a Sentence

43

(1)

Adverbs

44

(5)

What Is an Adverb?

44

(1)

When Adverbs Describe Verbs

44

(2)

When Adverbs Describe Adjectives

46

(1)

When Adverbs Describe Other Adverbs

46

(2)

Comparison of Adverbs: Positive, Comparative, and Superlative

48

(1)

Prepositions

49

(4)

What Is a Preposition?

49

(1)

Four Things Prepositions Tell

49

(2)

Compound Prepositions

51

(1)

Prepositional Phrases

52

(1)

Conjunctions

53

(3)

What Is a Conjunction?

53

(1)

Kinds of Conjunctions

53

(3)

Interjections

56

(1)

What Is an Interjection?

56

(1)

Sentences

57

(10)

Three Ways to Build a Sentence

58

(1)

When a Group of Words Is Not a Sentence

59

(2)

Making Subjects and Verbs Work Together: Subject-Verb Agreement

61

(6)

Preventing Double Negatives

67

(2)

Negative Words

67

(1)

Ways to Prevent Double Negatives

68

(1)

Contractions: Shrinking Words

69

(3)

Common Contractions

70

(2)

Building Compound Words

72

(3)

Part 2: Punctuation

75

(30)

Punctuation Rules Everybody Needs

76

(29)

Apostrophes

76

(1)

Capital Letters

76

(10)

Colons

86

(1)

Commas

86

(2)

Dashes

88

(1)

Ellipses

89

(1)

Exclamation Points

90

(1)

Hyphens

90

(1)

Indenting

91

(1)

Italics

92

(2)

Parentheses

94

(1)

Periods

95

(1)

Question Marks

95

(1)

Quotation Marks

96

(6)

Direct Quotations

97

(4)

Single Quotation Marks

101

(1)

Semicolons

102

(1)

Underlining

103

(2)

Part 3: Spelling

105

(20)

A Dozen and One Spelling Rules

106

(5)

Memory Tricks

111

(14)

Part 4: Letter Writing

125

(32)

Friendly Letters

126

(5)

Five (Really Six) Parts of a Friendly Letter

126

(5)

Thank-you Notes, Invitations, and Announcements

131

(10)

Thank-you Notes

131

(6)

Invitations

137

(2)

Announcements

139

(2)

Business Letters

141

(11)

Six Parts of a Business Letter

142

(10)

Addressing the Envelope

152

(5)

Three Parts of an Addressed Envelope

152

(5)

Part 5: Essays and Reports

157

(50)

Book Reports

158

(2)

Tips for Writing Good Book Reports

158

(2)

Reporting on a Work of Fiction

160

(8)

Four Parts of a Book Report

160

(3)

Long Book Reports

163

(3)

Reporting on a Book You Didn't Like

166

(2)

Reporting on a Work of Nonfiction

168

(3)

Five Parts of a Nonfiction Book Report

168

(3)

Essays

171

(13)

Three Kinds of Essays

171

(2)

Samples of Essays

173

(11)

Writing Science Reports

184

(7)

Writing Social Studies Reports

191

(13)

Bibliographies

204

(3)

Part 6: Writing Skills

207

(68)

Planning Your Work

208

(8)

Getting Started

208

(2)

What are You Writing?

210

(1)

Do Your Research

211

(2)

Before You Begin, Make a Plan

213

(3)

Producing Your Work

216

(34)

Beginning to Write

216

(1)

Writing Well is a Skill

216

(1)

Build Sentences and Paragraphs

217

(4)

Clarity Requires Discipline

221

(3)

Put Up Signposts: Punctuation and Headings

224

(3)

Use a Thesaurus and a Dictionary

227

(1)

Every Genre Has a Style

228

(1)

Reports Give Information

229

(4)

Essays Show You Care

233

(5)

You May Use the Poet's Tools

238

(4)

Fiction is a Figment of the Imagination

242

(3)

Your Script Can Put Words into People's Mouths

245

(5)

Polishing Your Work

250

(17)

Fine-tuning

250

(1)

Check the Grammar of the Sentence

250

(1)

Punctuation Holds it All Together

250

(2)

Standard Spelling Makes it Readable

252

(1)

Watch for Confusing Words and Phrases

253

(9)

Editing Makes it Shine

262

(5)

Presenting Your Work

267

(8)

Your Best Paper Forward

267

(1)

By Hand or Machine?

267

(2)

Presentation Makes it Neat

269

(3)

Bibliographies Back it Up

272

(1)

Make That Final Check

272

(1)

Give Yourself a Pat on the Back

273

(2)

Part 7: General Reference

275

(22)

100 Easily Confused and Misused Words

276

(5)

Homonyms: Words That Sound Alike but Are Spelled Differently

281

(5)

Idioms: When Words Mean More Than They Say

286

(2)

Cliches

287

(1)

Avoiding Sexist Language

288

(2)

Ways to Avoid Sexist Language

288

(2)

Initials, Acronyms, and Abbreviations

290

(7)

Initials

290

(2)

Acronyms

292

(1)

Abbreviations

293

(4)

Index

297

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