Ep 105 — Grammar, Pared Down: Teaching Less So Writing Sticks with Patty McGee

Ep 105 — Grammar, Pared Down: Teaching Less So Writing Sticks with Patty McGee

From The Minimalist Educator Podcast by Tammy Musiowsky

April 21, 2026 · 27 min · Season 6 · Episode 105

About this episode

Tammy Musiowsky interviews Patty McGee about making grammar instruction engaging and effective.

Grammar doesn’t fail because kids “just don’t get it.” It fails when we teach it like a scavenger hunt of labels and then hope it magically shows up in student writing the next day. We sit down with national literacy consultant and author Patty McGee (Not Your Granny’s Grammar) to make grammar simple, usable, and surprisingly engaging by putting the sentence back at the center of instruction. We talk about why worksheets and identification-heavy lessons so often lead to boredom and zer...

People in this episode

Host: Tammy Musiowsky

Guest: Patty McGee

Topics covered

  • grammar
  • literacy
  • education
  • student engagement
  • teaching methods

Keywords

  • grammar activities
  • literacy consultant
  • student writing
  • teaching grammar
  • education strategies

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: Not Your Granny’s Grammar

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