We Had to Ask
Why did Dr. Phillips develop Easy Grammar series, Daily GRAMS, Easy Writing, and her high school Easy Grammar Ultimate Series? Phillips laughs, “I never intended to write more than one book, the original Easy Grammar. However, as the need arose, I created texts to help students.”
The seed for Easy Grammar resulted from her teaching high school English. Phillips explains, “When my students were ill-prepared in usage, I blamed the middle-school and elementary teachers. I thought it was their fault. My second job as a seventh grade teacher showed me how wrong I was! The educators were teaching the books, but the texts were not set up for mastery learning!”
After Phillips was shown a prepositional approach, she added her own strategies and ideas. Her students were so successful that she honed her expertise and ideas to develop her first Easy Grammar text. Other books ensued.
Daily GRAMS evolved from teaching math. Math? Initially, Wanda was handed a Xeroxed packet of 5 problems. Soon, she realized that the mini-lessons enhanced mastery. Phillips shares, “I asked myself why no one had introduced this for language.” She, therefore, developed the Daily GRAMS.
Phillips created a format with capitalization (#1), punctuation (#2), grammar and other concepts (#3 & #4), and sentence combining (#5) for improved quality of writing, developing them for each school day (180 lessons). The acronym GRAMS in the title reflects their purpose: Guided Review Aiding Mastery Skills. Having already achieved high scores and understanding in using Easy Grammar, she found the Daily GRAMS increased students’ mastery.
Wanda developed her Easy Writing text for students who didn’t incorporate higher-level sentence structures and/or sentence variety in their writing. Teaching patterns, Dr. Phillips helped her students to write them easily. She shares that Easy Writing, though not needed by all students, is an amazing tool for those who do need assistance in this area.”
As a high school English teacher, Phillips realized that students require strong grammar basics by seventh grade. She also learned— along the way—that some skills, without use, are lost. Wanda wrote Easy Grammar Ultimate Series, 180 Daily Teaching Lessons as an expansion and review at Grades 8, 9, 10, 11, and 12 to ensure correct usage and mechanics. Students love the 10-minute lessons that, established cyclically, lead to enhanced mastery learning.
Dr. Phillips believes in teaching both grammar and writing, taking a dim view of those who are so blatantly whole-language proponents that they fail to teach grammar. (Her Grade 8 is a love gift for those students who haven’t been taught strong basics.) Currently, Dr. Phillips is completing a writing program, in her usual, easy style to guide students in learning how to write expository (informational) paragraphs. She summarizes with a smile, “My goal is to help all students learn easily; struggling students break my heart!”