Re: a website and a book to get started

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My own linguistics professors always began with "games" - I think
the all the fun was for them, because it seemed we students weren't
having any fun.....Today I try to make these very short and easy.

You can start with three or 4 sentences, in which the subjects have
many, many adjectives. Get the adjectives out of proper sequence.
Ask the students to individually work out the proper sequence -
don't give them any help, but allow them to work out the order.
Ask them to generate the rule. The attached website has a very
clear description of the sequence used in modern American English.

I'm currently using Klammer, Schulz, and Volpes' Analyzing English
Grammar, 6th edition with my sophomore Traditional Grammar course,
but I think you find research on the internet for the reasoning of
many rules. For example, S/V agreement can be incredibly confusing
for students, until we pull up that old, old beast - the verb
conjugation. Students quickly see the "problem" - singular 3rd
person present tense. Every time a class does a conjugation, we
have a very involved discussion about the uses for the "perfect"
tenses, and why modern English is avoiding them.

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