When someone asks me to tell them about Shurley English in a nutshell, I still experience a nanosecond of wondering where to begin. I mean, hey, it’s no easy task to capture the unique features of the curriculum and explain how they help students make the language arts connection using the fewest possible words! Besides that, as the senior consultant, my preference is to take at least a full day to expound!

The best way I can go about sharing Shurley English in a nutshell is to roll out three key points: 1) our purpose, 2) our goal, and 3) the methods we use to accomplish the goal. With that being said, here’s my spiel:

Our Purpose:

As a family-owned U.S.-based company, our mission is to empower ALL students to become competent, confident communicators. That’s our sole purpose, and we take it seriously!

Our Goal:

The overall goal of our curriculum is to teach abstract language arts concepts in a clear and logical way, using concrete, multi-sensory strategies. Our experts have organized the curriculum logically, sequentially, and systematically to support all types of learners.

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Our Methods:

The method used to accomplish the overall goal teaches a unique combination of features necessary to build a solid literacy foundation. (Check out our "Making the Connection" wheel.) The Teacher’s Manual provides step-by-step instructions to teach the knowledge and skills necessary to make the connection. It also provides ample opportunities for students to practice the knowledge and skills they learn.

When a student understands the eight parts of speech and how they work together to build sentences, they are more capable of writing a good sentence. Once they can write a good sentence, they can be taught how to organize sentences together to write good paragraphs. As they learn to write well-structured paragraphs, students can be shown to organize paragraphs into essays properly. The pinnacle of success is when a student can write for all purposes using sentences, paragraphs, and/or essays that exude language arts competence and confidence!

Whew! That’s what I call Shurley English in a Nutshell! Want to see it in action? We invite you to visit our website at www.shurley.com.

Subject-verb agreement refers to the special way in which a subject and verb work together to make a sentence correct. Basically, the two must agree in number. For example, if the subject is singular, the verb must be singular. If the subject is plural, the verb must be plural.

Without correct subject-verb agreement, a reader or listener can become easily confused; therefore, students must be taught to apply three basic rules when speaking and writing. Here’s what they need to know.

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Teaching students the rules of subject-verb agreement can be less daunting if you use these easy-to-follow steps in order:

Step 1: Identify the subject of the sentence and underline it with one line.

Step 2: Identify the subject as singular or plural because the answer will help identify the correct subject-verb agreement rule.

Step 3: Check the rule that applies to the subject located in the sentence.

Step 4: Write the rule number in the box provided.

Step 5: Following the rule, identify the correct verb choice with competence and confidence.

The three basic rules of subject-verb agreement are important skills to understand and apply, but students must learn that there are some additional rules. They are known as the rules for subject-verb agreement in special cases, including:

Agreement Rules for Collective Nouns
Agreement Rules for Nouns Singular in Meaning but Plural in Form and Nouns Ending in –ics
Agreement Rules for Titles or Names of Countries
Agreement Rules for Words of Amount or Time
Agreement Rules for Compound Subjects
Agreement Rules for Subjects Following the Verb
Agreement Rules for Special Cases

I invite you to check out the Shurley English curriculum to learn about these rules because errors in subject-verb agreement are fairly common in the English language, and they are sometimes difficult to correct. Knowing the rules and how to apply them will assist students in their quest to communicate more effectively!