Hands-On English, Second Edition [Paperback]

Fran Santoro Hamilton (Author), Michael Hamilton (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 30, 2004

Hands-On English is a handbook that gives quick access to the basics of English (grammar, usage, capitalization, punctuation, spelling, vocabulary, reading, and writing). It makes grammar visual with symbols to represent parts of speech. These symbols can then be combined so readers can see how phrases and sentences are constructed. Hands-On English is a valuable resource for students (9 years of age or older -- including those preparing for college entrance exams), teachers, parents, business people, and anyone else who wants to use English more effectively. Because information in the handbook is easy to find and easy to understand, users increase their independence and confidence with English. The Second Edition, which maintains the content and crisp user-friendly layout of the original edition, has been expanded by thirty-two pages. New content includes decoding (dividing words into syllables and knowing which vowel sound to expect), finding the main idea, developing paragraphs and compositions, and writing concisely.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 4 Up?Using a visual approach to illustrate sentence patterns, Hamilton unravels the complexities of the English language with explanations and examples that are clear, easy to understand, and interesting. By using icons to represent each of the eight parts of speech (nouns are blocks, adjectives are paintbrushes, action verbs are springs, etc.), the author models various sentence patterns and makes sense of English grammar. A handy list of irregular verbs and an excellent explanation of using modifiers are included in the "Usage" section. "Mechanics" covers capitalization, punctuation, and spelling rules, plus those pesky words that have similar spellings and/or sounds but different meanings. "Communicating Ideas" is one of the most interesting and useful sections; just the discussion and listing of the common morphemes make this book worth purchasing. Students will also find directions on how to write an outline, use proofreader's marks, write letters, compile a bibliography, and write footnotes. The appendix provides tips on homework, class participation, and test taking. This user-friendly volume is sure to become a favorite resource on the English language.?Linda Wadleigh, Oconee County Middle School, Watkinsville, GA
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

[Hands-On English gives] teachers and students alike a near-perfect guide to all things English. --Catherine Gilmore-Clough VOYA, April 2005

This user-friendly volume is sure to become a favorite resource on the English language. --Linda Wadleigh, School Library Journal, February 1999

Hands-On English is a worthwhile addition to any home library. --Homeschooling Today October 1999

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 182 pages
• Publisher: Portico Books; 2 edition (August 30, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0966486757
• ISBN-13: 978-0966486759
• Product Dimensions: 10.4 x 8 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #341,634 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Valuable learning tool about how to write., May 24, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Hands-On English (Paperback)

Hands-On English is a well-organized, carefully thought out introduction to how the English language works and how it can be used to help one communicate more effectively. The author discusses the basics of grammar, usage, writing mechanics, and the writing process in straightforward language anyone can understand. At the same time, she has developed a set of illustrations that effectively demonstrate how the parts of speech or parts of a sentence interrelate and that wonderfully enhance this book's value as a learning tool.

This book could help anyone who wants to know how to communicate more effectively-especially anyone who missed, or has long since forgotten, the grammar taught in school. I have recommended Hands-On English to my graduate communications students at a local university, and the ones who have used it have found it beneficial. This book is particularly appealing when one compares it to the many lame and carelessly written "how to" writing books currently on the market. Even though it is apparently aimed at junior high school students, Hands-On English is still an excellent tool for businesspeople, engineers, or anyone else who would like to write more effectively

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Don't forget to order the Activity Book!, August 3, 2007

By 

Lan D "Lan" (Houston, TX United States) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Hands-On English, Second Edition (Paperback)

This book is wonderful, positively jam-packed with practical information for all ages. But if you are a homeschooler don't forget to order the accompanying Activity Book, unfotunately not available from Amazon, but from the publisher.

8 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An update on Strunk & White's "Elements of Style" for Y2K, May 10, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Hands-On English (Paperback)

For decades Strunk & White's "Elements of Style" rallied us to write our best English, no more and no less. Each of its sentences demonstrated to the listening ear that good writing was a matter--not of Baroque gilding, Gothic loftiness, or Romantic breathlessness--but of Yankee economy, craft, and precision.

Now the lessons that Strunk & White made clear to anyone with ears to hear have been given a visual and tactile dimension by Fran Santoro in "Hands-On English." This is an important enhancement for those of us whose best appendage for learning is not the ear but the eye or the hand--I mean you, joy-sticking Webmaster, and you, number-crunching Engineer, and even you, paint-spattered Marketer . . . Step up and feel with your own hands the difference between the lumpen cube of a noun and the coiled spring of a verb! Admire the tongue-and-groove snugness of a well fitted sentence. For a mind-blowing effect, line up a series of verbs and watch them spring forth like so many slinkies tumbling down the stairs.

See an adjective--with one daub of its paintbrush tip--transform that noun-cube before your very eyes! And then marvel at the transformation of that adjectival paintbrush, in its turn, by one dusting from an adverbial magic wand! Let your fingers grope beneath the noun-cube for the hooks from which you can, if you have need, suspend one!--two!--three!--prepositional magnets, each securely supporting a corresponding object of the preposition.

In short, Fran Santoro succeeds where many others have failed: laying bare the mechanics of "grammar" so that that dread word will shake off forever its Dali-esque surreality. For this we all owe her "Hands-On English" a Siskel-and-Ebert-style two thumbs up!

If you are a parent, a teacher, an employed person of any kind, buy a copy of "Hands-On English": you know someone in desperate need of this book. And if you mastered all this years ago--even if you spent your down time as a kid diagramming sentences!--buy this book for the wicked pleasure its stick-in-the-eye precision of language will bring you. It's a new-and-improved Strunk and White in Furby clothing.