Commas in the Chaos

19. The Great Grammar Debate - Grammar and Writing

EPISODE SUMMARY There is a debate happening in grammar instruction, and most teachers are caught right in the middle of it. On one side, explicit instruction. On the other hand, grammar in context. Both sides have research. Both sides have teachers who swear by them. And neither side is actually wrong. In this episode, I walk through why both camps are pointing to something true, what gets assumed when we swing toward context-based approaches, and why the gap between knowing a grammar skill and using it in writing is not a failure. It is a pathway problem. Most importantly, we discuss the missing piece that neither side has addressed. If today's episode got you thinking about what a complete grammar system looks like, check out the BUILD Framework at thegrammarcollective.com/build-framework. SEE SHOW NOTES FOR MORE DETAILS: * Join the Waitlist: https://www.thegrammarcollective.com/build-framework [https://uniquelyupper.com/cups-strategy-for-student-editing/] CONNECT WITH RACHEL * Instagram: @uniquelyupper [https://www.instagram.com/uniquelyupper] * Show Notes: www.uniquelyupper.com [https://www.uniquelyupper.com/] * TpT Store: Uniquely Upper on TpT [https://my.captivate.fm/dashboard/podcast/aa597c77-29ee-41ad-8b8d-26be98930faf/episode?reloaded=1#] * Email: uniquelyupper@gmail.com 👉 Don’t forget to subscribe to Commas in the Chaos wherever you listen to podcasts so you never miss an episode!

18. 3 Reasons Grammar Skills Disappear in Upper Elementary

EPISODE SUMMARY If you've ever watched a student nail a grammar skill and then seen it completely disappear from their writing weeks later, this episode is for you. It's not a student problem, and it's not a teaching problem. It's information, and once you know what it's telling you, you know exactly where to go next. In this episode, Rachel breaks down the three most common reasons grammar skills disappear in upper elementary classrooms: missing foundational skills beneath the target skill, teaching it once and never circling back, and students learning the rule without understanding the "why" behind it. Each reason comes with a practical, low-lift fix you can start using right away. If today's episode got you thinking about how you sequence grammar instruction, get on the waitlist for the BUILD Framework at thegrammarcollective.com/build-framework. SEE SHOW NOTES FOR MORE DETAILS: * Join the Waitlist: https://www.thegrammarcollective.com/build-framework [https://uniquelyupper.com/cups-strategy-for-student-editing/] * Read the full show notes: https://uniquelyupper.com/3-reasons-grammar-skills-disappear/ [https://uniquelyupper.com/3-reasons-grammar-skills-disappear/] CONNECT WITH RACHEL * Instagram: @uniquelyupper [https://www.instagram.com/uniquelyupper] * Show Notes: www.uniquelyupper.com [https://www.uniquelyupper.com/] * TpT Store: Uniquely Upper on TpT [https://my.captivate.fm/dashboard/podcast/aa597c77-29ee-41ad-8b8d-26be98930faf/episode?reloaded=1#] * Email: uniquelyupper@gmail.com 👉 Don’t forget to subscribe to Commas in the Chaos wherever you listen to podcasts so you never miss an episode!

17. Grammar Planning for Upper Elementary - Relaunch Episode

EPISODE SUMMARY Grammar planning for upper elementary teachers is one of the hardest things to do without a curriculum, a sequence, or a real system to work from. In this relaunch episode, I'm sharing what I've been building behind the scenes: the BUILD Framework, a 7-module system that takes the guesswork out of grammar instruction. I'll walk you through what's inside each module, why I built it, and what's coming for the podcast this season. In this episode: * Why grammar planning feels so hard * What the BUILD Framework is and what each module covers * What's coming on Commas in the Chaos this season SEE SHOW NOTES FOR MORE DETAILS: * Join the Waitlist: https://www.thegrammarcollective.com/build-framework [https://uniquelyupper.com/cups-strategy-for-student-editing/] * Read the full show notes: https://uniquelyupper.com/grammar-planning-for-upper-elementary/ CONNECT WITH RACHEL * Instagram: @uniquelyupper [https://www.instagram.com/uniquelyupper] * Show Notes: www.uniquelyupper.com [https://www.uniquelyupper.com/] * TpT Store: Uniquely Upper on TpT [https://my.captivate.fm/dashboard/podcast/aa597c77-29ee-41ad-8b8d-26be98930faf/episode?reloaded=1#] * Email: uniquelyupper@gmail.com 👉 Don’t forget to subscribe to Commas in the Chaos wherever you listen to podcasts so you never miss an episode!

16. CUPS Strategy for Student Editing

EPISODE SUMMARY Let’s talk about the CUPS Strategy for Student Editing — and no, not the kind that holds your coffee. CUPS stands for Capitalization, Usage, Punctuation, and Spelling, and it is one of those classroom tools that most know about but rarely feel confident teaching. When I first started teaching, I would hand my students a CUPS checklist, tell them to edit, and then cross my fingers. I pretended that they knew what to do. Spoiler alert: they didn’t. In all transparency, I didn’t really know how to teach CUPS. I knew what each letter stood for, but not how to model it, break it down, or help students understand what “check for usage” even meant. So instead of our writing/editing block being productive, we ended up wasting time circling random words and missing real errors. Over the years, I taught myself and my students a simple way to teach the CUPS Strategy for Editing that made sense for my brain and theirs. THE HEART BEHIND THE CUPS STRATEGY I created this method because I wanted my students to stop guessing and start understanding. I was tired of editing, feeling like a scavenger hunt, and seeing testing scores that reflected it. I wanted it to feel structured, clear, and more meaningful. The routine I’m sharing in this episode is built around a simple pattern: Fix. Explain. Imitate. When students fix a mistake, explain the rule, and imitate it in their own writing, they move beyond surface-level editing. They start noticing patterns and applying them in new contexts. It’s short, it’s structured, and it actually works. The best part? It takes less than ten minutes a day. SEE SHOW NOTES FOR MORE DETAILS: * https://uniquelyupper.com/cups-strategy-for-student-editing/ [https://uniquelyupper.com/cups-strategy-for-student-editing/] CONNECT WITH RACHEL * Instagram: @uniquelyupper [https://www.instagram.com/uniquelyupper] * Show Notes: www.uniquelyupper.com [https://www.uniquelyupper.com/] * TpT Store: Uniquely Upper on TpT [https://my.captivate.fm/dashboard/podcast/aa597c77-29ee-41ad-8b8d-26be98930faf/episode?reloaded=1#] * Email: uniquelyupper@gmail.com 👉 Don’t forget to subscribe to Commas in the Chaos wherever you listen to podcasts so you never miss an episode!

15. A Thankful Pause

A quiet, sincere thank you from me to the teachers who support Commas in the Chaos. Your listens, messages, shares, and reviews shape this podcast and help more teachers find a steady space. Take a breath with me and know your support matters.