Grammar: Verb groups, noun groups and circumstances for expressing ideas
Help students turn ideas into powerful writing and improve reading comprehension by mastering processes, participants and circumstances—using grammar as a tool for clarity, precision and meaning.
Course Length
5 hours
Access
365 days from enrolment
Course Creator
Emeritus Professor Beverly Derewianka
About this course
Drawing on functional grammar and classroom-ready examples, this course created by Emeritus Professor Beverly Derewianka explores how Processes (verbs and verb groups), Participants (who or what is involved) and Circumstances (the surrounding details or happenings) work together to build precise, vivid and cohesive texts.
Teachers will examine how noun groups, pronouns, verb groups and adverbials can be taught in purposeful ways that directly strengthen both reading comprehension and writing quality. Grounded in quality literature and aligned to classroom practice, the course demonstrates how grammar can be taught as a resource for meaning-making rather than as isolated rules.
Participants will leave with practical strategies to help students make more deliberate language choices, resulting in writing that is clearer, more nuanced and more powerful.
This bundle combines two complementary professional learning courses:
- Verbs and Meaning: Understanding Processes
- Participants: Nouns and the Noun Group for Expressing Ideas
Learning outcomes
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Identify and analyse processes, participants and circumstances to understand how language represents actions, thoughts and relationships in texts.
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Differentiate between action, saying, sensing, relating and existing processes and apply these understandings to writing instruction.
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Strengthen participant construction through the purposeful use of noun groups, pronouns and adjective groups.
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Expand and manipulate circumstances, including prepositional phrases and other adverbials, to add detail and precision.
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Analyse how authors use grammar as a meaning-making resource in quality mentor texts.
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Support students to make deliberate language choices that improve both reading comprehension and writing quality.
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Develop a consistent metalanguage for teaching grammar in context.
Who should participate?
- Classroom Teachers F–8
- Literacy Leaders
- EAL/D Coordinators
- Principals, Deputy Principals, Assistant Principals and Associate Principals
- Heads of Teaching and Learning
- Heads of Curriculum and Instruction
What else do I need to know?
- This PL course is self-paced and unmoderated.
- Participants have access for 365 days from registration.
- Group booking discounts apply for 6+ participants.
- This course addresses AITSL standards 1.2.2, 1.5.2, 2.1.2, 2.5.2, 3.2.2, 3.3.2, 3.4.2 and 5.1.2.
About your course creator
Emeritus Professor Beverly Derewianka is one of Australia's leading educational linguists and a highly influential figure in literacy education. Her work has shaped curriculum development, teacher professional learning and classroom literacy practices across Australia and internationally.
A key contributor to Sydney School genre pedagogy, Beverly's research has focused on tracing students' literacy development and helping teachers understand how language works within authentic reading and writing contexts. Her work has had a substantial impact on literacy curriculum and syllabus development over several decades.
She is the author of two bestselling PETAA publications, Exploring How Texts Work (2nd Edition) and A New Grammar Companion for Teachers (3rd Edition), both widely used by educators seeking practical ways to connect grammar, language and literacy learning.
Cost of participation
| Registration Type |
Price |
| Member |
$175 |
| Non-Member |
$250 |
| PL Subscription School Member |
Included |
| Automatic group booking discount (6+) |
25% off each extra enrolment |
*all tickets must be booked at the same time for the discount to apply