Teaching Grammar with Your Friend, The Alot

Recently, a former student of mine sent me a link to a hilarious post on the blog Hyperbole and a Half, where the author talks about the irritation grammar sticklers feel when they see the phrase "a lot" incorrectly written as one word: "alot."  In order to cope with other people's grammar, the blogger has created a fictional creature called the alot (see left--yup, that's an alot).  Anyway, this is a fun way to teach your students about the difference between alot (wrong) and a lot (right).  Below, I'm attaching files.  One file is the blog post with the "alot of beer cans" removed for school-appropriateness reasons.  The second file is a linemaster of the alot so your students can design their own creatures.  I'm having students make alots for homework passes, and then I'm going to display them on my classroom bulletin board.  (I'll be sure to post pictures asap.)

UPDATE: Alots created by my students can be viewed HERE.

Note: According to the FAQ page on Hyperbole and a Half, the writer does not mind her work being used for educational purposes, but please give credit where credit is due.  Don't pretend that you are the wise elder who in fact created the alot.  

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the_alot_is_better_than_you_at_everything.pdf
File Size:	243 kb
File Type:	pdf

Download File

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make_your_own_alot.pdf
File Size:	18 kb
File Type:	pdf

Download File

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