About the Author

Jane Kiester is the author of the popular Caught'ya books: Caught'ya! Grammar with a Giggle; Caught'ya Again! More Grammar with a Giggle; The Chortling Bard! Grammar with a Giggle for High School; Giggles in the Middle: Caught'ya! Grammar with a Giggle for Middle School; Eggbert, the Ball, Bounces by Himself: Caught'ya! Grammar with a Giggle for First Grade; Putrescent Petra Finds Friends: Caught'ya! Grammar with a Giggle for Second Grade; and Juan and Marie Join the Class: Caught'ya! Grammar with a Giggle for Third Grade (these last three were formerly Elementary, My Dear! Caught'ya! Grammar with a Giggle for Grades 1, 2, and 3), all published by Maupin House. Teachers all over the country also use the new edition of her third book, Blowing Away the State Writing Assessment Test, to help improve their students' scores on state writing assessment tests. Jane's most recent book is Teach Spelling So It Sticks. She is currently writing three new books. In addition to writing books, Jane has given hundreds of workshops to fellow teachers around the country for the past ten years. Her subject? The same as in her classroom, where she happily taught elementary or middle school for more than 30 years -- teaching students to write well. In her three decades as a classroom teacher, Jane has served many years as various department chairpersons and grade-level chairperson. She is also a past president of the Alachua County Teachers of English. Jane has been recognized three times by "Who's Who Among America's Teachers." In 2002 she won Teacher of the Year for her school and Middle School Teacher of the Year for her county. Problem-solving Workshops for Teachers Jane's energy is contagious! Her workshops, seminars and invited presentations delight and rejuvenate teachers at all grade levels. Jane delivers practical, classroom-proven ideas to solve those yucky "must-do" situations all teachers face. Each presentation sparkles with Jane's insightful humor. Her seminars and symposium speaking topics are shaped to fit the specific needs of schools and districts.

Reviews

...teachers turn learning grammar into a challenge to which students will rise...As promised, the grade-specific stories are designed to teach 'grammar, usage, mechanics, vocabulary, paragraphing, varied sentence structure, spelling of homophones and commonly misspelled words, use of literary devices, and how to avoid fragments.' Will these methods work? Yes.-- "Professionally Speaking"

I was immediately intrigued by Giggles in the Middle: Caught'ya! Grammar with a Giggle for Middle School (Jane Bell Kiester). 'Grammar' and the word 'Giggles' in the same sentence? I was sold before I even looked in the book; I was certain this would be something Amber would like. I have been using Giggles in the Middle every day for the past couple of weeks with Amber, who is 13. For the most part she has liked it; it still is grammar and I can't hide that lol! The format of Giggles in the Middle is unique to any other book I have used so far. The whole curriculum revolves around the story of group of students and Horribly Hard Middle School. It is split up into three middle-school years, but instructions include how to implement it if you are starting in 7th or 8th grade. Each year includes 125 Caught'yas. The neat thing is the teacher can change them according to what they feel is appropriate for the level of the students...We have been doing 2-3 Caught'yas a day. Although Amber is 8th-grade age and doing a lot of high school work already, this is sufficiently challenging for her. That surprised her some and thrilled me. It has made her much more conscious on how a sentence is to be structured. Interspersed between the Caught'yas are writing ideas related to the story. These are fun and make the student think a bit. They encompass many different writing topics such as narratives and persuasive writing. There is also a great deal of rich vocabulary introduced. With most middle-school material, I tend to find both the activities and vocabulary weak for accelerated students. There is none of that in Giggles in the Middle...words like sagacious, odious and puerile are used, expanding the students' word choice for writing and preparing them for college entrance tests. I am planning to continue using this book until we are done with it, even if that extends into the next school year. This is a good choice for those with middle-school students who want a change from traditional workbooks with worksheets. Using it without modifications is appropriate for accelerated students also.-- "Three Different Directions, www.threedifferentdirections.com"

Yours is the only how-to teacher book that I've read cover to cover in the last 10 years. I love Hairy. I recently discovered Giggles in the Middle and have ordered it. I really like the companion CD idea since I use my SMART(TM) Board exclusively these days...In a desolate, lifeless, serious world of standards that my colleagues bemoan and administrators preach, you and your books are small green seedlings of hope.