Grammarama

When I taught LA at the junior high level, I created SO many little mnemonic devices to help the students remember the parts of speech, sub/pred, and so on . . and on. THEN, after all of that when they went to the 8th grade, they did not remember a blessed thing! Of course my department head was the eighth grade teacher, and the looks she'd send my way. . .  Anyway, I finally started leaving my door open, so she'd hear what and how I was teaching, in an effort to cover my ass. UGH!

My point is, I think that people learn more about syntax and the positioning of phrases, by reading- NOT by being overwhelmed with sentence diagramming. While worksheets, and what Dr. Cauthen calls "skill and drill," has its place in teaching, it isn't very useful. It creates students who can complete worksheets. If one is teaching writing, one must have many, many opportunities for their students to write.  I know for instance, that I learn best by repetition and trial and error. That said, when I am teaching a grammatical skill, say appositives, or sub/verb agreement, I don't focus on other things. This doesn't mean that I won't mark down for things like end marks or caps at the beginning of a sentences, but by and large, I tend to focus on what we have been studying over the last few lessons or so.

I also learned that ANY writing assignment was up for grabs, as well. A journal prompt, a project for social studies class . . .etc.

I have assigned an essay, in my current class, that is due in two weeks and I have told them that I will be available if they want me to give their draft a once over. I have always afforded my students that opportunity, because frankly, what would the point of evaluating their writing, if they aren't given the chance to 'fix' it?

My feeling is, if a student is given the opportunity to practice a skill in a practical setting, that makes sense. To conjure up worksheets that just present sentences, that are artificial at best, seems counterproductive. For the most part, we learn by doing. We learn by having someone who is better than us, share the tricks of trade, not by making the task at hand seem so forced and foreign, that a person's own language, becomes alien to them. A student shouldn't have to search to find their voice every semester, hidden from them in a miasma of rules that asserts the notion that it is not what they have to say, that is meaningful, but how they say it.