I had the opportunity to observe an "accelerated grammar" course last week. I introduced myself to the class and took a seat among the students. (And when I say that, I mean it quite literally: I re-learned the rules for direct and indirect pronouns with them.)
I couldn't believe how much the students knew about grammar already! I sat quietly and pretended to follow along as they correctly identified when to properly use the nomitive case. (What is the nomitive case?)The process was almost mathmatical: the subject does this verb and so one uses this pronoun to complete the sentence in this way. Whoever said there wasn't a "right" answer in English class obviously didn't learn grammar.
I left the class, eager to see my own students' costumes for Halloween, before I could ask the teacher the one question on my mind: is there a way to teach grammar without filling out worksheet after worksheet? I know that students need to practice the rules of grammar in order to get them down but is there another way? I imagine that this is much of what we will talk about in this week's class so I'll leave that question hanging in the air...
I think I volunteered with the teacher who teaches that class at West. She's great and I'm sure she has some interactive way to teach grammar. I would love to sit in on that class and see what the students do. Although taking "Accelerated Grammar" would initially make me cringe, it seems as if the students enjoy it and learn a lot. However, I still don't think I would want to teach it as I need to brush up on my grammar skills!
ReplyDeleteOne of my biggest anxieties about being an English teacher is grammar. I just have no idea about why we construct our language the way we do. If I were sitting in on a grammar class, I too would be relearning all the technicalities of the English language.
ReplyDeleteAs for your question, I have no answer. I grew up doing 'drill and kill.' Meaning, worksheets ad nauseam. Some of it was helpful, and I remember the elementary level rules about things like punctuation and plurality, but all the discrete complexities of syntax? Nope.
Perhaps, it's because I figured, if I can make it sound right, it will be fine, so I just never had to use those crazy rules. Also, when I actually started writing papers, my teachers either didn't have time to notice whether or not I has used the subjective case instead of the nominative case, or didn't care enough to make a big deal out of it.
I agree with Mackenzie... if I were to teach Accelerated Grammar, I would definitely have to re-learn a lot of grammar rules! And I think your question is a really good one--worksheets may help students originally learn grammar rules, but they're not really interesting for the students. And they don't really help retention of the information; I had to fill out grammar worksheets when I was in high school and I do not remember half of the information that was on them!
ReplyDeleteThis discussion will flow very well with the readings for today. My own experience was one of hating grammar, and eventually, and slowly, and when I had to for college, figuring it out enough to earn a BA in English.
ReplyDeleteI do think a lot of this is ingrained in our brains, and for the most part we do understand what one another are trying to say; even if we don't use semicolons correctly.
We were all ready to talk about Grammar last night! I like the idea of taking the student's own writing and creating grammar exercises. I watched a class that had Daily Grammar Lessons and it was just on the ELMO. The kids all fought over who got to fix the sentence, and they all helped the student who was the one up to bat with the marker. It was interactive, and the basics were getting taught!
ReplyDeleteTo answer your question, no, I don't believe there is anyway to learn/teach grammar without tedious worksheets. I observe a special ed class, and everyday we go through phonetics. Breaking English words down in such a way made me realize how much of the English is straight memorization of the rules. If you can figure out a fun way to make students memorize, than you're a good teacher.
ReplyDeleteand by than, I mean then. I did that on purpose....to prove a point...lol
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