RESPONSES to this blog entry are due on Wednesday, Oct. 22nd, 2008.
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This article was basically about teaching grammar without your students knowing you are teaching them grammar.
Dean began teaching in a district that specifically addressed the teaching of grammar and sentence structure. When she tried to break down sentences and help her class identify words defined as adverbs, direct objects, adjectives and pronouns she met with blank looks and knew she was quickly losing the interest of her students. In vain she tried to find ways to incorporate grammar into everyday lessons only to be met with a scathing letter from a parent concerning her approach.
Changing methods she zeroed in on the writing of her students. She began to find ways of presenting sentences to the class that peaked their interest and met the grammar criteria. She never specifically told her class this is an adverb, that is the subject of the sentence. When she tried she lost them. She pushed on without mentioning grammar. The students became interested more because they felt it was a fun sentence game and not basic grammar.
Dean found a way to engage and teach her students without putting what she was teacing into specific context. She never said that by writing these sentences you are learning about fragments, subidornate clauses or parallel structure; but they were. The could make up a sentence and then break it down to specific subjects. They were learning and incorporating what they were learning into writing assignments. The idea of not knowing what Dean was specifically teaching them took the fear and boredom out of the lesson and made it easier to teach and therefore to learn.
This approach to grammar might not work for all teachers but clearly worked in Deans case. I found this approach refreshing and would utilize it in a classroom should I decide to teach.
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14 comments:
It was interesting to read this article and to see that this method worked for Dean. I thought it was strange that the students learned more by not talking about grammar than by actually talking about it and discussing the correct terms. It was nice to see a new approach to teaching grammar.
I think a lot is lost when you teach kids grammar without the proper terminology and definitions. Part of understanding a procedure (such as grammar) is being able to defend the result you personally got when you carried out the procedure and defense of one's result is impossible without a proper understanding of the structure of grammar and the terminology. "Because that's what it's supposed to be," would never hold up in an argument. Not to teach proper identification and usage of English grammar strips students of a much-needed fundamental of language.
Grammar is a very important aspect that students of all ages should know. Its important for students to know all of the basics to grammar. To me, the idea that the author gave was a very good idea. If the author believe that the students can learn grammar using that approach, then by all means go for it. I would have never thought of this idea and i believe that it will work.
This method of teaching is GREAT! Kids lose interest and have short attention spans when it comes to learning. By first ENGAGING them in something of interesting and then later explaining to them what they have learned, Dean is building a good report with the students. This will help in the long run for those subject that she is not able to use this approach with.
I don't know that I would use this method for teaching grammar. Obviously, students will be bored by the subject. However, if a teacher is avoiding telling the students the definitions of adverbs, prepositions, etc. then these students will be unable to participate in grammatical exercises in future classes. It may be a refreshing approach, but I think it will only hinder students in the long run.
To tell you the truth, I am torn as to how I feel about this article. I will be the first to admit that a new teaching method is always a refreshing and welcomed change. I believe by keeping students engaged in new learning activities and methods that they actually become more involved in the classroom and more willing to contribute to class discussion, ect. However, in terms of grammatical terms, I believe it is essential that students understand basic definitions. I know that they are boring because I have sat through lectures and lessons. But, once you have just a basic understanding of the terms, then you can start teaching grammar in a more casual, laid back, fun way. Sometimes, you have to teach the old fashioned way before you switch things around.
I hate to just say, "I agree with Brian", but I'm also torn. On the surface, this approach seems like something new and a great idea. However, I still think students need to know what they are learning. Yes, grammar can be boring, but so can most of the important things we need to learn. If the students aren't learning specifically what a noun is, or what the subject of a sentence is, how can they apply this knowledge to other situations? It's hard to say until I am actually put in a similar situation, but I don't think I will use this method in my own classroom.
I agree with Brain and Julie. I think that new teaching strategies are always nice, especially like in this situation where it did help to keep the students more involved. I think that Dean's methods of teaching grammar are very interesting. However my concern for her students is that when they move on to the next grade level and have a different teacher then they will understand the basic concepts of things but not know the actual terminology and then will be lost again. I definitely agree that students need to get a basic understanding of grammar and the terminology before you can try this new approach to teaching grammar. I think that students need to be aware of what they are learning and be able to apply these terms to real life situations.
This is a very interesting approach to teaching grammar. I think it is important to get children to have fun in the classroom while learning. This approach may not always be appropriate and I think it is important for the children to learn the proper terms, but it is refreshing for the children to enjoy school as well.
Teaching with a fun attitude is a good thing. With use this approach you have to be careful your a teacher first and not a friend first. If you break that barrier sometimes it hard to not teach certain individuals because they think they can get to you just as if you were a friend so there are limitations on how to teach students in this form.
Grammar can be a rather dry subject. It is no wonder that her students were not responsive to a direct approach. The more fun you can make any subject, the more likely it is that students (younger ones in particular) will not only pay close attention, but will retain the information.
I had a math teacher in 7th grade who taught positive and negative number functions using ficticious creatures called Pos and Negs. He made up stories about them and even had cute cardboard cutouts of numbers (Negs were red and Pos were blue). I've never had trouble with positive and negative numbers since this lesson.
This is an interesting approach to teaching grammar, but I feel that it will hurt students more than help them. I understand that it is hard to keep kids interested in a subject matter, especially grammar, but as teachers we need to find good ways to keep kids learning. Avoiding all proper terminology and simply playing sentence games will not help students when they reach higher level courses where they are expected to already know proper grammar and its terminology.
I think it is always nice to have new ideas for teaching, but we should also remember to use old methods as well. That way kids will be more prone to remembering them if they learn in several ways. I think I would use a combination of different tecniques.
This method is very interesting, especially because it keeps the kids engaged throughout the entire learning process. Even as a dedicated student I find my mind wandering more often than I would like, but this method would erase the pain of having to learn grammar. If grammar can be made fun, it can be learned quickly, and students will be able to become effective English students at an accelerated rate.
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