Readings for March 1

Petit’s article made me question why I personally am so scared of grammar. Is it because of the way I was taught grammar? Is it because I don’t remember what I was taught? I think it is a combination of the way I was taught and the terminology that seems to confuse more than clarify. You feel stupid for not being able to formally name the parts of something you use daily (writing), particularly if you’re an English major. Thus, I was attracted to Dean’s article because she avoided the standard, confusing terminology. However, Williams made a valid point that we need to have a common language to use when teaching grammar and usage. I then began to wonder if perhaps Dean’s approach is not as grand as I initially thought it was. I despise thinking about teaching to tests, but if we are teaching parts of sentences and grammar anyway, shouldn’t we teach the students the proper names so that they could score higher on standard tests? Perhaps Dean’s approach could be slightly modified to include proper names after the students have already mastered identification.

Another reason I was drawn towards Dean’s approach was because I felt as though students were given the freedom to fail, in an informal setting. I think all three readings pointed to the fact that students deserve more freedom in grammar, and they deserve the knowledge to make grammatical choices. I think a teacher’s goal should be to give students knowledge that creates options for them and then let them choose for themselves. Petit, Dean, and Williams all seem to agree on that aspect.

Here’s a website that no one has heard of, I just know it. It lists some of Dean’s lesson ideas for teaching revision, organization, audience, and genres. http://www.readwritethink.org/lessons/author_detail.asp?authorid=225&lessonid=978