"In the beginning, God created..."
"For I know the plans I have for you..."
"The Lord is my shepherd..."
"Love is patient, love is..."
"For God so loved..."
She was copying the bible. Verse by verse. Chapter by chapter on the blue lines of college ruled notebook paper. Copying.
The NCTE daily Teaching and Learning forum email reminded me of this. Twelve days ago, Sarah posted this message to the forum:
I teach middle school English, and am looking for suggestions for a grammar workbook for the students. I haven't had much luck in this subject and don't particularly find the students do either. I tend to use handouts or Grammarbytes, which they love. Hoping for some suggestions,
Sara
As most of you know, I'm not a fan of worshits, particularly for Grammar. Give me sentence combining. Give me imitation. All in context: or give me death!
Perhaps others near my cubicle heard the moaning and gnashing of teeth as I read about DOL (the three letter curseword) and - gasp - WORKBOOKS! Fortunately, a voice of reason sounded from Yakima, WA:
Take a look at Mechanically Inclined by Jeff Anderson and Google "descriptive grammar" or rhetorical grammar. Both of these approach grammar as an author choice and for reader understanding. Anderson's routine moves Daily Oral Language to higher level thinking.
Another point is that we often cover grammar but don't really teach it--- modeling, guided practice, independent practice. We also need to choose what matters most. We spend so much time on labeling we never get to the analysis. "What is this group of words doing?" If we moved them here in the sentence would it change meaning?" "Why do we need a comma here? How does it help the reader?" It is that deeper analysis that engages students and "sticks" with them.
------------------------------
Molly Berger
Another point is that we often cover grammar but don't really teach it--- modeling, guided practice, independent practice. We also need to choose what matters most. We spend so much time on labeling we never get to the analysis. "What is this group of words doing?" If we moved them here in the sentence would it change meaning?" "Why do we need a comma here? How does it help the reader?" It is that deeper analysis that engages students and "sticks" with them.
------------------------------
Molly Berger
Then Gerald Helms became my hero with this response: (Note the underlined, bold, italicized text.)
First, I know little about the realities of teaching middle school, and it's been more than a few decades since I was in middle school. That said, my work with college-level developmental writers means I, too, must address sentence level writing and reading mechanics (grammar, punctuation, spelling) and vocabulary building.
Like you, I've never really met a grammar workbook that I liked very much. The problem, as we all know all too well, is that students can learn from the workbook but often do not transfer that learning to their own writing.
In my years teaching a "grammar" course for prospective teachers, I used, of call books, Grammar for Dummies by Geraldine Wood. It's humorous and accessible and reasonable. It covers the basics pretty well, although I needed to add in discussions on the complexities of real writing: e.g., the use of extended verbal phrases, clauses (like "What I mean to say"), etc., as subjects and objects; and considerations of the various ways that writers in English combine sentences. Still, my students seemed to like it--and were not bored silly. I think that there is actually a Grammar Workbook for Dummies, too.
For my entire career, I have used imitation copying in my writing classes, a strategy for learning sentence-level mechanics and building vocabulary that I learned from the late Edward P. J. Corbett. What I do is give students passages to copy. At the beginning of almost every class, for about 7 minutes to begin with, they slowly concentrate on copying word for word, letter for letter, mark for mark the passage from its beginning. They are required NOT to rush. This strategy of copying is a mode of learning that has been around for millennia. Writers as diverse as Benjamin Franklin, Malcolm X, and some business executives have used imitation copying. The idea is that over time, the student will unconsciously absorb the structures manifested in the various passages they copy. Then I add a modern twist: after copying for 7 minutes, I have students take a minute or two to review what they have copied and pick out one thing that they have a question about or find different or find interesting or that they think is important and write it down. They hand in their "one things" and we take 5-10 minutes to talk about a few that I identify as significant. Before the class, I would have copied the passage myself and know some things that I would want to discuss.
What's great about imitation copying is that you can integrate it into the reading and writing instruction you are doing otherwise by choosing passages from assigned readings and then, having each student identify 1-2 grammar, punctuation, spelling, or vocabulary items that they "promise" to include in their next writing assignment. This contextualizing helps them make the transfer. It also gives me specific items I can look for in their writing to praise or, if they leave them out, to note and have them revise.
Jerry
Like you, I've never really met a grammar workbook that I liked very much. The problem, as we all know all too well, is that students can learn from the workbook but often do not transfer that learning to their own writing.
In my years teaching a "grammar" course for prospective teachers, I used, of call books, Grammar for Dummies by Geraldine Wood. It's humorous and accessible and reasonable. It covers the basics pretty well, although I needed to add in discussions on the complexities of real writing: e.g., the use of extended verbal phrases, clauses (like "What I mean to say"), etc., as subjects and objects; and considerations of the various ways that writers in English combine sentences. Still, my students seemed to like it--and were not bored silly. I think that there is actually a Grammar Workbook for Dummies, too.
For my entire career, I have used imitation copying in my writing classes, a strategy for learning sentence-level mechanics and building vocabulary that I learned from the late Edward P. J. Corbett. What I do is give students passages to copy. At the beginning of almost every class, for about 7 minutes to begin with, they slowly concentrate on copying word for word, letter for letter, mark for mark the passage from its beginning. They are required NOT to rush. This strategy of copying is a mode of learning that has been around for millennia. Writers as diverse as Benjamin Franklin, Malcolm X, and some business executives have used imitation copying. The idea is that over time, the student will unconsciously absorb the structures manifested in the various passages they copy. Then I add a modern twist: after copying for 7 minutes, I have students take a minute or two to review what they have copied and pick out one thing that they have a question about or find different or find interesting or that they think is important and write it down. They hand in their "one things" and we take 5-10 minutes to talk about a few that I identify as significant. Before the class, I would have copied the passage myself and know some things that I would want to discuss.
What's great about imitation copying is that you can integrate it into the reading and writing instruction you are doing otherwise by choosing passages from assigned readings and then, having each student identify 1-2 grammar, punctuation, spelling, or vocabulary items that they "promise" to include in their next writing assignment. This contextualizing helps them make the transfer. It also gives me specific items I can look for in their writing to praise or, if they leave them out, to note and have them revise.
Jerry
Gerald Nelms
Academic Director of Developmental Writing
Wright State University
Academic Director of Developmental Writing
Wright State University
So mom is really smart. She must have known about the new research that proves that handwritten text is retained better than messages that are typed. And she must have known that handwriting is important for understanding and reading primary documents and cross-motor movement and critical thinking. (But that's another rant.)
In their new book, Text Dependent Questions, Doug Fisher and Nancy Frey talk about what text should inspire you to do. (That's not usually a short answer response or expository essay, mind you.)
Michael Roberts posted a beautiful quote from Letters to a Young Poet. I was inspired to find a nice piece of paper. I placed some dark lined paper underneath and copied the excerpt with my best handwriting. As I copied, the text and meaning slowed. I pondered and noticed things I had only skimmed when reading it first on Facebook. And I loved the passage even more!
