Grammar-Part Two

These articles really put some more perspective on grammar in the classroom. The Anderson article is really the approach I was looking for. I really feel that it is important to be able to approach grammar in this way. As I mentioned in my last post, I feel that we are caught in the middle. Some teachers are stuck on the same old grammar instruction. Then, you have the other extreme, which doesn’t really teach it at all. I feel that this zooming in and out does a great job of merging the two in a non-boring or overwhelming way. A couple things really stood out about this article. First of all, that examining grammar should be “part of the meaning-making process,” instead of an interruption. If you approach it this way, then I think the other parts will fall into place. I also like how they point out that the best place to start is listening. Once you listen, and know your students, then you can pick subtle ways to teach the grammar, where the students don’t even realize it’s grammar instruction, and they actually might find somewhat fun. The article shows that with a little bit of guidance, you don’t have to be at the front of the room lecturing on the “rules” of grammar. Rather, the students are figuring out how to write well, and correct their own mistakes. The reason I liked this article the most, however, is because of one sentence and idea, “whatever it takes to move students toward correctness, reminding myself that students have to make errors to improve.” I feel that so many teachers feel that students should just know these things. So, they get out their red pen to write wrong to this, and wrong to that. However, these mistakes in the right environment, are what help students to learn individually and as a class. They should be used as tools, rather then confidence and grade downers.

The long article seems to be a great reference. I didn’t receive a lot of grammar instruction, so the quick little clarifications about the common mistakes were quite helpful. The Anderson article was my framework, but the other articles helped to complete the way I feel I want to incorporate grammar instruction in my classroom.