My Grammar Gloss is Poppin'!
The Philosophy on English: The Grammatical Aspect
This is what I call the Grammar Cheat Sheet ( The idead brought to you by Professor Jonathan Bush).
X-WIMP
Do NOT be a grammar Nazi (there is no such thing as a “right” or “wrong” form of grammar). Do NOT waste your students’ time by digging their noses into textbooks. Do NOT waste your students’ time with rhetoric worksheets. Do NOT designate “grammar time” with its own time slot during class. Do NOT even dare to just skim through spontaneous grammar lessons on odd – given days and hope that your students understand. Do NOT tell your students that there is only one correct form of proper English. Do NOT insinuate to your students that a quality paper will only be quality if it has perfect grammar. | O - I DARE YOU!
Make grammar mistakes with your students! “In this way, students will begin to understand that grammar and language skills are learned over time [along with] their level of ‘correctness’,” (Alsup and Bush, p.87). Do something miraculous with grammar – MAKE IT FUN! Do grammar lessons with literary pieces: Shakespeare, Twain, newspaper or magazine articles that your class is studying. Do grammar lessons with written works done by the students. Grammar lessons can pop up out of nowhere! Try having your students read aloud certain parts of a piece of literature and see if they stumble. From there, the previous grammatical knowledge gained can be put to the test (without the stressful environment of correctness). Of course, there is standard form of English that every student should be familiar with – all the sophisticated grammatical terms. Nonetheless, this would be an ample time to bring a map of the USA to class and discuss the different regions and their different uses of the English language. As Goal C mentions that it doesn’t matter how a sentence may be formed in a particular region or conversation, it does not mean, “…that such a sentence does not have “less” grammar than [a] standard version,” (Alive, 2003, p.7). |
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WRITINGiS AN ARTFORM!
IF WE SPEND TOO MUCH TIME ON HOW OUR STUDENTS CAN HAVE EVERY WRITTEN PHRASE BE COLORED WITH THE PERFECT GRAMMATICAL STRUCTURE, THEN THERE IS NO ART TO THEIR WRITING. GRAMMAR IS MEANT TO LEAD OUR STUDENTS TO EXPLORE WITH COLORFUL SENTENCE STRUCTURE, COLORFUL WORDS, AND COLORFUL LENGTH. GRAMMAR IS ONLY MEANT TO BE THE STARTING POINT. THUS I DARE ALL OF YOU ENGLISH TEACHERS TO TEACH GRAMMAR LIKE YOU’RE PAINTING AN OIL ON CANVAS –
EVERY NEW COLOR IS A NEW AND EXCITING GRAMMATICAL CONCEPT.
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WRITINGiS AN ARTFORM!
IF WE SPEND TOO MUCH TIME ON HOW OUR STUDENTS CAN HAVE EVERY WRITTEN PHRASE BE COLORED WITH THE PERFECT GRAMMATICAL STRUCTURE, THEN THERE IS NO ART TO THEIR WRITING. GRAMMAR IS MEANT TO LEAD OUR STUDENTS TO EXPLORE WITH COLORFUL SENTENCE STRUCTURE, COLORFUL WORDS, AND COLORFUL LENGTH. GRAMMAR IS ONLY MEANT TO BE THE STARTING POINT. THUS I DARE ALL OF YOU ENGLISH TEACHERS TO TEACH GRAMMAR LIKE YOU’RE PAINTING AN OIL ON CANVAS –
EVERY NEW COLOR IS A NEW AND EXCITING GRAMMATICAL CONCEPT.
.