Transcript The Gender Gap

The Ongoing Debate!
HOW Do We Teach GRAMMAR?
Take a moment to reflect on
your current beliefs pertaining
to teaching grammar and
provide an explanation or
example for each reason.
Fundamental Question
“Why do we want students to learn grammar?”
Teacher Responses
Belief:
Explanation / Examples:
Belief:
Explanation / Examples:
Teacher Responses
Belief:
Explanation / Examples:
Belief:
Explanation / Examples:
Teacher Responses
Belief:
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Belief:
Explanation / Examples:
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Bottom line seems to be that we
need to be able to talk about some
of the grammatical features to help
students EDIT their writing.
What Does the Research Say?
• Read silently “Approaches to Teaching Grammar and
Usage” pgs. 5 – 10. Peruse the Sample Activity Plans
on pgs. 27 – 58.
• Underline two to three quotes from the reading that
stand out to you. (a quote that prompts debate or
discussion and write a personal reaction statement to
each quote)
Fifty years of research into grammar instruction
confirms what many teachers have long suspected:
when it comes to improving writing, traditional
grammar instruction simply does not work. In
fact, the most unequivocal conclusion reached by
George Hillocks in his 1986 meta-analysis of
twenty five years of writing research was that
traditional grammar instruction was the most
ineffective method of improving writing.
“In view of the widespread agreement of
research studies… the conclusion can be
stated in strong and unqualified terms:
the teaching of formal grammar has a
negligible, or because it usually displaces
some instruction and practice in actual
composition, even a harmful effect on the
improvement of writing.” Braddock
“The study of traditional school grammar
(i.e., the definition of part of speech, etc.) has
no effect on raising the quality of student
writing… Taught in certain ways, grammar
and mechanics instruction has a deleterious
effect on student writing. In some studies a
heavy emphasis on mechanics and usage
(marking every error) resulted in a significant
loss in overall quality…”
Hillocks
So the question becomes how much do
they need to be able to know to talk
effectively about writing?
AND
How to teach that grammar in the
context of their writing?
Let’s Take a Closer Look at our
State Standards and What it Asks
our Students to Master
North Carolina Standard Course of Study
Grammar and Language Usage
Emphasized in all grades, this learning environment
asks students to refine their grammar and language
usage. Students should continue to develop increasing
control of sentence formation, conventional usage,
punctuation, capitalization, and spelling. Grammar and
Language Usage focuses on students' developing
increasing proficiency in the understanding and control
of their language, including vocabulary development,
the importance and impact of word choice and syntax,
and the development of the English language in both
oral and written forms.
Grammar and Language Usage
Students should learn how to use
effective and interesting language
including:
• standard English for clarity.
• technical language for specificity.
• informal usage for effect.
Grammar and Language Usage
Students should also increasingly develop
control over grammatical conventions, including
sentence formation, usage, punctuation, capitalization,
and spelling.
Most students do not learn grammatical conventions
efficiently through memorizing the parts of speech and
practicing correct usage and mechanics through drills
and exercises, with the assumption that students will
transfer what they learn in grammar study to their own
writing and speaking.
th
9
Grade EOC
• The only grammatical terms that a
student is expected to understand, even in
the 9th grade, are sentence, fragment, and
run-on. The best preparation you can
give your students is grammar and
language usage based in the context of
writing and editing effectively.
State Writing Assessment
• Mechanics
– Spelling, Capitalization, Punctuation, Paragraphs
• Usage
– Word Order, Verb Tense, and Subject-Verb
Agreement
• Sentence Formation
– Simple and Complex Sentences
Traditional Grammar Instruction
Vs.
Research Based Grammar Instruction
Traditional
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Use of Grammar Workbooks
Generic Mini Lessons on the Parts of
Speech
Focus on Grammar During Prewriting, First Draft, and Revision
Stages
Research Based
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Mini Lessons Based on Ongoing
Evaluation of Common Grammatical
Errors
Use of Student Exemplars and
Student Texts that Model Effective
vs. Ineffective Writing Skills
Peer Editing Using Rubrics
Focus on Complex Sentences,
Transitional Words and Phrases, and
Vivid Use of Language
Unconventional Approaches to the
Conventions of Language
How Do We Balance Teaching the Five
Effective Features of Writing in the
Context of Explicit Strategy
Instruction?
Content
Focus, Organization,
Support and Elaboration,
Style
Conventions
Mechanics, Usage, and
Sentence Formation
Remember!
• Writing is the product and grammar is a tool
to improve that product.
• Life will not require that our students
underline the subject of a sentence once and
the verb twice, but it will require that they
write effective letters with correct subject-verb
agreement.
So?....
The Five Features of
Effective Writing
The fifth feature, Conventions,
should be addressed LAST in
the writing process.
Teaching Grammar in the Context of Writing
Instructional Strategies that Work
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Conferences
Mini Lessons
Think Alouds
Daily Oral Language
Peer Coaching
Rubrics
According to our NCSCOS, Conventions are most
efficiently learned when studied as part of practical,
functional grammar that:
• is concerned with how the language works in context to
achieve a particular purpose with a specified audience.
• uses a minimum number of grammatical terms and a
maximum number of examples. Students need no more
than the terminology specified in the goals of each grade
level.
• focuses on grammatical components that relate to
meaningful sentences in speaking and writing.
• teaches both correct, standard usage, and
effective sentence sense and style (for example,
the power of dialects in literature and film; the
conventions of technical writing).
• teaches appropriate usage in the context of the
students' writing and speaking, through:
 focused, short lessons based on the
demonstrated needs of the students.
 discussions of the syntax of student-generated
sentences.
 activities such as sentence combining, sentence
imitating, sentence expanding.
 self and peer editing and teacher conferences.
• Apply your knowledge of mechanics, usage, and sentence formation to
examples of student writing.
• Evaluate your student writing samples (at least four papers) based on the
three components under the umbrella of conventions using the rubric
attached. (evaluating conventions attached)
• Determine what skills the student needs to master based on the evidence in
the student exemplar (instructional implications attachment)
• Choose a lesson plan from “Approaches to Teaching Grammar and
Language Usage” to assist student mastery (pgs. 27 – 58 from “In the
Right Direction”)
• Create a lesson plan using the Riverdeep Template (attached) that
addresses usage, mechanics, or sentence structure.