Last Blog :)

I thought this chapter was pretty interesting. It really made me think of the definition of grammar. I always considered grammar to simply deal with words and how to use them correctly in a sentence. However, it looks like grammar goes beyond this. 
I really like how they discuss topic sentences. I really do not like topic sentences, because they can be very generic and dry. 50-80% of papers written by professionals do not contain a topic sentence. If they are not using topic sentences to introduce a new topic, then why are we teaching and requiring our students to have a topic sentence in each paragraph? Noden states that, "Writers create paragraphs in context, and that context often doesn't require topic sentences.
The book provided many great examples on how to introduce concepts to writing using different forms of grammar. Connecting the Logic of Images with Transitions was a great section! The list of transitional signal words and phrases were wonderful. (I would love to hang up a poster with this information on it in my future classroom!) This not only helps students with their writing, but it also increases their vocabulary and the way they write their paper. 
Again, I cannot stress how much I have enjoyed Noden's lessons! The strategies that he provides after every chapter in the book are awesome! I can really see myself using the methods in my classroom. 

Noden's Chapter 5 :)

Noden brings up many interesting ways to use grammatical chunks in the classroom. He gives many examples of chunking and use different methods to instruct students using these methods. I really enjoyed reading this chapter, because it gave me great ideas on how to use this in a classroom. I think that students would really enjoy learning about how to use grammatical chunking. I think a good way to introduce this to students would be by introducing the brushstroke methods and then leading it into writing paragraphs about random topics, and then lead that into writing a paper. Noden lists so many great examples of pieces that use the examples that he talks about. This would be a great introduction also to each chunking that I would introduce to students also.

I brought this up in my seventh grade classroom and I think that they really enjoyed this. I used the painting something that is invisible. I had to explain it a few times and give several examples before they fully grasped it, but in the end, they came up with some great pieces! It was really exciting, because they felt that they were doing "college level work!" They really got into it :)

Adjectives!

I was super excited to read Anderson's section on adjectives and adverbs, because they are my favorite parts of speech! I love when kids begin to figure out what adjectives are and they begin applying them to their own creative pieces. It is so interesting to observe how kids will pile adjective on top of adjective when they first begin writing. However, if one monitors their work, one can begin to tell how their writing style has changed. I think it is essential for students to know and have a clear understanding on how to use these parts of speech, because (personally) I think this makes or breaks a paper.
I find it so much easier to read a paper that is filled with vivid details about the scenery and the people who are in the story! Teachers should begin to show their students mentor texts from the beginning of the learning process on adjectives. I really liked the one that Anderson included : "Her eyes opened, closed, opened again, pale and opaque." This is a great example to show students so they don't just say, "She had pale and opaque eyes that constantly opened and closed."
I really like the AAAWWUBBIS as Titles that Anderson included as well when discussing adverbs. I know that I would love to have a sign displaying this and example written below it. It really helps me out when I am writing a paper so that I do not have a misused adverb clause. I know I get confused about where to insert a comma, so this may also address that issue with students who are unsure about this as well.
Again, I really can't emphasize enough how much I enjoy reading Anderson's book. He has really shown me how to use grammar effectively in a classroom without having to actually sit the students down and have them fill out boring worksheets and perform tidious activites that will not benefit them at all when it comes down to using grammar effectively.

Yay for Multigenre Writing :)

I have never heard of the Multigenre Paper before we discussed it in class on Thursday. I think it is a creative, yet very informational way to writing after a project or novel. I am really looking forward to writing this paper. Not only because of the freedom that comes along with this type of paper, but also it is a great way to get your ideas out in the open and have people be interested in reading what you have to say. I believe students would prefer writing a paper like this. It may be a little longer in length, but it consists of a number of different elements of writing. It not only teaches them how to address an audience in the form of writing a short, formal paper, but it also gives the writer the ability to construct other dimensions of writing such as poetry, journal writing, blog entries, and so on! If a writer is not confident in one way of writing, then he/she could show their skill through another way. I think my favorite thing about this type of writing is the freedom:)! I really wish I had the ability to write an essay like this in high school and even in my first few years of college. It gives the educator a great way to looking at each students individual abilities instead of giving them a  flat, dry topic and way to writing.

Grammar Traditionally?

I was in an English classroom over spring break and had to conduct a lesson on grammar. It took all I could to tell the teacher that this will not really benefit the students at all and it is just a waste of classtime. I handed out a paper on noun and verb agreement and twenty minutes later, I went over the worksheet. The lesson was over after that...never to be touched on again! Ughh, I was utterly disappointed. I believe next time I will bring in Noden's textbook and show her what we are learning! :) ....((I also did DOL's all week with the class.))

Teaching grammar in isolation to writing has been found again and again to have little if any positive effect on students' writing. I cannot believe that teachers' today are not seeing this in their own classrooms! I wonder if they just do not care about this statistic or if they do not want to change up their lesson plan. I really, really want to have an answer for this question. It has really been bothering me for sometime now. I cannot believe the evidence that Noden provides and actually going into the classroom and visually being able to experience grammar and writing being seperated is crazy. I could not help but get frustrated over the lesson I was "teaching". The kids were obviously not learning anything!

"Good writing is not produced by mere grammar study!" I love this quote, and I am sure I have posted it in several blogs, but I believe it to be 100% true.

First off, I just want to start out by saying that I loved the Strategy 1 test that Noden provided us with in Chapter 10. How crazy is it that people compare a person's intelligence level by how proper their grammar usage is and how well they spell. (I'm a horrible speller, so I know how rude people can be sometimes!) This test does make it known though that people will respect you more if you have a greater knowledge of our English language and its grammar. I think that this would be a wise choice to give students/class if they ask, "Why do we need learn grammar/English?" It clearly states that business executives will support the notion that grammatical skills directly affect promotion. I, also, believe that this test would also encourage kids to want to learn (at least a little bit) more about grammar. It would be nice for a teacher to see their students progress as well as the students to see their progress as well. It's motivational!
I also liked the list that Noden gave on page 235. It contains the twenty most common errors in their order of frequency. This would be a great way for teachers' to know exactly what they should focus on when it comes to grammar and teaching their students. Why bother teaching a subject on nouns when they already know how to use a noun and what a noun is. Teachers should focus on what their students are struggling with....this leads to better writing. :)
Anderson does such a great job at teaching grammar! I hope that I can teach my students the way that Anderson has been teaching me during the semester. If I can do half of what he has done for me, then I believe I will be a great educator! I love the Pronoun Case that he gives on page 112. I think this is a great sign to have displaying in the classroom. If students see these signs/posters, I believe they are more willing to look and try to learn it on their own time as well.

Interesting Idea, Noden.

As I was reading through Noden's text, I must admit I was a little apprehensive about his ideas of imitating without plagiarizing. After reading and a lot of thinking, I believe that Noden's idea would be a great way to approach writing for students who do not like to write or have a hard time with coming up with creative ideas at the beginning of the writing process. My favorite approach that Noden discussed was the Pooh Perplex Approach. I really enjoyed reading the examples he put in the book such as "The Old Man and The Seal and The Old Man and The PC. "It creates a parody of a serious piece of writing." I think this would be a great (and creative) way to test students at the end of a novel. We (as future teachers) could give the students the option of taking a test on the novel or writing a short parody of the story (maybe 5 pages in length) and presenting it to the class. Personally, I would chose the story! :)
I really liked the strategies section of the text also. We already read about the Writer's Notebook, but I am pleased to see Noden also recognized this as a wonderful resource for students. I really liked his idea of painting from a family photograph. This could be an exercise to be used in class as a writing prompt for journal writing. Create your Own Edgar Allen Humpty is another awesome writing prompt for students. These could all be used in a creative writing course! (I am getting so many great ideas! Yay!) I am going to be bringing up some of these ideas next time I am in my 7th grade classroom.

Playground = Writer's Notebook

I loved Anderson's concept of writing in a journal or notebook very often in a classroom. I was always so jealous in high school when I saw teacher's using this method to instruct writing workshops, because I never had a teacher who ran their classroom using this way of teaching. Anderson began his section by saying, "...I know how most students see these corrections: as X's over their souls, their desires, their thoughts." This really got me, because I can not imagine why any teacher could have the heart to tear apart a piece of work that a student constructed. It amazes me that this is still happening everyday in classrooms. I can not imagine telling a student that his/her work is awful and redirecting them how to write! I remember my first year of college, I had a professor that was so rude (at my previous college --- not Ship!), and I asked him to look over my paper for me while editing in class one day. He read the first page of my paper and tore it up in front of the class and said it was awful and I completely missed the point of the book. I was mortified and that day I decided I was not going to be an Engish Major, because of what a teacher told me about my writing. After serious thinking, I obviously did not change me major, but that day will always stick with me. He did me a great favor actually, because I knew what kind of teacher not to be.
But getting back to the Anderson's text, he had some wonderful ideas about how to get students to ease into the writing process. He stated that at the beginning of the year, he would begin class by reading students a passage out of a novel, magazine, ect and then allow them to think about it and begin writing. If some students were hesistant about writing still, he would nudge them along by suggesting a topic to begin writing about. Sooner or later, each student would begin to write and share their work out of their journals. He would then build up the students by pointing out the positives of their work. I just really liked this idea and look forward to possibly applying this to my classroom someday!
Anderson also talks about establishing a checklist for students, so they can begin to recongize their mistakes. Teachers' can begin the "Editor's Checklist" by writing up simple rules such as: Capitalization Rules, Apostrophes, Commas, & Run-on Sentences.  Soon the student will begin to look for these and possibly come up with their own rules to add to the list.

This paragraph really stuck out to me while I was reading Mechanically Inclined: "If parents don't understand why you're not marking papers, take a peice of children's art and stick a transparency over it. Then, start marking all over it, crossing things out, redrawing other parts, putting notes on it. Of course, everyone gasps. Then ask, why would we do this to student writing?"

I actually read this after I finished correcting WIFYS papers and felt bad that I had marked so much stuff incorrectly or wanted to basically change their paper. They obviously wrote the paper they did a certain way, because it had a great impact in/on their lives. I believe that by changing it to the way I think it should be told may completely change the outlook on their paper. I realize that I did need to make corrections on the paper though, because I cannot meet formally with each student. However, I will be considering doing this when I am paired up with a student in a few weeks.

By comparing a child's work of art to a college/high school student's writing, it really helped me fully understand what teacher's are doing. I would never consider reconstructing a child's work of art or telling him/her to add or take away certain pieces that they drew. THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT WE ARE DOING TO STUDENTS THOUGH. We are telling them how to write and then when they write, if we do not like their style of writing we make them change it! "Marking every error did about as much good as yelling down a hole." --I believe that this is why teachers get so frustrated at times. They may not realize that they are in fact damaging their students instead of helping them succeed. As future educators, I think that we need to begin focusing on the approach that Anderson and Weaver are taking.

When Should We Teach Grammar?

I really wish I could show this textbook to the seventh grade teacher that I am shadowing right now. Having been in her classroom for six months and observing how she instructs her class every Tuesday and Thursday on grammar, I feel like this textbook would be a great benefit for her…and maybe the entire district. Every Tuesday and Thursday, Ms. B. goes over grammar lessons. She teaches out of a manual and reads line from line to teach the students. While I watch this happening, I notice that all the kids are almost comatose in their seats. After the mini-lesson, Mrs. B. instructs them to go through their workbooks and they guess on all the answers. They are not interested in learning about grammar, because she is not applying the lesson to anything. They are simply going through the motions of “skill and drill” at a seventh grade level, and then moving on the next day. Grammar is not being incorporated with their writing and reading which is obviously essential considering that Weaver is basing a lot the book off of that specific belief.

In Chapter 3, Weaver explains why and how grammar should be positive, productive, and practical. She lists twelve concepts and discusses them briefly. While I was reading, I realized that Ms. B. is actually damaging her students according to Weaver’s beliefs. The “skill and drill” is not helping them become successful writers. In fact, she is actually on the verge of damaging their ability to grow into exceptional writers. For example, #6 states that Grammar conventions taught in isolation seldom transfer to writing. This is exactly what she is doing. They are not applying any of the grammar lessons or rules on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday which are their writing days. Furthermore, Weaver states that few grammatical terms are actually needed to discuss writing. She writes that most students will turn a deaf ear to the details of pronoun cases, noun subcategories, and vagaries of different “kinds” of nouns (27).

Each student in the lower level classes are doing just this…they are not paying attention in class, because they are not interested in the subject matter. If grammar was being taught with writing, the students may not exactly know they are learning different grammatical terms as well as how to properly take apart of sentence or even write a sentence the correct way. Now I am not bashing Ms. B’s teaching style. I respect her and her ability to teach different types of writing and poetry to students who are only twelve years old. I am simply critiquing the way she presents her grammatical lessons. I believe that if we would follow most of Weaver’s rules for teaching grammar that not only would the testing scores increase, but the children’s interest in writing and reading would sky rocket.

Wonderful Articles!

I found each article to be interesting in its own way. It caused me to really think about the English language and think about how we can define the English language correctly. Below are a few points that I thought were well put!

1) I think it is funny how many Americans say, "Speak English. You're in America." However, A Brief History of English clearly states that there are so many different types of English language. Roberts gave an example by pointing out that a person from Alabama and a person from Iowa are from the same country, but when they are placed in a room together it is difficult for them to understand what the other person is trying to say. The slang and jargon are so different depending on what part of the country you are in!
2) Making English Grammar conform to Latin rules is like asking people to play baseball using the rules of football. GREAT! :) I really enjoyed reading this, because I have always thought it was true. I never really saw the true relationship between English and Latin. I was just always told they were similar. No one ever explained how they were similar though. It was wonderful to finally read a passage where someone shared their same opinion as me!
3) I thought it was funny to think about what the true definition of a sentence is. There is such a broad definition of a sentence --- it has to have a subject, predicate, ect. Although Bryson states that most people write sentences that only contain one word: "What?" "How?" "Wow!" Are they really sentences? Can we define those as sentences? It was great to think about those questions and I believe that yes, they are sentences. We shorten our language up and create sentences in half the time that is needed. For example, "Do you want to come out with me tonight." "Yeah. Where?" I just responded with "Yeah. Where?" The "correct way" to respond would maybe be..."Yes. Where are you going out to tonight?"
4) I thought Scott Leheigh's article was very funny, but true! I enjoyed reading the article, because it made me think of how I talk with different people. "Awesome is the all-purpose one-stop-shopping word that pretty much eliminates the need for any further verbal communication." How true is this statement? If I am texting someone or even talking to someone face-to-face, by just saying the word awesome...it ends the conversation 90% of the time! It's a great way to end discussions you don't want to be in either! :)
5) "Television erodes vocabulary not only through its own least-common-denomonator language, but by supplanting that greater builder of vocabulary and knowledge, reading." I could not agree more with this sentence! Children watch television way too much. I rarely find a child picking up and book and reading. I have been in a 7th grade Language Arts classroom for the past year and have found that kids do not read the books assigned to them. They would rather watch the movie or sparknote them! (I found it odd that they even knew what sparknotes was at such a young age!) I believe that children do not understand the possibilities with reading. They do not know the world that lies inside a novel. It would be a tragedy if our youth would lose the power to open up a book and ENJOY it just for the fun of reading and not because they were told to read!