Martha's description of scope and sequence seems delightfully clear.
Our own Scope and Sequence project is a work in progress.
Presentations on the project last summer focused on the project in a
more general way.   My aim is to line up volunteers with roles in the
next few weeks and have draft portions ready and available for
comments before our summer conference. That means scope, sequence,
standards, teacher training, assessment, curricular practice, an
alternative position statement (to NCTE's) and whatever else we deem
appropriate.  In the summer, we could then try to iron out
differences, close gaps, and so on. I certainly like the idea of
making the drafts and finished documents available on the website. We
have propose3d a panel to next ye ar's NCTE conference that focuses on
discrepancies between state standards, curriculum, recent changes in
assessment, teacher training, and so on.  It also includes a report on
Scope and Sequence, either finished or in progress, as a way to bring
these disparate forces into some sort of harmony.  >
    NCTE has been marketing Grammar Alive as one more tool in teaching
Grammar in context.  As currently understood, GIC is a minimalist
approach, trying to reduce error when it shows up with as little
metalanguage as possible.  (As Martha says, native speakers know
grammar unconsciously.  Therefore, as this approach has it, conscious
attention is only necessary to make adjustments when we find mistakes.
Since conscious understanding is not valued and since there is and
should not be a set curriculum, there is also a resistance to sequence
or assessment.) I certainly don't blame the ATEG committee for
agreeing to those changes in order to get a solid book into print. 
But I think we need to keep telling the truth about it and offer a
scope and sequence ON OUR OWN if need be. We should, in fact, be
trying to line up a publisher or grant funding to publish as part of
our work.
    Grammar in context is not a discourse based grammar.  It is
essentially error focused and simply uses writing as the occasion for
bringing attention to needs as they are experienced. (There are token
references to "style", but no substantial explorations or explanations
of what it meant by that.) It has essentially avoided or finessed the
question as to whether conscious understanding is at all useful in
conversation about error or (perhaps more importantly)understanding
the role of grammar in building effective, coherent text. People
forget that the "harmful" in the "grammar is harmful" statement is not
from direct teaching, but from taking time from higher order concerns.
 It has been taken for granted that a deep understanding of language
is not a higher order concern or that it couldn't be as much or more
use in reading or writing as a focus on "literary elements".   It is a
position built around remarkably pedestrian ideas about language and
can get away with that largely because most English teachers have been
taught that knowledge about grammar is unimportant.
    It's not so much that NCTE officially disagrees with us, which they
should continue to do as long as they believe what they believe, but
that they are trying to stifle alternative positions.
    Scope and Sequence doesn't have to argue itself within itself.  It's
enough, I think, for it to be clear and substantial and useful. The
current situation is in dire need of fixing.  We need to present a
clear alternative to the status quo and make it available.  Once you
lay out a scope, you need a sequence, a curriculum, changes in teacher
training, new articulations of state standards, new tools for
assessment, and so on.
   It's an ambitious project, but I'm sure we're up to the task.

Craig


 Dear Allison,
>
> Thank you so much for your generous words.  I'm thrilled to know that
> UEG had a positive influence on your career path.
>
> Your question about scope and sequence is not silly at all.  We tend
> to toss these terms around, assuming everyone knows what we mean.
> And sometimes it turns out that each of us has a different meaning in
> mind.   In general, scope refers to the content of the curriculum,
> and sequence to its timing.  What features of grammar should we
> teach; when should we start (3rd grade, 5th? Kindergarten?) and
> where?  That is, what comes first?  How do we integrate it into the
> curriculum in a meaningful way?  And all of  these questions--and
> their answers--must take into account the children's development of
> language and their ability at various ages to understand abstract
> concepts.   So S&S is a big topic, indeed.  And very controversial.
>
> We certainly welcome your ideas.  And I hope you can join us at ATEG
> this summer.
>
> Martha
>
>
>
>
>
>>This may be a silly question that's already been answered, but what
>>exactly IS "scope and sequence"? I'm still a student and haven't
>>been exposed to much grammar theory (but plenty of grammar), so I'm
>>a bit unfamiliar with some of the terminology used on this LISTSERV.
>>I just want to make sure I can keep up with what's being said.
>>
>>Mrs. Kolln, my college grammar class used your book "Understanding
>>English Grammar," and it's what got me started on my goal to become
>>an English teacher and to remain a grammarphile. I would like to say
>>thank you for writing it; it helped me understand my own language so
>>much better, and I am using that knowledge now in my university's
>>writing center to help others understand it, too.
>>
>>- Allison
>>To join or leave this LISTSERV list, please visit the list's web
>>interface at: http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/ateg.html and
>>select "Join or leave the list"
>>
>>Visit ATEG's web site at http://ateg.org/
>
> To join or leave this LISTSERV list, please visit the list's web interface
> at:
>      http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/ateg.html
> and select "Join or leave the list"
>
> Visit ATEG's web site at http://ateg.org/
>

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