From:                   Judy Diamondstone <[log in to unmask]>
Subject:                Re: Addendum - Setting up a Grammar Class
To:                     [log in to unmask]
> Hello, all --
>
> Pam Dykstra's advice to Pat should be a model for anyone who is interested
> in working with teachers. Mea culpa! I will try to follow her example.
>
> Judy


Ditto.  She covers a lot of material in the posting (copied below).  I
think I'll ask for the desk copy and approach our course coordinator
for developmental writing.  Hmmm...


From:                   Pam Dykstra <[log in to unmask]>
Hi Pat and Gretchen,
I  teach developmental writing at a community college.  I am not
sure if this fits the grammar/linguistic approach you are looking for,
but here is what works for my students.

1.  I begin with the differences between talking and writing.  During
the first class, I ask students which they would rather do: talk or
write.  Then I ask Why?   The discussion uncovers many
differences between talking and writing, one of which is that they
have different structures.  I explain that we talk in chunks of
information, stringing them along until we have gotten our point
across.  We write in sentences.  This is important for students to
know because it explains why they write fragments and runons:
they are writing the way they talk. When talking, many phrases
and clauses can stand as complete thoughts; when writing,
they are fragments.  A run-on is simply stringing along information,
often by connecting ideas with the words and and so, and then
using a period when they have completed that thought.
 As an aside, this writing-talking framework is helpful throughout
the course.  When we talk, the person is right with us.  When we
write, the reader is absent, necessitating the writing conventions.
We need punctuation (readers need to know how our ideas
connect and where they begin and end), correct spelling (we know
what word we mean, but readers don’t), paragraphing and clarifying
rambling discourse (readers cannot keep track of our ideas and will
be confused or bored).

2. I then teach how sentences work.  A sentence has two parts: a
subject and predicate.  The subject gives the "who or what.”  The
predicate gives the "what about it?”   This simple formula helps
them dissect and understand all kinds of sentences.  For example,
"Whatever goes around comes around.”  This would confuse most
of my students if I asked them to find the subject and verb.  Asking
them to find the subject (who or what) and the predicate (what
about it) helps them see these words as a sentence.

3. I use the image of a bicycle.  A subject and predicate connect
(without a comma– one of my basic writers’ errors) to form a stable
structure. That stable structure can hold a variety of additions: on
the front, in the middle, or at the end (starters, interrupters,
enders).  We mark these additions with commas because readers
need to know where the additions begin and end.  Readers are
always looking for the subject and predicate so they can
understand the point of the sentence. The commas help them see
the core sentence, the bike.

4.  We then practice a variety of additions that can be added to the
bike, including -ing additions, -ed additions, and definition
additions. Understanding how sentences work helps my students
improve their writing, and according to them, their reading.  Much of
this can be found in The Rhythms of Writing, which I must be
honest, I wrote.  You can get a free desk copy at Houghton Mifflin.
Hope this helps.
Pam Dykstra
-----------------------------------------------------
Sincerely, Robert Einarsson
please visit me at
www.artsci.gmcc.ab.ca/people/einarssonb

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/