I was looking over the English workbook of a sixth-grader the other day.
First, I was impressed by how much grammar was in the workbook--plenty of
pages on the parts of speech, verb tenses, sentence types, etc. Each lesson
consisted of a couple of sets of individual sentences as exercises, ending
with--and this also impressed me--an enrichment writing assignment that
asked the student to write a paragraph or so in such a way as to use the
grammar item.

 But what dismayed me was seeing that while most of the sentence exercises
had been assigned, none of the enrichment writing was.  Here were the kinds
of grammar assignments that I think many of us would recommend--practice in
integrating grammar into writing situations--and they took a back seat to
the usual single-sentence identification drills.  One reason, I would guess,
is that there isn't time for them. The teaching of grammar is probably
constrained by the same tendency toward breadth instead of depth in school
curricula that constrains teaching in other skill and content areas.
Teachers, limited in their time to cover grammar, probably and
understandably feel that the optional enrichment writing can go, but the
sentence drills should stay.  I was impressed with the book, as I have been
with the grammar coverage in other elementary and middle English texts I
have seen; the definitions may be quite traditional, but there is no lack of
grammar material.  The trouble seemed to be one of time and priorities.

What impressions do others have of grammar in the workbooks at this level,
and how the books are used?

Brock Haussamen

Brock Haussamen
English Department
Raritan Valley Community College
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phone: 908-526-1200, ext. 8307