I remember learning the four types of sentences and subjects and a few other goodies when I was in second grade (I remember because we moved and had no nuns the following year). I also remember feeling very proud of the achievement. David Mulroy's _The War Against Grammar_ reports that children in the Middle East have very thorough knowledge of their grammar by age 10.
Phil Bralich
-----Original Message-----
>From: "Marie-Pierre.Jouannaud" <[log in to unmask]>
>Sent: May 12, 2006 8:47 AM
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: Re: Question re: introducing grammar
>
>Just to give another perspective, here's what my daughter (who's in second
>grade in France) has been doing this year:
>
>First they learnt about personal pronouns and verbs, then about nouns
>(common nouns and proper nouns), and adjectives.
>They also know the term 'subject', but I don't know how far they went with it.
>
>The other day, I heard one of my daughter's friends say (they were working
>on a kind of poster they wanted to show other friends):
>'Oh, we forgot the determiner', and indeed a 'le' (the) was missing!! I
>haven't seen the term 'determiner' in my daughter's notebook (where all the
>important rules are copied down), but obviously the teacher must have
>mentioned it. I asked my daughter later but she didn't seem to be very
>clear as to what it really meant.
>
>Of course all of this is necessary because they're learning how to spell
>and you can't learn French spelling without knowing some grammar (you can't
>use pronunciation because grammatical endings are mostly not pronounced).
>But in any case it shows that second graders can be taught to recognize
>nouns, verbs, pronouns and adjectives, at least in the kinds of sentences
>they are expected to write at that level.
>
>I am told that they don' t do much grammar in later grades (high school
>especially), but I still think it's a promising beginning.
>
>Marie-Pierre Jouannaud
>France
>
>
>A 10:13 12/05/2006 -0500, vous avez écrit :
>>Dan,
>>
>>Here is my answer to your question. Of course, 6th graders can handle
>>the "abstract nature" of grammar.
>>
>>You can demonstrate this very easily. Do an exercise with Mad Libs.
>>I suspect that students will get most of the word forms correct for any
>>one blank. If that is the case, then it suggests they know something
>>about word categories.
>>
>>You can also give students pairs of sentences: one standard and one not
>>a possible sentence. Again, I suspect they will be able to chose the
>>correct sentence.
>>
>>Then give them pairs of sentences: one standard and one with an obvious
>>non-standard form (himself -- hisself) (I saw -- I seen) (She and I
>>went -- Her and me went) etc. Ask students to figure out how they are
>>different. Would a teacher say one versus would X say the other. Again,
>>I suspect they will be able to talk about the differences.
>>
>>Such exercises can lead to forming yes/no questions and tag questions
>>from declarative sentences. These exercises can lead to discussion of
>>what is the grammatical subject and the tensed form such sentences.
>>
>>Several days ago, I was teaching some 10-11 year old non-native speakers
>>of English. I was able to have them make judgements about various pairs
>>(one grammatical -- one ungrammatical) of English sentences. They could
>>do it, so I am sure native speakers can.
>>
>>And, you might also want to consider nonsense English. Jabberwocky or
>>Dr. Seuess is good. Have the students answer questions about who is
>>doing what to whom. Answer to those questions reveal subject,
>>predicates, object, etc. Also, such questions reveal they can identify
>>nouns, verbs, etc.
>>
>>I have not taught 6th graders, but Mad Libs are written for such an age
>>group. I am confident that you can come up with other exercises that
>>can demonstrate to anyone of your colleagues that such kids can made
>>judgments about grammar. If you can, it reveals that they are capable
>>of handling the "abstract nature" of grammar.
>>
>>It is up to us as teachers to design exercises that tap into their
>>knowledge of grammar. I hope this helps.
>>
>>Bob Yates
>>Central Missouri State University
>>
>> >>> [log in to unmask] 05/11/06 1:32 PM >>>
>>I have been a passive member of this Listserv for some time, and I
>>suspect this topic has been covered before, but I could use a little
>>information. If only I had kept my old emails. I work in an elementary
>>school where a sixth grade language arts teacher recently told me that
>>she does not believe her students are able to handle the abstract nature
>>of grammar. My suspicion is that she just doesn't want to teach grammar.
>>Is there something I could lean on--research, position statement,
>>anything--to support my belief that she is wrong? There is a larger
>>grammar conversation on the horizon and I would like to know all that I
>>can about when formal grammar instruction might be introduced.
>>
>>Thanks for any help you can offer.
>>
>>
>>Dan Spector
>>
>>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/
>>
>>!DSPAM:2252,44638a5c105971922118576!
>>
>>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/
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/
|
