Learning in the classroom

            Today wasn’t a typical school day. Instead of students, we had teacher professional development. Three women from Prosser came to conduct AVID training for the first half of the day. It was okay, and that’s stretching it. The first woman talked for a half-hour about how great the program is and so did the second and so did the third. (POW 2: Simple sentence with compounded verbs connected with ands.) It was excruciating. They did so little teaching that I wondered what kind of teachers they were in their classrooms. All I wanted to know was what AVID is and how to implement it in the classroom. After four hours of training, I’m still not quite sure what Avid is or how it is approached in the classroom. Why can’t they just do what they say they are going to do and train us? (POW 4: Rhetorical question.)

           

            The second half of the day was spent on questioning strategies. This was infinitely more interesting and useful to me as a future teacher. I enjoyed the handout with the three levels of questions — basically from low- to high-complexity. (POW 3: Dash to emphasize end of sentence.) While I know to question with the goal of getting students to think critically, I need more tools like the one given in the training to help me accomplish it. There were a few other things that helped, too, like a structured word definition/vocabulary sheet to get kids thinking about the terms they are learning.

           

            Overall, it was an okay day, though I felt like I could have learned more in the time I spent at the training, especially the morning half. (POW 1: Use However; POW 8: One sentence paragraph.)

            Friday was another quiet day in the classroom. Not a ton of stuff happened, but during my class with students who are at-risk, I got to work with three boys who hadn’t started or finished a project that was due in class that day. They all responded well to my instructions and, with a bit of prodding and prompting, got going on their projects; however, one student who was more than willing to do the reading started to dawdle when it came time to write and draw a picture. (POW 6: Than; POW 1: Use however correctly.)

           

            Eventually, while I was working with one of the other boys helping him come up with answers for the graphic organizer that he would use for the short writing activity, the one who had started to dawdle moved back to his original seat and then started chatting with the girl across from him. It’s a constant battle. (POW 7 Long sentence/short sentence; POW 6: Then.) How can I better prevent this kind of thing from happening? (POW 5: Real question.)

Reflections on a lesson full of compound sentences

The My Best Attributes lesson, with its end goal of having students write a personal narrative, was more difficult than a lesson focusing on concepts to make universally designed because the goal is very difficult for many students and doesn’t lend itself to certain kinds of expression. Because students will be using their narrative writing assignment as part of their portfolio for the end of the semester/year, though, they will have the opportunity to revise several times with more scaffolding and help from the teacher. (START SENTENCE WITH BECAUSE AND USE OF THOUGH AS INTERJECTION IN MIDDLE OF SENTENCE, POWs 2 and 4)

The portfolio’s online component will engage students throughout the school year, especially those whose skills and interests lean toward technology. Not all students will want to create a website. Nor will every student want to write an essay, which is to be expected. (START SENTENCE WITH NOR, POW 1). The technology component of it not only addresses Common Core standards but gives students the opportunity to develop skills in presentation using multiple means of engagement with integration of audio, visual, and tactile components.

I created this lesson for students to have multiple opportunities to learn in small groups, large groups, and by themselves, because different students learn best in different groupings or individually. (END SENTENCE IN BECAUSE  CLAUSE, POW 3.) In partner groups, I wanted to make sure students would not feel intimidated to read to another student, which is why I grouped partners based on reading ability. Students who read at the same rate will be able to finish questions at the same rate and will be better served by the teacher or reading specialist with comprehension. Those in the lowest group can have nearly individual help reading the remainder of the story.

            Because I wanted every student to be engaged with the lesson, which can be difficult in an English/language arts classroom, I created a plan that included a pop song. Reluctant learners are given the opportunity to engage with the concept; eager learners are given the opportunity to have a little fun. (COMPOUND SENTENCE CONNECTED BY SEMI-COLON, PARALLEL STRUCTURE, MIRRORING ONE ANOTHER, POW 6).

            Several kinds of learners will benefit from this lesson: written responses, in the form of the personal narrative and the comprehension questions, will help those who work best in writing; visual learners will see the videos; auditory learners will hear the video and their classmates’ discussion; and kinesthetic learners will have the option of presenting their work by acting it out. (SEMICOLON AS SUPER COMMA, POW 7.)

            Though this lesson is partially focused on the Common Core standard of understanding and being able to create a personal narrative, I wanted students to expand their thoughts to consider how different people evaluate different characteristics of others. The Common Core directs teachers to create lesson plans following strict standards of convention, which makes creating dynamic lesson plans difficult; this plan meets the challenge. (COMPOUND SENTENCE CONNECTED BY SEMI-COLON, LONG WITH SHORT, POW 5).

Confounding compounds in Keats and Wordsworth

Transcendentalist and Romantic poetry is full of vivid imagery and language that evoke a variety of emotions. The subject of nature lends itself to the kind of poetry written by Transcendentalist and Romantic poets, for nature contains a vast array of sights, from the calm to the sublime. (Compound sentence connected by for.) John Keats and William Wordsworth both use personification to express their views that nature is a nurturer. Additionally, they both use language that stresses the fertility of nature, its beauty, its emotional effect on human beings, and its interconnectedness with humans. To Romantics and Transcendentalists, nature was bursting with bounty, both for the soul and the body.

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For Romantic and Transcendentalist writers, nature’s nourishment does not only come from food that is ingested; simply being in nature can become nourishment for the soul. (Compound sentence connected with semi-colon). For example: “But oft, in lonely rooms, and ‘mid the din/Of towns and cities, I have owed to them,/In hours of weariness, sensations sweet,” (25-27). Sweet, a term used for food, is used in this sense as a way to express nourishment of the mind. For the sweet sensations Wordsworth writes about are not food, but thoughts that make living away from nature easier to manage. (Sentence that begins with FANBOYS). Later in the poem, Wordsworth expands on the idea of nature’s ability to soothe the soul. “To them I may have owed another gift,/Of aspect more sublime; that blessed mood/In which the burthen of the mystery,/In which the heavy and the weary weight/Of all this unintelligible world,/Is lightened:” (36-41).

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Keats’s “To Autumn” less overtly focuses the restorative qualities of nature; however, every word is carefully chosen to give the reader a sense of solace and tranquility. (Compound sentence connected with semi-colon.) When the harvester is mentioned, it is in calm instances, such as “Thee sitting careless on a granary floor,/Thy hair soft-lifted by the winnowing wind;/Or on a half-reap’d furrow sound asleep,” (14-16). Readers of the poem are calmed with images of soft and comforting images, enough so that the only human being mentioned has fallen asleep.

  As is clear in the above passages, Wordsworth and Keats do not see nature as exclusively in terms of wilderness. Nature is often touched by the hands of man, which is where much of its nourishment is sown. Both Keats and Wordsworth make note early on of scenes of nature that cannot exist without people having changed it. Wordsworth writes, “Once again I see/These hedge-rows, hardly hedge-rows, little lines/Of sportive wood run wild: these pastoral farms,/green to the very door;” (14-17). While Wordsworth notes that the hedgerows have run wild, they were originally planted there by people. Still, though, he is describing a scene of nature, focusing on how it contrasts with life in the city, which drains the soul. Keats also ruminates on nature that has been changed by man while continuing the theme of the bounty of nature.

Direct objects, indirect objects, subjects and Dora

In "Dora Learns to Write and in the Process Encounters Punctuation" Pat Cordeiro discusses how Dora's teacher teaches Dora how to properly punctuate her writing. Dora's teacher takes a hands-off approach to teaching punctuation. SHE ALLOWS DORA TO EXPLORE HER OWN WRITING COMPARED WITH SAMPLE MATERIALS AND ENCOURAGES DORA BY ACTING PLEASED WITH HER, SMILING, AND SAYING THINGS SUCH AS, “I ESPECIALLY LIKED THE WAY YOU STOPPED WHEN YOU READ THE PERIOD AFTER …” (44) (POW 2.2: This is a sentence with a compound verb structure). Instead of telling Dora that a sentence was incorrect, and that a comma was needed instead of a period, she encourages Dora’s development in recognizing syntax. 

Additionally, Dora’s teacher asks her students to talk about their writing, encouraging the writing process and encouraging students to think about how they write and why. When she notices a piece of punctuation Dora is missing, the teacher points out the sentence and its punctuation using sample materials by asking Dora if she has ever taken note of it. This helps THUS, (improves sentence flow and removes THIS, POW 1) Dora learns to pay close attention to the smaller details of writing. Dora’s teacher also used her hands to help Dora visualize words after she noticed how words ran together in Dora’s piece of writing. Dora’s teacher introduced the students to more complex concepts as they developed, and she did so in a way that did not humiliate the students.
Dora’s teacher did not give much direct instruction. Instead, she allowed her questioning strategies to push the students to the next concept in punctuation and writing. Also, instead of pointing out errors in their writing, she showed the students examples of how sentences and paragraphs are constructed in published writing. This DORA'S TEACHER'S (creates and S-V-O sentence) technique allows the students to learn from examples instead of learning that they are wrong. In fact, DORA AND THE OTHER STUDENTS (POW 2.1: this sentence has a compound subject) aren’t exactly wrong when SHE AND THEY (POW 3.1: this sentence has a compound subject with two personal pronouns) make what advanced writers would consider errors. Instead, the students are exploring and developing their writing skills. What may look like an errors are simply parts of developing strong writing. 

The teacher also made use of student groups to help them come to a consensus on writing together. Instead of going around and telling Dora and the other students what she and they were not understanding, Dora’s teacher let HER AND THEM (POW 3.3: this is a compounded direct object with two or more personal pronouns) learn from one another. She also didn't point out whose writing was wrong. This helps the students in the future become interdependent learners. DORA’S TEACHER GAVE LITTLE DIRECT INSTRUCTION TO HER AND THEM (POW 3.2: this sentence has a compounded object of preposition with two personal pronouns).

Also, the teacher used modeling to show students new punctuation concepts. ALSO, THE TEACHER USED MODELING OF NEW PUNCTUATION CONCEPTS FOR WHOMEVER MIGHT NOT UNDERSTAND VERBAL OR WRITTEN INSTRUCTIONS (POW 4.2). For example, when she asked Danny to read aloud in sentences, she demonstrated how to do it by reading aloud herself, introducing the students to the concept of sentences and the period. She did the same when she showed Dora how to revise her writing by putting a period in the proper place. She then asked Dora to go over her writing and “see if she could” (42) add the other necessary periods.

It takes Dora a long time to develop sentence-end marking because she is learning to write. She already knows how to speak and listen, and thus knows what she wants to say. However, she doesn’t have the knowledge to make those words into sentences, because that is not how people speak to each other. Dora has a difficult time learning sentence-end marking because, developmentally, she is not to the stage of understanding how written language works. She also does not understand the concept of a sentence continuing onto another page. DORA’S TEACHER UNDERSTANDS THAT STUDENTS WHO (POW 4.1) DO NOT KNOW HOW TO WRITE, NEED TO LEARN IN A NATURAL WAY.

Dora's learning to write!

In "Dora Learns to Write and in the Process Encounters Punctuation" Pat Cordeiro discusses how Dora's teacher teaches Dora how to properly punctuate her writing [THIS IS A SHORT PIECE, NOT THE TITLE OF AN ENTIRE BOOK, SO IT SHOULD BE IN QUOTATION MARKS INSTEAD OF ITALICS]. Dora's teacher takes a hands-off approach to teaching punctuation. She allows Dora to explore her own writing compared with sample materials and encourages Dora by acting pleased with her, smiling, and saying things such as, “I especially liked the way you stopped when you read the period after …” (44). Instead of telling Dora that a sentence was incorrect, and that a comma was needed instead of a period, she encourages Dora’s development in recognizing syntax. 

Additionally, Dora’s teacher asks her students to talk about writing of theirs [THIS IS A POSSESSIVE PRONOUN], encouraging the writing process and encouraging students to think about how they write and why. When she notices a piece of punctuation Dora is missing, the teacher points out to Dora the sentence and its punctuation using sample materials [its IS A POSSESSIVE PRONOUN]. She does this by asking Dora if she has ever taken note of it. This helps Dora learn to pay close attention to the smaller details of writing. Dora’s teacher also used her hands to help Dora visualize words after she noticed how words ran together in Dora’s piece of writing. Dora’s teacher introduced the students to more complex concepts as they developed, and she did so in a way that did not humiliate the students.

Dora’s teacher did not give much direct instruction. Instead, she allowed her questioning strategies to push the students to the next concept in punctuation and writing. Also, instead of pointing out errors in their writing, she showed the students examples of how sentences and paragraphs are constructed in published writing. This technique allows the students to learn from examples instead of learning that they are wrong. In fact, the students aren’t exactly wrong when they make what advanced writers would consider errors. Instead, the students are exploring and developing their writing skills. What may look like an errors is simply part of developing strong writing. 

The teacher also made use of student groups to help them come to a consensus on writing together. Instead of going around and telling the students what they were not understanding, she let the students learn from one another. She also didn't point out whose writing was wrong [WHOSE IS A POSSESSIVE PRONOUN]. This helps the students in the future become interdependent learners. 

Also, the teacher used modeling to show students new punctuation concepts. For example, when she asked Danny to read aloud in sentences, she demonstrated how to do it by reading aloud herself. This introduced the students to the concept of sentences and the period. She did the same when she showed Dora how to revise her writing by putting a period in the proper place. She then asked Dora to go over her writing and “see if she could” (42) add the other necessary periods.

It takes Dora a long time to develop sentence-end marking because she is learning to write. She already knows how to speak and listen, and thus knows what she wants to say. However, she doesn’t have the knowledge to make those words into sentences, because that is not how people speak to each other. Dora has a difficult time learning sentence-end marking because, developmentally, she is not to the stage of understanding how written language works. She also does not understand the concept of a sentence continuing onto another page.

Questioning grammar

In general, I don’t think I have too many grammatical issues with my writing. Before I decided to return to college to complete a master’s degree and teaching certificate, I was a copy editor at a newspaper. I loved that job. I loved correcting other people’s writing. I loved finding typos and homophone errors and overused hyphens. It wasn’t schadenfreude. It was about making everything look neat and clean. The challenge of learning to design pages was another fantastic part of the job. It was like playing Tetris mixed with Cranium all day long. But, it wasn’t challenging enough. I think that’s my biggest problem with writing. It seems less like a challenge and more like a tedious task. 

Despite the fact I was an editor, I still make my own grammatical errors. That’s why professional writers have editors. Even editors need editors. A fresh eye can see what the writer often cannot. In looking over my writing, I don’t see any obvious patterns of error. But then again, they may not be obvious to me because I simply don’t recognize them.

I’d like to learn a couple of things that have been bothering me lately. I have avoided using semi-colons in much of my writing, mostly because I don’t use them enough to feel comfortable with them. It’s a vicious cycle. Here's an example: 

Eating this chickpea and arugula salad has the opposite mental effect from eating a cheese dog covered in ketchup. Instead of a wee bit of self-loathing mixed with Homer Simpson-esque drooling, you feel self-satisfied and healthy and maybe downright proud of yourself. That’s OK for a short while; you’re not a saint (not, yet, at least).

(Please forgive the OK for okay. That's AP style, which was the style in which this was written.)
Is that correct? I think it is. I hope it is, since it was published that way. When is a semi-colon absolutely necessary? When does it make a sentence look better? When it inappropriate? Is it correct to write: He went to the store; however he found it to be closed?

My next question is on certain uses of -ly. For the most part, I understand when to use -ly correctly (no pun intended). There are times, though, when I waver.

For example:

The perfect cinnamon roll is an elusive one. It’s fully cooked, but gooey, bursting with cinnamon and most important, not dry.

I tend to want to add an -ly to the phrase "most important.” Which is correct? I can't think of another example for this one.

Finally, I have a who/whom question.When should I use whom? Is it proper to say, "to whom does this belong?" Is it really necessary these days? It seems so stuffy, snobby, prudish, English. Here’s an example in a recent piece of my writing: 

Often, it is taught only in select classrooms with students whom teachers deem ready for such high-level thinking.

In that case, I used whom. I didn’t consult my style manual and didn’t even bother to look it up online. I was so cavalier with my grammar, even in this literature review that forms the base for my entire master’s project. When I used whom, in this case, I felt like a renegade, a silly child, a fraud. I really wasn’t sure whether it was correct. Worse yet, I knew I wasn’t sure! Yet, I still didn’t bother to figure it out. I re-read this piece of writing, and I want to know, without a doubt, when to use whom. I want to know whether to cringe or cheer.

There you go. There are my questions, my concerns, my thoughts, my hopes, my dreams, at least as far as grammar goes.