grammar errors

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High School English Teachers Chatboard

grammar errors

by Renee

Jun 6, 2011

I am a junior high English teacher. What are your thoughts on holding students accountable for grammar errors in their writing. All of the English teachers at the 7th & 8th grade level in my school deduct points for any mistakes in an assignment. One of our high school English teachers does not believe in this practice. She doesn't think the grammar is as important as the process the students go through to write. I agree that the process is important, but I also think that grammar is important too, and students should be held accountable. Should I not put so much emphasis on the grammatical errors?

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ugh - grammar On 6/06/11, Renee wrote: > I am a junior high English teacher. What are your thoughts > on holding students accountable for grammar errors in their > writing. All of the English teachers at the 7th & 8th > grade level in my school deduct points for any mistakes in > an assignment. One of our high school English teachers > does...See MoreOn 6/06/11, Renee wrote: > I am a junior high English teacher. What are your thoughts > on holding students accountable for grammar errors in their > writing. All of the English teachers at the 7th & 8th > grade level in my school deduct points for any mistakes in > an assignment. One of our high school English teachers > does not believe in this practice. She doesn't think the > grammar is as important as the process the students go > through to write. I agree that the process is important, > but I also think that grammar is important too, and > students should be held accountable. Should I not put so > much emphasis on the grammatical errors?

I'm torn because grammar is not emphasized in our district in elementary school. While it is touched on, the philosophy is much like the HS teacher you describe - concerned about the content not the proper usage and application of the language. I find it hard to just say, "let's hold the student accountable" because while they have been exposed, I know they haven't really been taught. Yes, there are students that know and apply the skills, but they are typically the students that pick up many things with or without teaching of the skills.

So, depending on your district elementary program and the weight of grammar I would make my next move. If there was a real solid foundation in grammar (elementary will rarely admit they didn't give it much emphasis) then they should have direct accountability. But I don't think there are many public schools offering a solid foundation in grammar. Schools have moved away from writing formally to a push to get ideas down and "editing" after the fact which is not sufficient to write formally. Editing is important and it always was, but at one time it was editing writing that was built off of formal writing from students with extensive grammar instruction. Not so any more. Students are lucky if they get 1 or 2 worksheets of different parts of speech. Diagramming? Not any more unless you get that teacher that is seen as extreme. Daily Oral Language sheets give the illusion of covering grammar, but it is piecemeal instead of focused learing to the point of it being automatic. If it was not emphasized, I say find a way to improve their skills with a combination of accountability and re-teaching. Holding a student accountable when they don't know how to fix the problem only frustrates them and causes them to shut down.

I DO AGREE, grammar is highly important. It is becoming a lost art. Students are taught to write what sounds good to them, but we know speech and formal language are at odds with one another. Obviously, this post is not formal language! LOL.

Jun 6, 2011

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Mark Pennington Such an important and heart-felt response...

"Students are lucky if they get 1 or 2 worksheets of different parts of speech. Diagramming? Not any more unless you get that teacher that is seen as extreme."

I have found tremendous value sentence diagramming. I keep it short and sweet during my Sentence Lifting lessons, but student...See More

Jun 7, 2011

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Teach I'd also like to add that if your state has adopted Common Core, instruction in specific grammar skills will definitely be a focus. I agree with the previous posters that the piecemeal DOL/editing papers approach does absolutely nothing. When students' errors are corrected and they have no idea why they're wrong or how to fix them, they are left on...See More

Jun 7, 2011

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ugh - grammar On 6/07/11, Teach wrote: > I'd also like to add that if your state has adopted Common > Core, instruction in specific grammar skills will definitely > be a focus. I agree with the previous posters that the > piecemeal DOL/editing papers approach does absolutely > nothing. When students' errors are corrected and they have > no idea...See More

Jun 8, 2011

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yayforsummer I think students should be held accountable on only the grammar and mechanics they have been taught.

Errors are fine...in rough drafts only. Who wants to read a newspaper or Internet article full of errors. Not me!

My students complete Daily Oral Language exercises every day. I don't just spend 5 min. a day on them then that's t...See MoreI think students should be held accountable on only the grammar and mechanics they have been taught.

Errors are fine...in rough drafts only. Who wants to read a newspaper or Internet article full of errors. Not me!

My students complete Daily Oral Language exercises every day. I don't just spend 5 min. a day on them then that's the end of it. I spend 10-15 min. a day on it, sometimes more. We label why we put a comma in a certain place, why we capitalized the word, etc. I use it as a teaching tool. My students keep these DOL's in their binder and use them to refer to when they write. I still teach grammar and other language arts' skills, so I do not use DOL as a stand alone program.

When students write, we take it through the writing process where we check for capitalization, usage, punctuation, and usage. I expect that when I grade their final drafts of their compositions, and they have used a comma after an intro. prep. phrase (which was taught in a DOL lesson), then I expect that it should be punctuated correctly.

I tell them up front that I will not only be grading their compositions for ideas, voice, organization, and etc, but I'm going to grade it like a DOL. Each sentence is worth 5 points. If ONE comma is in the wrong place, that whole sentence just lost 5 points. Yes, students have failed miserably...but, they only only fail a composition once. They understand I mean business. No one wants to read a paper full of grammar/mechanic/usage errors, especially if it considered a final copy! My grading policy makes them read with a reader's eye and more aware of their mistakes. As a result, my students write great papers with little to no grammatical errors. And although I'm tough, I have students tell me how much they love my class. Crazy!

By the way, I teach 8th grade English.

Your high school teacher needs to rethink her idea of grammar importance. She is about to release students into the real world where they will write for professors and/or their careers. I don't think they would appreciate a paper full of errors. They don't give a hoot about the process they went through. All they care about is the finished product, which should be error-free.

Good luck!

On 6/06/11, Renee wrote: > I am a junior high English teacher. What are your thoughts > on holding students accountable for grammar errors in their > writing. All of the English teachers at the 7th & 8th > grade level in my school deduct points for any mistakes in > an assignment. One of our high school English teachers > does not believe in this practice. She doesn't think the > grammar is as important as the process the students go > through to write. I agree that the process is important, > but I also think that grammar is important too, and > students should be held accountable. Should I not put so > much emphasis on the grammatical errors?

Jun 9, 2011

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