Wednesday, February 14, 2007
Profile of Raymond Stopper
Raymond Stopper spent 35 years in public education as a secondary English teacher, instructional consultant, director of secondary education and, for 20 years, K-12 language arts supervisor. He has taught or given demonstration lessons at every level from first grade to college. He has specialized in teaching expository writing, developed a K-12 writing program and has conducted teacher workshops on reading, writing, grammar, literature, spelling, the SAT, professional writing, censorship, critical thinking and language exploration among other topics. As a supervisor, he enjoyed working with teachers to solve professional problems.
Teaching English, How To.... Thoughts on Supervision
In twenty years as a K-12 language arts supervisor, I learned the following lessons:
1. The most fun was working with teachers to solve problems in our profession. The camaraderie that we developed in working together and in achieving our successes was rewarding. But the problem-solving workshop is only the beginning. The larger problem is in spreading the word to those who were not in the workshop.
2. Never stop listening. Listening to teachers and parents and students and administrators and helping them achieve their goals enriched our K-12 language arts program immeasurably.
3. In inservice programs, teach teachers the way you want them to teach their students. They can gauge the effects of those methods on themselves and if they work well for them, they will use the methods with their students.
4. Don’t change for change’s sake. Don’t change because of the popularity of contemporary fads. Initiate change because almost everyone agrees on the need to change. This agreement to change will come from unbiased evaluation. And even when almost everyone agrees on the need to change, watch out for the side effects. Spend as much time planning evaluation as planning the change in the curriculum.
5. The most rewarding aspect of supervision is not having the authority to tell people what to do. Helping people to change without the authority to demand it requires creativity. The more resistance you experience, the more creativity you need. Supervision is, by definition, problem solving. And problems are best solved by working together with everyone affected by the problem.
1. The most fun was working with teachers to solve problems in our profession. The camaraderie that we developed in working together and in achieving our successes was rewarding. But the problem-solving workshop is only the beginning. The larger problem is in spreading the word to those who were not in the workshop.
2. Never stop listening. Listening to teachers and parents and students and administrators and helping them achieve their goals enriched our K-12 language arts program immeasurably.
3. In inservice programs, teach teachers the way you want them to teach their students. They can gauge the effects of those methods on themselves and if they work well for them, they will use the methods with their students.
4. Don’t change for change’s sake. Don’t change because of the popularity of contemporary fads. Initiate change because almost everyone agrees on the need to change. This agreement to change will come from unbiased evaluation. And even when almost everyone agrees on the need to change, watch out for the side effects. Spend as much time planning evaluation as planning the change in the curriculum.
5. The most rewarding aspect of supervision is not having the authority to tell people what to do. Helping people to change without the authority to demand it requires creativity. The more resistance you experience, the more creativity you need. Supervision is, by definition, problem solving. And problems are best solved by working together with everyone affected by the problem.
Tuesday, February 13, 2007
Teaching English, How To.... Essential Ideas 12
Language investigations I: An important part of language study in the early 1970s, now almost forgotten in the revival of the basics in which language study means grammar. The idea was to gather data about language, analyze the data and draw conclusions about language. Example: cut maps of the U.S. into sections. Students look at place names on the map and jot down any that are interesting. In groups, students organize the place names according to probable origins. They then draw generalizations about how Americans named their towns and cities. p. 443.
Language investigations II: Students ask among themselves, teachers and relatives why they were named (first name) as they were. For example, one teacher’s name came from a disagreement between her parents, her mother’s wanting to name her “Gloria” and her father’s wanting to name her “Rita.” They finally agreed on “Glorita,” a good example of the process of putting two words together, as in “smoke” and “fog” = “smog.” Such words are called “portmanteau” words after a kind of suitcase. Another example of a portmanteau word is “chortle” from “chuckle” and “snort.” p. 447.
A complete vocabulary program I: Pre-teaching important vocabulary before students read their assignments. Purpose is to alert students to the presence of the words, which they might not see because they don’t know the meanings of the words. Students would increase their vocabularies exponentially if all teachers in all subjects in all grades pre-taught the important words in reading assignments. p. 452.
A complete vocabulary program II: A second approach to developing vocabulary would be to use Norman Lewis’s Word Power Made Easy as a class text. Lewis bases his vocabulary development program on prefixes, roots and suffixes, mainly roots. For example, he introduces the Latin root “ego meaning “I” or “self” and then adds the related words, “alter ego,” “egotist,” “egoist,” “egomaniac,” “egocentric” and the word “ego” itself. Students remember the words because all of them are based on “ego” meaning “I” or “self.” However, his frequent tests are short, interesting and also help students remember the words they have learned. Students who finish this text will increase their vocabularies by thousands of words. All of my students enjoyed this approach to vocabulary development. p. 453.
A complete vocabulary program III: Students should record unfamiliar words on index cards when reading on their own. They should limit the meanings to as few words as possible. The fewer the words in the meaning, the better they will remember the words and meaning. Students will find many valuable words if they read a news magazine each week. Reviewing the words once a week and sorting them into a “known” pile and “not sure” pile will help them to remember the words. p. 464.
A vocabulary development warning: While I rarely say that any method is wrong, I am extremely skeptical of memorizing words and meanings for a Friday test. And NEVER, NEVER have students write a composition, using every word in a vocabulary list in order. Before you assign that exercise, do it yourself.
Vocabulary and the SAT. Time was, back in the 1970s and 1980s, when the SAT was an “aptitude” test, the Verbal Section of the SAT consisted almost completely of vocabulary. Three of the four tests in the Verbal Section were vocabulary tests. The antonym test was supposed to be the only test of the extent of a student’s vocabulary. Students either knew the words or they didn’t. The analogies were supposed to be “vocabulary free,” but with the harder items, students did not know the words.
Sentence completions are now the only vocabulary items remaining in the SAT Verbal Section, together with the writing section and the section on critical reading. The key to sentence completions is to insert your own words to complete the meaning of the sentence and then to find the words in the answer that mean approximately the same as your words. Unfortunately, if the answer is “ephemeral” and you do not know its meaning, you’re out of luck.
Language investigations II: Students ask among themselves, teachers and relatives why they were named (first name) as they were. For example, one teacher’s name came from a disagreement between her parents, her mother’s wanting to name her “Gloria” and her father’s wanting to name her “Rita.” They finally agreed on “Glorita,” a good example of the process of putting two words together, as in “smoke” and “fog” = “smog.” Such words are called “portmanteau” words after a kind of suitcase. Another example of a portmanteau word is “chortle” from “chuckle” and “snort.” p. 447.
A complete vocabulary program I: Pre-teaching important vocabulary before students read their assignments. Purpose is to alert students to the presence of the words, which they might not see because they don’t know the meanings of the words. Students would increase their vocabularies exponentially if all teachers in all subjects in all grades pre-taught the important words in reading assignments. p. 452.
A complete vocabulary program II: A second approach to developing vocabulary would be to use Norman Lewis’s Word Power Made Easy as a class text. Lewis bases his vocabulary development program on prefixes, roots and suffixes, mainly roots. For example, he introduces the Latin root “ego meaning “I” or “self” and then adds the related words, “alter ego,” “egotist,” “egoist,” “egomaniac,” “egocentric” and the word “ego” itself. Students remember the words because all of them are based on “ego” meaning “I” or “self.” However, his frequent tests are short, interesting and also help students remember the words they have learned. Students who finish this text will increase their vocabularies by thousands of words. All of my students enjoyed this approach to vocabulary development. p. 453.
A complete vocabulary program III: Students should record unfamiliar words on index cards when reading on their own. They should limit the meanings to as few words as possible. The fewer the words in the meaning, the better they will remember the words and meaning. Students will find many valuable words if they read a news magazine each week. Reviewing the words once a week and sorting them into a “known” pile and “not sure” pile will help them to remember the words. p. 464.
A vocabulary development warning: While I rarely say that any method is wrong, I am extremely skeptical of memorizing words and meanings for a Friday test. And NEVER, NEVER have students write a composition, using every word in a vocabulary list in order. Before you assign that exercise, do it yourself.
Vocabulary and the SAT. Time was, back in the 1970s and 1980s, when the SAT was an “aptitude” test, the Verbal Section of the SAT consisted almost completely of vocabulary. Three of the four tests in the Verbal Section were vocabulary tests. The antonym test was supposed to be the only test of the extent of a student’s vocabulary. Students either knew the words or they didn’t. The analogies were supposed to be “vocabulary free,” but with the harder items, students did not know the words.
Sentence completions are now the only vocabulary items remaining in the SAT Verbal Section, together with the writing section and the section on critical reading. The key to sentence completions is to insert your own words to complete the meaning of the sentence and then to find the words in the answer that mean approximately the same as your words. Unfortunately, if the answer is “ephemeral” and you do not know its meaning, you’re out of luck.
Teaching English, How To.... Essential Ideas 11
The first-grade and secondary English connection. In first grade, teachers use the directed reading assignment to develop comprehension skills. So should all secondary teachers in all subjects to help students read material that is too difficult for them.
In first grade, students learning to write use “invented spelling,” estimating the spelling of words they do not know how to spell, so that their writing is not interrupted and they can make use of their full vocabulary in writing. Spelling can be corrected in the editing stage of the writing process. Secondary students should also use invented spelling so that they can make full use of their writing vocabulary. In both first grade and in secondary school, teachers should make sure that the spelling is corrected before publishing or sending the writing home where the presence of misspelled words will produce considerable upset.
Finally, the issue of basal vs. whole language, an “either/or” proposition, should be resolved by using both, just as at the secondary level, the writing process vs. writing product issue should be resolved by emphasizing both. Ideally, when students use the writing process, they produce a better product. It is amazing to me that educators who preach critical thinking fall into the either/or trap so often. p. 353.
Why read literature? I think a greater realization of life, with its happiness, its tragedies and other realities, is the reason to read literature. Simply living life is like journalism which reports the facts. Reading literature enables us to feel the emotions, understand the complex motivations and appreciate the dilemmas of life that underlie the facts. The New Criticism had the effect of moving the study of literature to an emphasis on the technical nature of the language of literature and away from what literature does best for most people who are not English majors: give insight into life. “Do any human beings ever realize life, while they live it—every, every minute?” asks Emily of the Stage Manager in Wilder’s Our Town. He replies, “No. The saints and poets maybe—they do some.” And I add, so do those who read and understand literature. p. 388.
Joseph Conrad on literature: “My task is by the power of the written word to make you hear, to make you feel—it is, before all, to make you see.” William Faulkner on literature: “The aim of every artist is to arrest motion, which is life, by artificial means and hold it fixed so that a hundred years later, when a stranger looks at it, it moves again since it is life.” p. 380.
Significant sentences: Students collect memorable sentences from the literature they read. Helps them interpret the literature and to defend their points of view in a discussion. Also a resource for useful quotes when writing and speaking. Significant sentences provoke thought. p. 381.
Finding time to read: Read 15 minutes a day and you will read 20 books a year. p. 393.
One approach to reading a classic. Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. 1. Background information: a review of events and people from 1800 to 1815. 2. Other literary works from the time of Jane Austen. 3. Reflections on the title. 4. Selected quotations from Pride and Prejudice. What do you infer about the novel from these quotations? 5. Sample the novel. Read for five minutes near the beginning, in the middle, three-fourths through the novel and near the end of the novel. Any unfamiliar vocabulary? What questions do you have about the novel? 6. Read to answer your questions. p. 398.
Having trouble becoming involved in reading a classic novel? Read a paragraph a page until you become hooked.
What is a discussion? Someone has said that there are two types of discussion: one in which the teachers ask questions to which they already have answers. The students are either right or wrong, depending on what the teacher thinks. In short, the teachers have a discussion with themselves as they check to learn if the students have read the assignment and if they agree with the teacher’s interpretations. The second type of discussion involves exploring the answers to questions about which the teacher and students are uncertain. Real questions to which no one has the answer = real discussion. For me, real literary discussions begin with students’ questions about what they have read. p. 419.
A K-12 literature program. In elementary school, the best in children’s literature. In middle school and junior high, the best in Young Adult and popular adult literature. In high school, the best in American, British and world literatures. p. 391.
Censorship. Preparing for it. Develop rationales for teaching books that are potentially controversial. Cf. http://www.ncte.org/. Summary of book; summary of controversial parts of the book; appropriate grade level for the book; value of the book for the students; objectives for teaching the book; summary of reviews of the book; teaching methods; assignments; possible objections and responses to those objections. p. 434.
In first grade, students learning to write use “invented spelling,” estimating the spelling of words they do not know how to spell, so that their writing is not interrupted and they can make use of their full vocabulary in writing. Spelling can be corrected in the editing stage of the writing process. Secondary students should also use invented spelling so that they can make full use of their writing vocabulary. In both first grade and in secondary school, teachers should make sure that the spelling is corrected before publishing or sending the writing home where the presence of misspelled words will produce considerable upset.
Finally, the issue of basal vs. whole language, an “either/or” proposition, should be resolved by using both, just as at the secondary level, the writing process vs. writing product issue should be resolved by emphasizing both. Ideally, when students use the writing process, they produce a better product. It is amazing to me that educators who preach critical thinking fall into the either/or trap so often. p. 353.
Why read literature? I think a greater realization of life, with its happiness, its tragedies and other realities, is the reason to read literature. Simply living life is like journalism which reports the facts. Reading literature enables us to feel the emotions, understand the complex motivations and appreciate the dilemmas of life that underlie the facts. The New Criticism had the effect of moving the study of literature to an emphasis on the technical nature of the language of literature and away from what literature does best for most people who are not English majors: give insight into life. “Do any human beings ever realize life, while they live it—every, every minute?” asks Emily of the Stage Manager in Wilder’s Our Town. He replies, “No. The saints and poets maybe—they do some.” And I add, so do those who read and understand literature. p. 388.
Joseph Conrad on literature: “My task is by the power of the written word to make you hear, to make you feel—it is, before all, to make you see.” William Faulkner on literature: “The aim of every artist is to arrest motion, which is life, by artificial means and hold it fixed so that a hundred years later, when a stranger looks at it, it moves again since it is life.” p. 380.
Significant sentences: Students collect memorable sentences from the literature they read. Helps them interpret the literature and to defend their points of view in a discussion. Also a resource for useful quotes when writing and speaking. Significant sentences provoke thought. p. 381.
Finding time to read: Read 15 minutes a day and you will read 20 books a year. p. 393.
One approach to reading a classic. Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. 1. Background information: a review of events and people from 1800 to 1815. 2. Other literary works from the time of Jane Austen. 3. Reflections on the title. 4. Selected quotations from Pride and Prejudice. What do you infer about the novel from these quotations? 5. Sample the novel. Read for five minutes near the beginning, in the middle, three-fourths through the novel and near the end of the novel. Any unfamiliar vocabulary? What questions do you have about the novel? 6. Read to answer your questions. p. 398.
Having trouble becoming involved in reading a classic novel? Read a paragraph a page until you become hooked.
What is a discussion? Someone has said that there are two types of discussion: one in which the teachers ask questions to which they already have answers. The students are either right or wrong, depending on what the teacher thinks. In short, the teachers have a discussion with themselves as they check to learn if the students have read the assignment and if they agree with the teacher’s interpretations. The second type of discussion involves exploring the answers to questions about which the teacher and students are uncertain. Real questions to which no one has the answer = real discussion. For me, real literary discussions begin with students’ questions about what they have read. p. 419.
A K-12 literature program. In elementary school, the best in children’s literature. In middle school and junior high, the best in Young Adult and popular adult literature. In high school, the best in American, British and world literatures. p. 391.
Censorship. Preparing for it. Develop rationales for teaching books that are potentially controversial. Cf. http://www.ncte.org/. Summary of book; summary of controversial parts of the book; appropriate grade level for the book; value of the book for the students; objectives for teaching the book; summary of reviews of the book; teaching methods; assignments; possible objections and responses to those objections. p. 434.
Monday, February 12, 2007
Teaching English, How To.... Essential Ideas 10
A spelling fact you probably didn’t know: only one word ends in the suffix “—sede”: “supersede.” Only three words end in the suffix “—ceed”: “proceed,” “succeed” and “exceed.” All the other words ending with the sound of “—cede” are spelled “—cede”: “intercede,” “recede,” “precede,” “accede,” etc. (except, of course, for the word “seed,” the thing that you plant in the ground). Along the same lines, the suffix “—ful” is always spelled with one “l.” Only the word “full” ends in two “l’s. ” p. 289.
Gaining confidence in public speaking. Organize your material according to the “Tell them what you are going to tell them,” “Tell them,” and “Tell them what you told them” formula. Conclude your interesting opening with a thesis. Use topic sentences in the body of your message and summarize at the conclusion. Write out your opening and closing on cards so that, if you become flustered, you can at least open and close effectively. Put key words from the body of your message on an overhead projector or in “Power Point.” p. 297.
Small-group work. People play helping and hindering roles in small-group work. According to David M. Litsey, there are three major roles in small-group work: maintenance roles (encouraging, harmonizing, compromising); task roles (initiating, clarifying, summarizing);and self-serving roles (dominating, interfering, seeking recognition). To be successful in group work, avoid the self-serving roles. p. 299.
Employment interviews. Any number of Web sites, most notably Monster.com, provide the types of questions likely to be asked in an employment interview. Don’t even think of going to an employment interview without preparing yourself to answer those questions. Examples: What are the key responsibilities for _____ position? When have you been the most satisfied with your job? Give me an example of when you’ve done more than your job required. Tell me about the most difficult assignment you had in your last job. Tell me about when you had to adjust to change. What do you think are the key qualities for _____ position? Tell me about a time you had a confrontation with a co-worker. etc. p. 304.
Speed reading—is it a myth? No. The following technique will double, triple, quadruple and even quintuple the reading speed of people who have no reading problems. Read for five minutes both before the training and after the training. Brainstorm what you remember from these five minutes of reading as a comprehension check. The training: slide the hand down the page to a count of 10 for five pages. Then, 1-9, 1-8, 1-7, 1-6, 1-5, 1-4, 1-3, 1-2, and 1, each for five pages. See page 315+ to learn how to figure words per minute. Example: pre-training, 100 words per minute. post-training, 500 words per minute. The secret? Your eyes are conditioned to read well beyond your comfortable speed and, when you have finished the exercise, you can’t slow down.
Efficient reading—finding ideas fast. Chapters and articles: 1. Read first and last paragraphs. 2. Read the first sentence of each intermediate paragraph. 3. Raise questions you want to answer. 4. Read to find the answers. Nonfiction books: 1. Read the foreword. 2. Read the first and last paragraphs of each chapter. Should give you an idea of what information is in each chapter. 3. Raise questions you want to answer. 4. Read the first sentence of each paragraph in the chapters in which you are likely to find the answers. p. 322.
Reading in science, home economics, social studies, industrial arts, health and any other subject in which information is gained through reading a textbook chapter. Use the directed reading assignment to help students read difficult material, material that is more difficult than their reading level. 1. Develop background information on the topic through discussion—the more students know about the topic, the better they will comprehend. 2. Pre-teach important, unfamiliar vocabulary. Otherwise, students will not see words they do not recognize. 3. Set purpose for reading. Have students read the first paragraph, the first sentence of each paragraph and the last paragraph and then decide on questions they will read to answer—their purposes. 4. Have students apply what they have learned from their reading. p. 333.
Read aloud to secondary students and teach secondary students how to read aloud effectively. Reading aloud to secondary students helps them to appreciate the emotion conveyed by the language of literature. When reading Poe’s “The Pit and the Pendulum” silently, students were bored and awed by the abstractness of the “big words.” When I read the story to them aloud, they were riveted to their seats. They could experience vividly the swish of the big blade. When the period came to a close before I could finish the story, they asked breathlessly, “What’s going to happen?”
Reading aloud to students gives them a model for how to read aloud effectively, a skill that any citizen of a democratic society needs to call on. Teach students how to read aloud to hold an audience by teaching them to practice before reading aloud. Do NOT use “round-robin reading” in which the teacher goes around the room having students read aloud without practicing. Wastes time. Serves no useful purpose. Embarrasses poor readers and bores the listeners.
They can begin by reading their compositions aloud--after practicing--provided they want to read them aloud.
Gaining confidence in public speaking. Organize your material according to the “Tell them what you are going to tell them,” “Tell them,” and “Tell them what you told them” formula. Conclude your interesting opening with a thesis. Use topic sentences in the body of your message and summarize at the conclusion. Write out your opening and closing on cards so that, if you become flustered, you can at least open and close effectively. Put key words from the body of your message on an overhead projector or in “Power Point.” p. 297.
Small-group work. People play helping and hindering roles in small-group work. According to David M. Litsey, there are three major roles in small-group work: maintenance roles (encouraging, harmonizing, compromising); task roles (initiating, clarifying, summarizing);and self-serving roles (dominating, interfering, seeking recognition). To be successful in group work, avoid the self-serving roles. p. 299.
Employment interviews. Any number of Web sites, most notably Monster.com, provide the types of questions likely to be asked in an employment interview. Don’t even think of going to an employment interview without preparing yourself to answer those questions. Examples: What are the key responsibilities for _____ position? When have you been the most satisfied with your job? Give me an example of when you’ve done more than your job required. Tell me about the most difficult assignment you had in your last job. Tell me about when you had to adjust to change. What do you think are the key qualities for _____ position? Tell me about a time you had a confrontation with a co-worker. etc. p. 304.
Speed reading—is it a myth? No. The following technique will double, triple, quadruple and even quintuple the reading speed of people who have no reading problems. Read for five minutes both before the training and after the training. Brainstorm what you remember from these five minutes of reading as a comprehension check. The training: slide the hand down the page to a count of 10 for five pages. Then, 1-9, 1-8, 1-7, 1-6, 1-5, 1-4, 1-3, 1-2, and 1, each for five pages. See page 315+ to learn how to figure words per minute. Example: pre-training, 100 words per minute. post-training, 500 words per minute. The secret? Your eyes are conditioned to read well beyond your comfortable speed and, when you have finished the exercise, you can’t slow down.
Efficient reading—finding ideas fast. Chapters and articles: 1. Read first and last paragraphs. 2. Read the first sentence of each intermediate paragraph. 3. Raise questions you want to answer. 4. Read to find the answers. Nonfiction books: 1. Read the foreword. 2. Read the first and last paragraphs of each chapter. Should give you an idea of what information is in each chapter. 3. Raise questions you want to answer. 4. Read the first sentence of each paragraph in the chapters in which you are likely to find the answers. p. 322.
Reading in science, home economics, social studies, industrial arts, health and any other subject in which information is gained through reading a textbook chapter. Use the directed reading assignment to help students read difficult material, material that is more difficult than their reading level. 1. Develop background information on the topic through discussion—the more students know about the topic, the better they will comprehend. 2. Pre-teach important, unfamiliar vocabulary. Otherwise, students will not see words they do not recognize. 3. Set purpose for reading. Have students read the first paragraph, the first sentence of each paragraph and the last paragraph and then decide on questions they will read to answer—their purposes. 4. Have students apply what they have learned from their reading. p. 333.
Read aloud to secondary students and teach secondary students how to read aloud effectively. Reading aloud to secondary students helps them to appreciate the emotion conveyed by the language of literature. When reading Poe’s “The Pit and the Pendulum” silently, students were bored and awed by the abstractness of the “big words.” When I read the story to them aloud, they were riveted to their seats. They could experience vividly the swish of the big blade. When the period came to a close before I could finish the story, they asked breathlessly, “What’s going to happen?”
Reading aloud to students gives them a model for how to read aloud effectively, a skill that any citizen of a democratic society needs to call on. Teach students how to read aloud to hold an audience by teaching them to practice before reading aloud. Do NOT use “round-robin reading” in which the teacher goes around the room having students read aloud without practicing. Wastes time. Serves no useful purpose. Embarrasses poor readers and bores the listeners.
They can begin by reading their compositions aloud--after practicing--provided they want to read them aloud.
Teaching English, How To.... Essential Ideas 09
Professional writing: Begin by sending brief articles on classroom techniques to journals that accept them. Study examples in the journal and use the required format. For lengthier articles, check “Calls for Manuscripts” in each issue. Use ERIC (http://www.eric.ed.gov/) for previous articles that serve as background for your ideas. With most professional education publications, the full article will be expected by the editors, not a query letter. Articles will be “peer reviewed,” read and evaluated by other members of the profession who will recommend or not recommend publication. Always include a stamped, self-addressed envelope for the return of your manuscript. Don’t send to several different publications at the same time. Wait until the article is rejected before sending to another publication. Chapter 14, “Professional Writing,” p. 265.
Should you let others read your manuscript before you send it to the editor? Professional writers disagree on this issue. Some do. Some don’t. One suggestion—have people read your manuscript in process, but ask them to make no judgments of “good” or “no good” or “You have a grammar or spelling error.” Ask them to put only question marks in margins when the text is not clear. Will enable you to see potential problems for readers. Chapter 14, “Professional Writing,” p. 265.
Reading professional journals quickly and efficiently. Professional journals contain valuable ideas for classroom techniques, provide information on issues and report on interesting research. To find ideas quickly: 1. read the title, heading, first paragraph and last paragraph. If you have no questions, summarize briefly and go on to the next article. 2. If you have questions, read the first sentence of all paragraphs. If your questions are answered, summarize briefly and go on to the next article. 3. If you still have questions, read the entire article. I usually answer all of my questions by completing the first two steps and only occasionally need to read the entire article. p. 268.
Spelling. The importance of both sounding out syllables and visualizing parts of the word likely to cause misspelling—usually the indefinite vowel in which pronunciation of a, e, i, o, u is not clear. “Cemetery,” for example, is usually pronounced “cem a tary.” Blow up the trouble spot to help visualize it: “cEmEtEry.” Associate the trouble spot and the word in a sentence: “ ‘EEE!’ she screamed as she passed the cEmEtEry.” Or “arGUMent.” “Never chew GUM in an arGUMent.” Thanks to Harry Shefter’s Six Minutes a Day to Perfect Spelling. Shefter points out that we can usually sound out most of the syllables in our language, but that we usually misspell only parts of the word. His technique helps us to visualize those word parts that are difficult to spell. Students thoroughly enjoyed this approach to spelling. Chapter 15, “Spelling—the Dreadful Ordeal,” p. 281.
Attitude toward spelling that affects the quality of writing: “I will never use a word in writing that I do not know how to spell.” Source of that quote was a Syracuse University junior. That attitude toward spelling will severely restrict the student’s writing vocabulary. One cure for this attitude is to use "invented spelling." Don't interrupt your flow of thought by worrying about spelling. Approximate the spelling and keep going. You can check the spelling later. Chapter 15, p. 281.
Computers and spelling checkers. Spelling checkers obviously are a big help. Of course, if you’re not using a computer, you’re on your own. And computers will not spot homonyms or words you use that are words, but not the words you intended. Several writers I know who were not familiar with the limitations of spelling checkers were amazed at the number of misspelled words that turned up in their manuscripts when others read them. Chapter 15, p. 281.
Proofreading for spelling. Read backwards from the last word to the first. This procedure will enable you to see the details of the words you have written. When reading from left to right, from beginning to end, you will read for meaning and will not see the individual letters in the words. Important to take this step because incorrect spelling reflects negatively on your intelligence, education and desire for excellence. More than one human resources person has told me that a misspelled word sends the résumé into the waste basket. Chapter 15, p. 281.
Helping students learn to spell and enjoy it. Begin with a list of words related by the same spelling problem, such as multi-syllable words with double consonants: “committee.” Students identify the problem and suggest a method for remembering the correct spelling, like over-pronouncing the double consonants and sounding out by syllables those parts of the words that can be sounded out. Then give the same spelling test at the beginning of class with the same ten words each day for a week. Give credit for 100% accuracy only. Chapter 15, p. 281.
Should you let others read your manuscript before you send it to the editor? Professional writers disagree on this issue. Some do. Some don’t. One suggestion—have people read your manuscript in process, but ask them to make no judgments of “good” or “no good” or “You have a grammar or spelling error.” Ask them to put only question marks in margins when the text is not clear. Will enable you to see potential problems for readers. Chapter 14, “Professional Writing,” p. 265.
Reading professional journals quickly and efficiently. Professional journals contain valuable ideas for classroom techniques, provide information on issues and report on interesting research. To find ideas quickly: 1. read the title, heading, first paragraph and last paragraph. If you have no questions, summarize briefly and go on to the next article. 2. If you have questions, read the first sentence of all paragraphs. If your questions are answered, summarize briefly and go on to the next article. 3. If you still have questions, read the entire article. I usually answer all of my questions by completing the first two steps and only occasionally need to read the entire article. p. 268.
Spelling. The importance of both sounding out syllables and visualizing parts of the word likely to cause misspelling—usually the indefinite vowel in which pronunciation of a, e, i, o, u is not clear. “Cemetery,” for example, is usually pronounced “cem a tary.” Blow up the trouble spot to help visualize it: “cEmEtEry.” Associate the trouble spot and the word in a sentence: “ ‘EEE!’ she screamed as she passed the cEmEtEry.” Or “arGUMent.” “Never chew GUM in an arGUMent.” Thanks to Harry Shefter’s Six Minutes a Day to Perfect Spelling. Shefter points out that we can usually sound out most of the syllables in our language, but that we usually misspell only parts of the word. His technique helps us to visualize those word parts that are difficult to spell. Students thoroughly enjoyed this approach to spelling. Chapter 15, “Spelling—the Dreadful Ordeal,” p. 281.
Attitude toward spelling that affects the quality of writing: “I will never use a word in writing that I do not know how to spell.” Source of that quote was a Syracuse University junior. That attitude toward spelling will severely restrict the student’s writing vocabulary. One cure for this attitude is to use "invented spelling." Don't interrupt your flow of thought by worrying about spelling. Approximate the spelling and keep going. You can check the spelling later. Chapter 15, p. 281.
Computers and spelling checkers. Spelling checkers obviously are a big help. Of course, if you’re not using a computer, you’re on your own. And computers will not spot homonyms or words you use that are words, but not the words you intended. Several writers I know who were not familiar with the limitations of spelling checkers were amazed at the number of misspelled words that turned up in their manuscripts when others read them. Chapter 15, p. 281.
Proofreading for spelling. Read backwards from the last word to the first. This procedure will enable you to see the details of the words you have written. When reading from left to right, from beginning to end, you will read for meaning and will not see the individual letters in the words. Important to take this step because incorrect spelling reflects negatively on your intelligence, education and desire for excellence. More than one human resources person has told me that a misspelled word sends the résumé into the waste basket. Chapter 15, p. 281.
Helping students learn to spell and enjoy it. Begin with a list of words related by the same spelling problem, such as multi-syllable words with double consonants: “committee.” Students identify the problem and suggest a method for remembering the correct spelling, like over-pronouncing the double consonants and sounding out by syllables those parts of the words that can be sounded out. Then give the same spelling test at the beginning of class with the same ten words each day for a week. Give credit for 100% accuracy only. Chapter 15, p. 281.
Teaching English, How To.... Essential Ideas 08
What does the SAT writing assessment consist of? A 25-minute writing sample and an objective test of “editing.” This objective test involves recognition of, and ability to correct, such problems as dangling and misplaced modifiers, parallel structure, run-on sentences, sentence fragments, pronoun reference, etc. These are the kinds of problems that I focus on in the grammar program and on 10-minute essays and major writing assignments. Chapter 10, “Helping Students Prepare for writing Assessments,” p. 180.
Putting students to work immediately in the first ten minutes of class is a good idea. What are some alternatives to 10-minute essays for classes who are not scheduled for them? Daily spelling test. Or a daily grammar test. Put a problem on the board and the students try to correct it. The problems can come from the students’ writing or from the textbook. Either takes relatively little time to correct. The grammar exercise is another way of preparing students for state and SAT editing tests. Chapter 10, “Helping Students Prepare for Writing Assessments,” p. 180.
Before computers and word processing, learning to write was tedious and revising non-existent. Revised and edited papers were made almost illegible by cross-outs and insertions. The revised paper had to be rewritten in its entirety, even if 90% of the paper was fine. Most students wrote longhand, which was very tedious and time-consuming. Even typing was tedious, requiring instruction in how to type and only made slightly easier by white-out and erasable bond. Therefore, most students hated to revise—and didn’t.
With word processing, students could easily insert, delete and rearrange text and the finished product always looked great. Ease of revision was the computer’s gift to student writers. Word processing changed students’ attitude toward writing. Chapter 11, “The Computer and Writing Instruction,” p. 239.
Issues, now forgotten, with the introduction of the computer in writing instruction. Should all students be taught how to type the correct way? Impractical. Hiring teachers of typing would be a budget buster.
How encourage English teachers to teach their students to use word processing when the teacher was more afraid of the computer than the students? Supervisor taught word processing to the teacher’s classes while the teacher observed and then took over.
Should handwriting continue to be taught? Students still need to write long hand in writing assessments. Legibility continues to be the goal. In addition, students need to learn how to use different tools for composing. For example, when I am not sure of what I want to say, I still brainstorm and write first drafts on yellow pads with pencil. When I am writing memos and other not-so-important documents, I will compose using the key board.
Since word processing’s best use is to aid in revision, I still have students brainstorm and draft longhand, type the draft into the word processor and then revise on the computer. Chapter 11, “The Computer and Writing Instruction,” p. 239.
What is the future of writing instruction in the era of computers and word processing? So long as words are the medium of communication, students will still need to learn how to brainstorm their topics, construct their theses and write rough drafts. They will need to write introductory material, use topic sentences with paragraphs, revise and edit. Multi-media devices like pictures, charts and sound will continue to be illustrative of the text. Chapter 12, “Computers, Writing Instruction and the Future,” p. 248.
How encourage teachers of other subjects to support the teaching of writing? Agree in general on the steps in the writing process; use subject-area journals in which students reflect on what they understand and don’t understand; agree on the organization of essay exams and on teaching the research paper. Chapter 13, “Writing Across the Curriculum,” p. 253.
Putting students to work immediately in the first ten minutes of class is a good idea. What are some alternatives to 10-minute essays for classes who are not scheduled for them? Daily spelling test. Or a daily grammar test. Put a problem on the board and the students try to correct it. The problems can come from the students’ writing or from the textbook. Either takes relatively little time to correct. The grammar exercise is another way of preparing students for state and SAT editing tests. Chapter 10, “Helping Students Prepare for Writing Assessments,” p. 180.
Before computers and word processing, learning to write was tedious and revising non-existent. Revised and edited papers were made almost illegible by cross-outs and insertions. The revised paper had to be rewritten in its entirety, even if 90% of the paper was fine. Most students wrote longhand, which was very tedious and time-consuming. Even typing was tedious, requiring instruction in how to type and only made slightly easier by white-out and erasable bond. Therefore, most students hated to revise—and didn’t.
With word processing, students could easily insert, delete and rearrange text and the finished product always looked great. Ease of revision was the computer’s gift to student writers. Word processing changed students’ attitude toward writing. Chapter 11, “The Computer and Writing Instruction,” p. 239.
Issues, now forgotten, with the introduction of the computer in writing instruction. Should all students be taught how to type the correct way? Impractical. Hiring teachers of typing would be a budget buster.
How encourage English teachers to teach their students to use word processing when the teacher was more afraid of the computer than the students? Supervisor taught word processing to the teacher’s classes while the teacher observed and then took over.
Should handwriting continue to be taught? Students still need to write long hand in writing assessments. Legibility continues to be the goal. In addition, students need to learn how to use different tools for composing. For example, when I am not sure of what I want to say, I still brainstorm and write first drafts on yellow pads with pencil. When I am writing memos and other not-so-important documents, I will compose using the key board.
Since word processing’s best use is to aid in revision, I still have students brainstorm and draft longhand, type the draft into the word processor and then revise on the computer. Chapter 11, “The Computer and Writing Instruction,” p. 239.
What is the future of writing instruction in the era of computers and word processing? So long as words are the medium of communication, students will still need to learn how to brainstorm their topics, construct their theses and write rough drafts. They will need to write introductory material, use topic sentences with paragraphs, revise and edit. Multi-media devices like pictures, charts and sound will continue to be illustrative of the text. Chapter 12, “Computers, Writing Instruction and the Future,” p. 248.
How encourage teachers of other subjects to support the teaching of writing? Agree in general on the steps in the writing process; use subject-area journals in which students reflect on what they understand and don’t understand; agree on the organization of essay exams and on teaching the research paper. Chapter 13, “Writing Across the Curriculum,” p. 253.
Sunday, February 11, 2007
Teaching English, How To.... Essential Ideas 07
How help students prepare for writing assessments? Ten-minute daily essays for three weeks, twice a year, one class at a time. Begin in seventh, eighth and ninth grades by having students write on their own topics. Ten minutes is not a long time to write. Teacher corrects, i.e., actually spells words correctly, makes the changes with grammatical mistakes, usage, punctuation and style and re-writes awkward expression and ideas that are not clearly expressed.
Students do not have to write a complete composition in ten minutes. At the end of ten minutes, the teacher collects the papers, even if the students are in mid-sentence.
Students begin by turning their topics into a thesis sentence. In later grades, the teacher assigns the topic and students must turn that topic into a thesis sentence, just as occurs in state and SAT writing assessments.
Students come into class and immediately begin to complete their ten-minutes of writing. When the teacher returns the ten-minute essay the next day, students rewrite it, including the teacher’s corrections. Rewriting focuses the students’ attention on the changes and raises questions about the teacher’s reasons for making the changes. Rewriting also helps students to visualize their writing as good writing. The ten-minute essays become part of their writing grade.
Another advantage of the ten-minute essays at the beginning of class is that the students settle right down and begin to write. No restlessness and indolent chatter waiting for the teacher to begin the class.
Questions about ten-minute essays. In making the corrections for the students, isn’t the teacher doing it for them? Won’t students learn more by making the corrections themselves? What do the students learn from the teacher’s actually making the corrections? The teacher is demonstrating how to revise and edit. The teacher is making students aware of mistakes and how to fix them, which the student would not otherwise recognize. Students often do not understand teachers’ labeling of mistakes and therefore make no effort to correct them. Students’ interest will be piqued when they can compare what they wrote with the teacher’s corrections. The teacher’s corrections will cause students to ask for explanations.
Students must still correct problems in major compositions themselves.
Isn’t asking the teacher to correct a classroom set of ten-minute essays to be returned the next day asking too much of an English teacher? Probably. However only one class completes the ten-minute essays every three weeks and students cannot write all that much in ten minutes. As the students write daily and the teacher corrects, students will make fewer and fewer mistakes. Students will develop the habit of writing and will increase writing fluency. Students will be better prepared to write on demand in state and SAT writing assessments. Finally, the teacher will have a good knowledge of how well each student writes, which will aid in recognizing plagiarism in major papers.
Does the teacher change the students’ ideas? Never. The teacher corrects grammar, usage, punctuation, spelling, style and attempts to show students how to smooth awkward expression and clarify expression that is unclear or confusing, but NEVER changes or punishes the students’ ideas. On the other hand, inappropriate or offensive ideas should be discussed personally with the student.
State and SAT writing assessments require much longer writing times than ten minutes, with the state’s assessments requiring an hour and the SAT’s, 25 minutes. Isn’t ten-minutes too short? I never found it to be so. Writing ten minutes daily, for three weeks, twice a year, gave students all the practice they needed for writing on demand, turning topics into the thesis sentence and developing the thesis sentence in paragraphs with topic sentences. The extra time allotted in the state or SAT assessment will be almost a relief.
Teachers could expand the time for daily writing in later grades to fifteen, twenty, twenty-five minutes or an hour, but will have to respond to the increased amounts of writing by giving a “holistic” (overall) grade or some other brief evaluation that would not require their spending too much time each evening. Students will not then benefit from the teacher’s corrections.
All of these ideas appear in Chapter 4, “Professional Research Adapted,” p. 70; Chapter 9, “Grammar and Composition,” p. 166; and Chapter 10, “Helping Students Prepare for writing assessment,” p. 180.
Students do not have to write a complete composition in ten minutes. At the end of ten minutes, the teacher collects the papers, even if the students are in mid-sentence.
Students begin by turning their topics into a thesis sentence. In later grades, the teacher assigns the topic and students must turn that topic into a thesis sentence, just as occurs in state and SAT writing assessments.
Students come into class and immediately begin to complete their ten-minutes of writing. When the teacher returns the ten-minute essay the next day, students rewrite it, including the teacher’s corrections. Rewriting focuses the students’ attention on the changes and raises questions about the teacher’s reasons for making the changes. Rewriting also helps students to visualize their writing as good writing. The ten-minute essays become part of their writing grade.
Another advantage of the ten-minute essays at the beginning of class is that the students settle right down and begin to write. No restlessness and indolent chatter waiting for the teacher to begin the class.
Questions about ten-minute essays. In making the corrections for the students, isn’t the teacher doing it for them? Won’t students learn more by making the corrections themselves? What do the students learn from the teacher’s actually making the corrections? The teacher is demonstrating how to revise and edit. The teacher is making students aware of mistakes and how to fix them, which the student would not otherwise recognize. Students often do not understand teachers’ labeling of mistakes and therefore make no effort to correct them. Students’ interest will be piqued when they can compare what they wrote with the teacher’s corrections. The teacher’s corrections will cause students to ask for explanations.
Students must still correct problems in major compositions themselves.
Isn’t asking the teacher to correct a classroom set of ten-minute essays to be returned the next day asking too much of an English teacher? Probably. However only one class completes the ten-minute essays every three weeks and students cannot write all that much in ten minutes. As the students write daily and the teacher corrects, students will make fewer and fewer mistakes. Students will develop the habit of writing and will increase writing fluency. Students will be better prepared to write on demand in state and SAT writing assessments. Finally, the teacher will have a good knowledge of how well each student writes, which will aid in recognizing plagiarism in major papers.
Does the teacher change the students’ ideas? Never. The teacher corrects grammar, usage, punctuation, spelling, style and attempts to show students how to smooth awkward expression and clarify expression that is unclear or confusing, but NEVER changes or punishes the students’ ideas. On the other hand, inappropriate or offensive ideas should be discussed personally with the student.
State and SAT writing assessments require much longer writing times than ten minutes, with the state’s assessments requiring an hour and the SAT’s, 25 minutes. Isn’t ten-minutes too short? I never found it to be so. Writing ten minutes daily, for three weeks, twice a year, gave students all the practice they needed for writing on demand, turning topics into the thesis sentence and developing the thesis sentence in paragraphs with topic sentences. The extra time allotted in the state or SAT assessment will be almost a relief.
Teachers could expand the time for daily writing in later grades to fifteen, twenty, twenty-five minutes or an hour, but will have to respond to the increased amounts of writing by giving a “holistic” (overall) grade or some other brief evaluation that would not require their spending too much time each evening. Students will not then benefit from the teacher’s corrections.
All of these ideas appear in Chapter 4, “Professional Research Adapted,” p. 70; Chapter 9, “Grammar and Composition,” p. 166; and Chapter 10, “Helping Students Prepare for writing assessment,” p. 180.
Teaching English, How To.... Essential Ideas 06
Punctuation is not the exact science that some people think it is. Check the thousands of pages published each day and you will find numerous inconsistencies. Some people, for instance, put commas after every introductory phrase and clause and some do not. You should probably err on the side of using the comma after introductory expressions. No one will complain if you do, but some purists will complain if you don’t. The purpose of the comma in that location is to avoid confusion with the words following the introductory expression. Example: “After I left, the train pulled slowly out of the station.” p. 193+
How to teach punctuation effectively without overwhelming your students. Construct a reference guide giving examples of easily observed and remembered uses of the comma, semicolon, colon, dash, parentheses, etc. The examples will enable students to use most punctuation marks accurately with little effort and without having to look up the item in a 900-page textbook. The reference guide can be put quickly to use during editing. “Let’s see. Did I remember to put the second parenthesis after my thought and do I put the period before the parenthesis or after it?” The reference chart will show clear examples of each situation. p. 193+
About the comma. Three essential uses of the comma need to be taught and emphasized again and again: after introductory expressions, around “interrupters,” and before “afterthoughts.” These uses of the comma help readers follow the writer’s flow of thought. The comma after introductory expressions avoids confusion with the words that follow. The most frequent problem with “interrupters” is forgetting the second comma: “Tom, the captain of the team, lectured us on team spirit.” Finally, the comma before “afterthoughts” is characteristic of sophisticated writing: “I pulled my car to the side of the road, expecting the police car to do the same.” Chapter 9: Grammar and Composition.”
What is the most frequent mistake in punctuation? In America, failing to put commas and periods inside closing quotation marks. Example: The short story, “Most Dangerous Game,” caught my interest right away. Example: We read the short story, “Most Dangerous Game.” [Periods and commas INSIDE closing quotation marks.]
Question marks and exclamation points are placed inside closing quotation marks if the entire sentence is in quotes. If only a part of the sentence is in quotes, then the question mark or exclamation point is placed outside the closing quotation marks. Example: I loved the story, “Most Dangerous Game”! [Part of the sentence.] “Boy, that was a great story!” [The whole sentence.]
Finally, the semicolon is always placed outside of closing quotation marks. Example: We read the story, “Most Dangerous Game”; it was one of the best stories I have ever read.
In Great Britain and Canada, commas and periods are punctuated in the same way that Americans use question marks and exclamation points with closing quotation marks. In America, COMMAS AND PERIODS ARE PLACED INSIDE CLOSING QUOTATION MARKS! Chapter 9: Grammar and composition.”
Revising and editing. I define revising as deleting, inserting and rearranging words, sentences and paragraphs. I define editing as checking spelling, sentence structure, usage and punctuation. The purpose for revising and editing is to polish writing, to achieve “flow” in which the reader begins to read and feels almost compelled to keep reading from beginning to end without being distracted by mistakes. A knowledge of grammar helps the writer to polish prose. Chapter 9: “Grammar and Composition.”
How to teach punctuation effectively without overwhelming your students. Construct a reference guide giving examples of easily observed and remembered uses of the comma, semicolon, colon, dash, parentheses, etc. The examples will enable students to use most punctuation marks accurately with little effort and without having to look up the item in a 900-page textbook. The reference guide can be put quickly to use during editing. “Let’s see. Did I remember to put the second parenthesis after my thought and do I put the period before the parenthesis or after it?” The reference chart will show clear examples of each situation. p. 193+
About the comma. Three essential uses of the comma need to be taught and emphasized again and again: after introductory expressions, around “interrupters,” and before “afterthoughts.” These uses of the comma help readers follow the writer’s flow of thought. The comma after introductory expressions avoids confusion with the words that follow. The most frequent problem with “interrupters” is forgetting the second comma: “Tom, the captain of the team, lectured us on team spirit.” Finally, the comma before “afterthoughts” is characteristic of sophisticated writing: “I pulled my car to the side of the road, expecting the police car to do the same.” Chapter 9: Grammar and Composition.”
What is the most frequent mistake in punctuation? In America, failing to put commas and periods inside closing quotation marks. Example: The short story, “Most Dangerous Game,” caught my interest right away. Example: We read the short story, “Most Dangerous Game.” [Periods and commas INSIDE closing quotation marks.]
Question marks and exclamation points are placed inside closing quotation marks if the entire sentence is in quotes. If only a part of the sentence is in quotes, then the question mark or exclamation point is placed outside the closing quotation marks. Example: I loved the story, “Most Dangerous Game”! [Part of the sentence.] “Boy, that was a great story!” [The whole sentence.]
Finally, the semicolon is always placed outside of closing quotation marks. Example: We read the story, “Most Dangerous Game”; it was one of the best stories I have ever read.
In Great Britain and Canada, commas and periods are punctuated in the same way that Americans use question marks and exclamation points with closing quotation marks. In America, COMMAS AND PERIODS ARE PLACED INSIDE CLOSING QUOTATION MARKS! Chapter 9: Grammar and composition.”
Revising and editing. I define revising as deleting, inserting and rearranging words, sentences and paragraphs. I define editing as checking spelling, sentence structure, usage and punctuation. The purpose for revising and editing is to polish writing, to achieve “flow” in which the reader begins to read and feels almost compelled to keep reading from beginning to end without being distracted by mistakes. A knowledge of grammar helps the writer to polish prose. Chapter 9: “Grammar and Composition.”
Teaching English, How To.... Essential Ideas 05
Why don’t students master English grammar? Grammar has been traditionally taught without a clear knowledge of purpose on the part of the teacher or the student. How are students going to use the grammar that they have learned? Traditionally, every year, students learn the parts of speech and the parts of the sentence, including diagramming, without learning how to apply this information to their writing. p. 169.
How can students learn to master grammar—with a sense of purpose? Make the study of grammar problem-centered. Begin with identifying a part of speech or sentence and then turn immediately to chapters dealing with problems involving that part of speech or sentence. In the case of the noun, the problems would be capitalization, formation of plurals and formation of the possessives.
Teachers should also teach mini-lessons on usage problems they encounter in the students’ writing or speaking, like the misuse of “lie” (recline) and “lay” (put or place) or to correct verb usage such as “I should have went to practice” and “I should have ran faster.”
In ten-minute essays, teachers can correct students’ grammatical problems, using the students’ own writing, not textbook exercises. Chapter 9, “Grammar and Composition.”
Showing students how to apply knowledge of grammar to their writing: First, teach grammar and writing concurrently. Second, in ten-minute essays, demonstrate to students how to correct grammar, usage and punctuation problems. Third, teach students to use their textbooks as a reference source to help them correct grammar, usage and punctuation. Make sure students know where to find information in the textbook on problems that you have labeled on their major papers.
Don’t try to teach all grammatical, usage and punctuation problems. In the attempt to teach everything, you will cause students to remember nothing. Emphasize in grammar, for example, significant problems in sentence structure, like dangling modifiers, misplaced modifiers, parallel structure and active/passive voice. Chapter 9, “Grammar and Composition.”
Before teaching any item of grammar, teachers should ask themselves, “Why?” How will students use it? What’s the purpose, for example, of teaching the direct object and the predicate nominative? Emphasize the reason. Students will then remember and apply the grammar you have taught them.
What is the problem with writing as you speak? Writing instructors will often suggest that inexperienced writers try to write as they speak in order to help them relax, increase writing fluency and overcome writer’s block. However, the advice, “write as you speak,” will cause a problem later as students’ writing needs to become more precise. The problem is primarily stylistic. When we speak, we repeat words much too frequently. We can do so without criticism when we speak, but not when we write.
For example, when we speak, we often repeat “there,” “it,” “thing,” and “get.” This habit of repeating words makes our writing wordy and imprecise. The first step in achieving conciseness in writing is to eliminate unnecessarily repeated words.
When you encounter an unnecessarily repeated word, try one of three techniques: 1. Simply drop out one of the words. 2. Try a synonym for one of the repeated words. 3. Rearrange your writing to eliminate one of the words. The best solution, the one that works most often, is usually the third.
Unnecessary repetition of words is one of the most difficult habits for inexperienced writers to overcome. Chapter 9, “Grammar and Composition.”
Are sentence-combining exercises useful? In several ways. Sentence combining exercises help to explain grammatical problems: “Tom is our leading scorer. He is the captain of the team” becomes, when combined, “Tom, our captain, is the leading scorer on the team.” These combined sentences help students understand the punctuation of the appositive, “our captain,” preceded and followed by commas.
In addition, students who practice combining sentences learn how to achieve brevity, variety in sentence structure, sentence flow and understanding of, and solutions to, common sentence problems like the run-on sentence and the sentence fragment. With the sentence fragment, for example, students learn to combine the fragment with either the sentence that precedes or follows it. Finally, students apply sentence combining to their own writing by making the procedure a consistent part of the revise/edit step in the writing process. p. 186.
How can students learn to master grammar—with a sense of purpose? Make the study of grammar problem-centered. Begin with identifying a part of speech or sentence and then turn immediately to chapters dealing with problems involving that part of speech or sentence. In the case of the noun, the problems would be capitalization, formation of plurals and formation of the possessives.
Teachers should also teach mini-lessons on usage problems they encounter in the students’ writing or speaking, like the misuse of “lie” (recline) and “lay” (put or place) or to correct verb usage such as “I should have went to practice” and “I should have ran faster.”
In ten-minute essays, teachers can correct students’ grammatical problems, using the students’ own writing, not textbook exercises. Chapter 9, “Grammar and Composition.”
Showing students how to apply knowledge of grammar to their writing: First, teach grammar and writing concurrently. Second, in ten-minute essays, demonstrate to students how to correct grammar, usage and punctuation problems. Third, teach students to use their textbooks as a reference source to help them correct grammar, usage and punctuation. Make sure students know where to find information in the textbook on problems that you have labeled on their major papers.
Don’t try to teach all grammatical, usage and punctuation problems. In the attempt to teach everything, you will cause students to remember nothing. Emphasize in grammar, for example, significant problems in sentence structure, like dangling modifiers, misplaced modifiers, parallel structure and active/passive voice. Chapter 9, “Grammar and Composition.”
Before teaching any item of grammar, teachers should ask themselves, “Why?” How will students use it? What’s the purpose, for example, of teaching the direct object and the predicate nominative? Emphasize the reason. Students will then remember and apply the grammar you have taught them.
What is the problem with writing as you speak? Writing instructors will often suggest that inexperienced writers try to write as they speak in order to help them relax, increase writing fluency and overcome writer’s block. However, the advice, “write as you speak,” will cause a problem later as students’ writing needs to become more precise. The problem is primarily stylistic. When we speak, we repeat words much too frequently. We can do so without criticism when we speak, but not when we write.
For example, when we speak, we often repeat “there,” “it,” “thing,” and “get.” This habit of repeating words makes our writing wordy and imprecise. The first step in achieving conciseness in writing is to eliminate unnecessarily repeated words.
When you encounter an unnecessarily repeated word, try one of three techniques: 1. Simply drop out one of the words. 2. Try a synonym for one of the repeated words. 3. Rearrange your writing to eliminate one of the words. The best solution, the one that works most often, is usually the third.
Unnecessary repetition of words is one of the most difficult habits for inexperienced writers to overcome. Chapter 9, “Grammar and Composition.”
Are sentence-combining exercises useful? In several ways. Sentence combining exercises help to explain grammatical problems: “Tom is our leading scorer. He is the captain of the team” becomes, when combined, “Tom, our captain, is the leading scorer on the team.” These combined sentences help students understand the punctuation of the appositive, “our captain,” preceded and followed by commas.
In addition, students who practice combining sentences learn how to achieve brevity, variety in sentence structure, sentence flow and understanding of, and solutions to, common sentence problems like the run-on sentence and the sentence fragment. With the sentence fragment, for example, students learn to combine the fragment with either the sentence that precedes or follows it. Finally, students apply sentence combining to their own writing by making the procedure a consistent part of the revise/edit step in the writing process. p. 186.
Saturday, February 10, 2007
Teaching English, How To.... Essential Ideas 04
Model for Expository Writing: 1. Tell them what you are going to tell them (introductory material concluded by the thesis sentence). 2. Tell them (middle paragraphs with topic sentences clearly related to the thesis sentence). 3. Tell them what you told them (summary paragraph). p. 114.
How to Begin: Brainstorming. Begin writing—especially if you do not know what you want to say—by brainstorming your topic. List all of your ideas on the topic. Set a time limit—10 or 15 minutes. Don’t attempt to organize or choose your words carefully or spell correctly. Use a few words for each idea. (In a group brainstorm, no one is allowed to criticize any one else’s ideas.) p. 127.
How to Construct a Thesis Sentence. Include your topic and at least (but not limited to) three main ideas. Example: “My ambition (topic) is to earn my doctorate in psychology (first main idea), and then to work with the homeless (second main idea), and with teenagers (third main idea) to help them lead productive lives.” The thesis sentence is constructed after completing the brainstorm and is used to chart the direction of the rough draft. It should conclude the interesting introductory material in the finished composition. p. 130.
What is a paragraph? How long should a paragraph be? Must every paragraph have a topic sentence? Paragraphs begin with topic sentences that tell the reader what is to follow. Vary the length of your paragraphs. Very long paragraphs will intimidate the reader. Very short paragraphs are often underdeveloped. However, err on the side of “shorter is better.” Shorter paragraphs are reader friendly. Not all paragraphs need a topic sentence. The original topic sentence might require four, five or more paragraphs to develop. These paragraphs might well not have topic sentences. p. 146.
Quotes on writing. On a bulletin board or around the room place quotations on writing. Change them frequently and engage the students in a discussion of the implications of the quotes. Example: “Weak writing almost always indicates weak thinking or weak structure.” ML Waxman. p. 154.
What’s wrong with substandard usage such as the misuse of “lie” (recline) and “lay” (put or place)? Distracts the reader from the writer’s or speaker’s ideas. p. 167.
When teaching writing, do what you expect with the group first before asking students to do it individually. Do each step in the writing process with the group before asking students to complete the steps individually. For example, do a group brainstorm and follow with a group thesis sentence before asking the students individually to brainstorm and write a thesis sentence. Chapter 8, pp. 103-165.
What does research say about teaching grammar to improve student writing? Useless. But this research rarely connects the study of grammar and writing, rarely shows grammar being consciously applied to writing. Instead, students learn grammar and writing in isolation and the researchers compare knowledge of grammar with performance in writing. p. 168.
Why might the study of grammar be of little help in improving student writing? Writing involves paragraphs and organization; construction of a beginning, middle and end; and achieving unity and coherence. Grammar deals with the sentence, correct usage and punctuation. Writing deals with the whole; grammar deals with the sentence. p. 168.
How does a knowledge of grammar help students improve writing? Helps them polish their prose, an important part of achieving “flow” in their writing, in which readers begin at the beginning and read through to the end, undistracted by lapses in usage, punctuation, spelling or style. p. 168.
How to Begin: Brainstorming. Begin writing—especially if you do not know what you want to say—by brainstorming your topic. List all of your ideas on the topic. Set a time limit—10 or 15 minutes. Don’t attempt to organize or choose your words carefully or spell correctly. Use a few words for each idea. (In a group brainstorm, no one is allowed to criticize any one else’s ideas.) p. 127.
How to Construct a Thesis Sentence. Include your topic and at least (but not limited to) three main ideas. Example: “My ambition (topic) is to earn my doctorate in psychology (first main idea), and then to work with the homeless (second main idea), and with teenagers (third main idea) to help them lead productive lives.” The thesis sentence is constructed after completing the brainstorm and is used to chart the direction of the rough draft. It should conclude the interesting introductory material in the finished composition. p. 130.
What is a paragraph? How long should a paragraph be? Must every paragraph have a topic sentence? Paragraphs begin with topic sentences that tell the reader what is to follow. Vary the length of your paragraphs. Very long paragraphs will intimidate the reader. Very short paragraphs are often underdeveloped. However, err on the side of “shorter is better.” Shorter paragraphs are reader friendly. Not all paragraphs need a topic sentence. The original topic sentence might require four, five or more paragraphs to develop. These paragraphs might well not have topic sentences. p. 146.
Quotes on writing. On a bulletin board or around the room place quotations on writing. Change them frequently and engage the students in a discussion of the implications of the quotes. Example: “Weak writing almost always indicates weak thinking or weak structure.” ML Waxman. p. 154.
What’s wrong with substandard usage such as the misuse of “lie” (recline) and “lay” (put or place)? Distracts the reader from the writer’s or speaker’s ideas. p. 167.
When teaching writing, do what you expect with the group first before asking students to do it individually. Do each step in the writing process with the group before asking students to complete the steps individually. For example, do a group brainstorm and follow with a group thesis sentence before asking the students individually to brainstorm and write a thesis sentence. Chapter 8, pp. 103-165.
What does research say about teaching grammar to improve student writing? Useless. But this research rarely connects the study of grammar and writing, rarely shows grammar being consciously applied to writing. Instead, students learn grammar and writing in isolation and the researchers compare knowledge of grammar with performance in writing. p. 168.
Why might the study of grammar be of little help in improving student writing? Writing involves paragraphs and organization; construction of a beginning, middle and end; and achieving unity and coherence. Grammar deals with the sentence, correct usage and punctuation. Writing deals with the whole; grammar deals with the sentence. p. 168.
How does a knowledge of grammar help students improve writing? Helps them polish their prose, an important part of achieving “flow” in their writing, in which readers begin at the beginning and read through to the end, undistracted by lapses in usage, punctuation, spelling or style. p. 168.
Teaching English, How To.... Essential Ideas 03
Teaching English, How To…. Essential Ideas 03
How can students evaluate the unity, clarity and smoothness of their expression—without the aid of the teacher? Self-evaluation of writing: unity. Fold a sheet of paper in half horizontally. The writer writes the main idea of the composition on one side of the folded paper. Gives the folded paper to the partner who reads the composition silently, then writes the main idea on the other side of the folded sheet of paper. Unfold the paper. If the two main ideas are similar, the composition is probably unified. If they differ significantly, the writer should check the thesis, topic sentences and summary paragraph. p. 139.
Self-evaluation of writing: clarity. Partner reads the writer’s composition silently. Whenever the partner has a question about meaning, he or she places a question mark in the margin. The writer then re-reads and decides whether to rewrite or add information to clarify meaning. Important for the partner not to make judgment statements like, “Good.” No judgments. Just question marks. pp. 139-141.
Self-evaluation of writing: smoothness (i.e., eliminating awkward expression). Writer reads paper aloud. Wherever the writer stumbles in reading aloud, he or she underlines the “stumble.” Later, the writer re-reads silently and decides whether to revise expressions that have been underlined. An additional step would be to have the partner read the composition aloud and underline the “stumbles.” pp. 139-141.
Self-evaluation of writing: spelling. Often we miss misspellings because we read for ideas, passing over the words too rapidly from left to right, and do not pay attention to the details of the words. Try reading from the last word back to the first. You will see the details of the individual words and can correct the spelling. pp. 139-141.
Teacher’s evaluation scale:
Opening paragraph (interesting introductory material) - 15 pts.
Clear thesis sentence - 15 pts.
Middle paragraphs: clear topic sentences
and fully developed - 15 pts.
Summary concluding paragraph - 15 pts.
Coherence and style: “flow,” begins to read
and is not distracted by unnecessary
repetition, dangling modifiers,
parallel structure, etc., in reading
through to the end. - 15 pts.
Grammar, spelling and mechanics - 10 pts.
100 pts.
p. 144.
Essay exams. No introductory material. Begin with the thesis sentence that re-states the question, i.e., “What were the three causes of the X War?” Rephrase and answer the question: “The three causes of the X War were economic expansion, ethnic hatred and the king’s personal ambition.” Each of the three points in the thesis sentence serves as the topic sentence of the paragraph explaining each cause of the X War. p. 141.
How can students evaluate the unity, clarity and smoothness of their expression—without the aid of the teacher? Self-evaluation of writing: unity. Fold a sheet of paper in half horizontally. The writer writes the main idea of the composition on one side of the folded paper. Gives the folded paper to the partner who reads the composition silently, then writes the main idea on the other side of the folded sheet of paper. Unfold the paper. If the two main ideas are similar, the composition is probably unified. If they differ significantly, the writer should check the thesis, topic sentences and summary paragraph. p. 139.
Self-evaluation of writing: clarity. Partner reads the writer’s composition silently. Whenever the partner has a question about meaning, he or she places a question mark in the margin. The writer then re-reads and decides whether to rewrite or add information to clarify meaning. Important for the partner not to make judgment statements like, “Good.” No judgments. Just question marks. pp. 139-141.
Self-evaluation of writing: smoothness (i.e., eliminating awkward expression). Writer reads paper aloud. Wherever the writer stumbles in reading aloud, he or she underlines the “stumble.” Later, the writer re-reads silently and decides whether to revise expressions that have been underlined. An additional step would be to have the partner read the composition aloud and underline the “stumbles.” pp. 139-141.
Self-evaluation of writing: spelling. Often we miss misspellings because we read for ideas, passing over the words too rapidly from left to right, and do not pay attention to the details of the words. Try reading from the last word back to the first. You will see the details of the individual words and can correct the spelling. pp. 139-141.
Teacher’s evaluation scale:
Opening paragraph (interesting introductory material) - 15 pts.
Clear thesis sentence - 15 pts.
Middle paragraphs: clear topic sentences
and fully developed - 15 pts.
Summary concluding paragraph - 15 pts.
Coherence and style: “flow,” begins to read
and is not distracted by unnecessary
repetition, dangling modifiers,
parallel structure, etc., in reading
through to the end. - 15 pts.
Grammar, spelling and mechanics - 10 pts.
100 pts.
p. 144.
Essay exams. No introductory material. Begin with the thesis sentence that re-states the question, i.e., “What were the three causes of the X War?” Rephrase and answer the question: “The three causes of the X War were economic expansion, ethnic hatred and the king’s personal ambition.” Each of the three points in the thesis sentence serves as the topic sentence of the paragraph explaining each cause of the X War. p. 141.
Teaching English, How To.... Essential Ideas 02
The following are summaries of important ideas in Teaching English, How To….
Ten-minute essays. Did a teacher ever make a correction on one of your papers and you said, “I didn’t know that” and you never made that mistake again? That type of writing help is the idea behind the ten-minute essays in which the teacher does not just label mistakes, but actually makes the corrections for you in style and mechanics and even with expression that is awkward or not clear. The ten-minute essay idea came from a piece of research I read in the 1960s. pp. 70-77.
The Directed Reading Assignment changes students from passive to active readers. Build up background information on the topic—the more students know about a topic, the better they will comprehend what they read about it. Pre-teach key unfamiliar vocabulary so that students will see the words when they read. Set clear purpose for reading, instead of expecting students to read everything for no purpose. Have students apply what they have learned. pp. 82-87.
End of reading problems? Olive Niles, an expert on reading education, said that if every classroom teacher, in all subject areas, used the directed reading assignment, there would be no reading problems in American schools. p. 87.
Homework. Motivate students to do their homework independently by having them start it in class, where you can answer questions about it and clarify problems. Their parents will be most grateful. Help students plan long-term assignments like research papers. It also helps if you occasionally ask students to evaluate your homework assignments You might be able to improve them. pp. 89-92.
Modeling skills. Directed reading assignments show students how to approach difficult reading assignments themselves, without the aid of the teacher. Beginning homework assignments in class helps students understand how to complete homework assignments on their own. With 10-minute essays, the teacher corrects problems of style, usage, mechanics and awkward and unclear expression, demonstrating the way in which students should revise and proofread by themselves without the aid of the teacher. pp. 95-98.
Can Writing Be Taught? Some professional writers say that writing cannot be taught. I think the meaning of that statement depends on how “writing” is defined. Obviously, not many people can write powerful novels or construct publishable poems. However, expository writing, the form of writing that most people use to communicate, can be taught. Students can be taught how to construct a piece of writing with a beginning, middle and end. p. 103.
The Writing Process: 1. Study an example of the type of writing you need to use. 2. Choose a topic. 3. Brainstorm the topic. 4. Review your brainstormed material and write a thesis sentence. 5. Write a complete first draft as quickly as possible, based on your thesis sentence and including the middle paragraphs and summary paragraph. 6. Compose interesting introductory material. 7. Add the thesis sentence to the introductory material. 8. Revise (insert, delete, rearrange) and edit (correct spelling, punctuation, etc.). p. 106+
Expository vs. Narrative Writing. The purpose of expository writing is to explain, as distinct from narrative writing, which describes an experience, usually, but not always, in chronological order. Most expository writing includes narrative writing as the writer describes experiences related to the topic. The reader will note many uses of narrative material in this book, which is primarily expository in form, i.e., it explains how to teach secondary English. p. 104.
Ten-minute essays. Did a teacher ever make a correction on one of your papers and you said, “I didn’t know that” and you never made that mistake again? That type of writing help is the idea behind the ten-minute essays in which the teacher does not just label mistakes, but actually makes the corrections for you in style and mechanics and even with expression that is awkward or not clear. The ten-minute essay idea came from a piece of research I read in the 1960s. pp. 70-77.
The Directed Reading Assignment changes students from passive to active readers. Build up background information on the topic—the more students know about a topic, the better they will comprehend what they read about it. Pre-teach key unfamiliar vocabulary so that students will see the words when they read. Set clear purpose for reading, instead of expecting students to read everything for no purpose. Have students apply what they have learned. pp. 82-87.
End of reading problems? Olive Niles, an expert on reading education, said that if every classroom teacher, in all subject areas, used the directed reading assignment, there would be no reading problems in American schools. p. 87.
Homework. Motivate students to do their homework independently by having them start it in class, where you can answer questions about it and clarify problems. Their parents will be most grateful. Help students plan long-term assignments like research papers. It also helps if you occasionally ask students to evaluate your homework assignments You might be able to improve them. pp. 89-92.
Modeling skills. Directed reading assignments show students how to approach difficult reading assignments themselves, without the aid of the teacher. Beginning homework assignments in class helps students understand how to complete homework assignments on their own. With 10-minute essays, the teacher corrects problems of style, usage, mechanics and awkward and unclear expression, demonstrating the way in which students should revise and proofread by themselves without the aid of the teacher. pp. 95-98.
Can Writing Be Taught? Some professional writers say that writing cannot be taught. I think the meaning of that statement depends on how “writing” is defined. Obviously, not many people can write powerful novels or construct publishable poems. However, expository writing, the form of writing that most people use to communicate, can be taught. Students can be taught how to construct a piece of writing with a beginning, middle and end. p. 103.
The Writing Process: 1. Study an example of the type of writing you need to use. 2. Choose a topic. 3. Brainstorm the topic. 4. Review your brainstormed material and write a thesis sentence. 5. Write a complete first draft as quickly as possible, based on your thesis sentence and including the middle paragraphs and summary paragraph. 6. Compose interesting introductory material. 7. Add the thesis sentence to the introductory material. 8. Revise (insert, delete, rearrange) and edit (correct spelling, punctuation, etc.). p. 106+
Expository vs. Narrative Writing. The purpose of expository writing is to explain, as distinct from narrative writing, which describes an experience, usually, but not always, in chronological order. Most expository writing includes narrative writing as the writer describes experiences related to the topic. The reader will note many uses of narrative material in this book, which is primarily expository in form, i.e., it explains how to teach secondary English. p. 104.
Friday, February 9, 2007
Teaching English, How To.... Essential Ideas
I have summarized the ideas in each chapter for easier reading.
Education and schooling. Lloyd Alexander, noted writer of children’s books, says that the purpose of schooling is to help people learn to educate themselves throughout their lives. p. 35.
Learning how to learn: Independent study. Rationale for the project. Objectives. Activities. Materials. Method of presentation. Evaluation. p. 38.
Thinking in English class. In writing, students organize and shape their thoughts. They discover what they are thinking. In literature they relate literary works to their own experience and compare one work of literature to another. p. 39.
Communication: Method of organizing formal communication. Tell them what you are going to tell them (in writing, opening paragraph concluded by thesis sentence); tell them (paragraphs begun by topic sentences clearly related to the thesis); tell them what you told them (summary paragraph). pp. 43-44.
Problem solving: questions, poems and research papers. Students read poem; raise questions about and discuss what puzzles them with the meanings of words, phrases and the whole poem. Research papers begin with a question for which the student might have hypotheses, but no definite answers. The point; raising questions is useful in solving problems. p. 45.
Critical thinking. Article (“Teenage Corruption”) that uses propaganda techniques, including card stacking (only that information presented which favors the writer’s point of view); name-calling (“misguided left-wing organization”); attacking individuals, not their arguments (“He is worried about keeping his job as a psychologist….”); loaded words, sound good but have little substance (“any human being who loves mankind and dignity….”) false analogies (“Teenagers are like movie sets….”), etc. pp. 40-43.
Active learning. Purpose and questions are keys to active learning. Education has been defined as answering questions students didn’t ask. On the contrary, student learning should begin with student questions. p. 48.
Active learning and reading. Textbook chapters: read first paragraph, first sentence of each intermediate paragraph and last paragraph; raise questions they will read to answer. Novels: read for ten minutes near the beginning, half way through, three-fourths through and near the end. After each section, raise questions. Read novel to answer the questions. pp. 49-54.
Active learning and reading short stories: First, read one sentence in each column or on each page. second, read one paragraph per column or page. Third, read first sentence of each paragraph throughout the story. Raise questions and read, discuss and answer the questions. Chapter 2, pp. 48-57.
Action research, research by classroom teachers, is an excellent method for finding out how effective classroom techniques are. Students’ insights can help improve the effectiveness of the techniques. p. 63.
Academic journal writing. Students write in their academic journals three times a week. They reflect on what they have learned; question what they don’t understand. They try to put into words what they have learned and what they don’t understand, with reflections on both.
Education and schooling. Lloyd Alexander, noted writer of children’s books, says that the purpose of schooling is to help people learn to educate themselves throughout their lives. p. 35.
Learning how to learn: Independent study. Rationale for the project. Objectives. Activities. Materials. Method of presentation. Evaluation. p. 38.
Thinking in English class. In writing, students organize and shape their thoughts. They discover what they are thinking. In literature they relate literary works to their own experience and compare one work of literature to another. p. 39.
Communication: Method of organizing formal communication. Tell them what you are going to tell them (in writing, opening paragraph concluded by thesis sentence); tell them (paragraphs begun by topic sentences clearly related to the thesis); tell them what you told them (summary paragraph). pp. 43-44.
Problem solving: questions, poems and research papers. Students read poem; raise questions about and discuss what puzzles them with the meanings of words, phrases and the whole poem. Research papers begin with a question for which the student might have hypotheses, but no definite answers. The point; raising questions is useful in solving problems. p. 45.
Critical thinking. Article (“Teenage Corruption”) that uses propaganda techniques, including card stacking (only that information presented which favors the writer’s point of view); name-calling (“misguided left-wing organization”); attacking individuals, not their arguments (“He is worried about keeping his job as a psychologist….”); loaded words, sound good but have little substance (“any human being who loves mankind and dignity….”) false analogies (“Teenagers are like movie sets….”), etc. pp. 40-43.
Active learning. Purpose and questions are keys to active learning. Education has been defined as answering questions students didn’t ask. On the contrary, student learning should begin with student questions. p. 48.
Active learning and reading. Textbook chapters: read first paragraph, first sentence of each intermediate paragraph and last paragraph; raise questions they will read to answer. Novels: read for ten minutes near the beginning, half way through, three-fourths through and near the end. After each section, raise questions. Read novel to answer the questions. pp. 49-54.
Active learning and reading short stories: First, read one sentence in each column or on each page. second, read one paragraph per column or page. Third, read first sentence of each paragraph throughout the story. Raise questions and read, discuss and answer the questions. Chapter 2, pp. 48-57.
Action research, research by classroom teachers, is an excellent method for finding out how effective classroom techniques are. Students’ insights can help improve the effectiveness of the techniques. p. 63.
Academic journal writing. Students write in their academic journals three times a week. They reflect on what they have learned; question what they don’t understand. They try to put into words what they have learned and what they don’t understand, with reflections on both.
Annotated Table of Contents, Chapters 27 - 30
Part Seven: Supervision.
What are the characteristics of a successful supervisor of language arts?
Chapter 27. Supervision Lesson #1. Listen. Why is listening important to successful leadership? So much of success in leadership comes from listening to others and helping them carry through on their ideas. My willingness to listen to others was probably my greatest leadership strength, but at the end of my career as language arts supervisor, K-12, my failure to listen was the cause of my greatest mistake. After learning about my experience in refusing to listen, maybe the reader can avoid making a similar mistake.
Chapter 28. Supervision Lesson #2. Inservice. How can teacher inservice programs be improved? When I took courses in education, I noted that professors often lectured about teaching practices without using the techniques themselves. For example, instructors would recommend that teachers individualize their instruction but would not individualize their own teacher education classes. From my first position as an administrator, I've made it a fundamental principle to teach teachers as I wanted them to teach their students. An example of how I “practiced what I preached” occurred in a workshop for teachers new to a large suburban school district.
Chapter 29. Supervision Lesson #3. Change. What is needed for successful change in education? During my years in education, I have watched administrators make changes because of prevailing enthusiasms in the profession. The use of learning centers, behavioral objectives, whole language, the writing process—all of these changes were, in my experience, imposed on teachers from above. All were based on some good ideas, but all had some harmful effects as well. And the results of pressure for change on the staff were about what one would expect: a small core of enthusiasts embraced the change; the large majority went along with it but not enthusiastically, and, as soon as the pressure was off, dropped the procedure from their teaching; and a minority fought the change because they felt that it was not right, that it could even hurt students.
In this chapter, I discuss what happened when the need for change was clearly understood by just about everybody. But even with a clearly defined need for change, watch out for the side effects. Evaluation is necessary to help avoid and correct the problems that are inevitable with change.
Chapter 30. Supervision Lesson #4. Authority. Does leadership without authority work? The trouble with Mary was grammar—not her use of it but her teaching of it. The setting was a junior high school in the mid-1960s. My role as instructional consultant in the building was to help teachers improve their instruction—but I had no authority to demand change. Whatever change I was able to accomplish had to occur because of my personality and methods of persuasion.
One morning, the principal came storming into my office.. He was angry. He had just come from Mary Jones’s English class with seventh graders. She had been teaching, no, drilling, the students in grammar. “What is a noun? What is a verb?” etc.
“Ray,” he said, “I haven’t seen teaching like that since I was in grammar school a long time ago! Some kids actually had their heads down on their desks and were sleeping. Try to show her another way to teach that stuff.”
Then he strode out of my office, his job done; mine was just beginning.
What are the characteristics of a successful supervisor of language arts?
Chapter 27. Supervision Lesson #1. Listen. Why is listening important to successful leadership? So much of success in leadership comes from listening to others and helping them carry through on their ideas. My willingness to listen to others was probably my greatest leadership strength, but at the end of my career as language arts supervisor, K-12, my failure to listen was the cause of my greatest mistake. After learning about my experience in refusing to listen, maybe the reader can avoid making a similar mistake.
Chapter 28. Supervision Lesson #2. Inservice. How can teacher inservice programs be improved? When I took courses in education, I noted that professors often lectured about teaching practices without using the techniques themselves. For example, instructors would recommend that teachers individualize their instruction but would not individualize their own teacher education classes. From my first position as an administrator, I've made it a fundamental principle to teach teachers as I wanted them to teach their students. An example of how I “practiced what I preached” occurred in a workshop for teachers new to a large suburban school district.
Chapter 29. Supervision Lesson #3. Change. What is needed for successful change in education? During my years in education, I have watched administrators make changes because of prevailing enthusiasms in the profession. The use of learning centers, behavioral objectives, whole language, the writing process—all of these changes were, in my experience, imposed on teachers from above. All were based on some good ideas, but all had some harmful effects as well. And the results of pressure for change on the staff were about what one would expect: a small core of enthusiasts embraced the change; the large majority went along with it but not enthusiastically, and, as soon as the pressure was off, dropped the procedure from their teaching; and a minority fought the change because they felt that it was not right, that it could even hurt students.
In this chapter, I discuss what happened when the need for change was clearly understood by just about everybody. But even with a clearly defined need for change, watch out for the side effects. Evaluation is necessary to help avoid and correct the problems that are inevitable with change.
Chapter 30. Supervision Lesson #4. Authority. Does leadership without authority work? The trouble with Mary was grammar—not her use of it but her teaching of it. The setting was a junior high school in the mid-1960s. My role as instructional consultant in the building was to help teachers improve their instruction—but I had no authority to demand change. Whatever change I was able to accomplish had to occur because of my personality and methods of persuasion.
One morning, the principal came storming into my office.. He was angry. He had just come from Mary Jones’s English class with seventh graders. She had been teaching, no, drilling, the students in grammar. “What is a noun? What is a verb?” etc.
“Ray,” he said, “I haven’t seen teaching like that since I was in grammar school a long time ago! Some kids actually had their heads down on their desks and were sleeping. Try to show her another way to teach that stuff.”
Then he strode out of my office, his job done; mine was just beginning.
Annotated Table of Contents, Chapters 23 - 26
Chapter 23. Organizing a Discussion of Literature: How can teachers organize literary discussions in which most of the students participate? I encountered the model for good literary
discussions when I took the Great Books training course, a program that changed forever the way I organized discussions. The key was the requirement that the group leaders, in formulating the questions, could ask only questions about which they themselves had some element of doubt as to the answer. The Great Books Foundation calls its discussion technique “Shared Inquiry” because everyone can participate in the search for answers; no one is designated as the expert, not even the leaders.
However, the Great Books program requires discussion leaders, not the students, to formulate the questions and insists that the literary work should not be introduced, that the students should just begin to read without any preparation. I disagreed with both restrictions. Therefore, I have used the Great Books technique with some modifications, and almost everyone becomes involved.
Chapter 24. Censorship: How can English teachers prepare for possible censorship challenges? Dealing with censorship issues involves two fundamental procedures: a questionnaire to be completed by the challenger and a representative committee to consider the challenge and to recommend future use of the challenged material. However, even more valuable in preparing for censorship challenges is writing rationales for teaching potentially controversial literary works, a technique that will help teachers decide on the appropriateness of the literature they teach in class.
Part Six: Language and Vocabulary
Chapter 25. Exploring Language: How can teachers have some fun with language in English class? One of the most enjoyable language activities I ever used was to cut maps of the United States into quarters, giving each student a portion of the map. Students looked at the place names in their section of the map and copied down names of cities and towns that they found to be interesting. Next, in small groups, students tried to classify the origins of the names—people’s names, geographical characteristics, biblical references, language of the American Indian, etc. Finally, students attempted to express generalizations about how Americans named their cities and towns. This activity is just one example of how students can have fun exploring the English language. However, in having fun, they will also learn a great deal about how the
English language works.
Chapter 26. Building Word Knowledge: What should a complete vocabulary program consist of? The problem that most students have had with the Verbal Section of the Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT) is vocabulary. Even when they were dealing with sentence completions or analogies that were supposed to be “vocabulary free,” I found that with the harder items, the students knew the process for solving the problem but often did not know the words. Vocabulary development is an important part of the English program, not just because of the SAT, but because knowledge of words extends a person’s range of ideas and is related to IQ, is related to the ability to express one’s ideas with precision, and, of course, is related to success in reading. In this chapter, I offer three methods for helping students build their word knowledge.
Thoughts About Teaching students for Whom English Is Their Second Language (ESL): Most techniques that I have discussed in this book as helpful for students whose native language is English will also be helpful for students whose native language is NOT English, for whom English is a second language (ESL), especially directed reading assignment and the ten-minute writings.
discussions when I took the Great Books training course, a program that changed forever the way I organized discussions. The key was the requirement that the group leaders, in formulating the questions, could ask only questions about which they themselves had some element of doubt as to the answer. The Great Books Foundation calls its discussion technique “Shared Inquiry” because everyone can participate in the search for answers; no one is designated as the expert, not even the leaders.
However, the Great Books program requires discussion leaders, not the students, to formulate the questions and insists that the literary work should not be introduced, that the students should just begin to read without any preparation. I disagreed with both restrictions. Therefore, I have used the Great Books technique with some modifications, and almost everyone becomes involved.
Chapter 24. Censorship: How can English teachers prepare for possible censorship challenges? Dealing with censorship issues involves two fundamental procedures: a questionnaire to be completed by the challenger and a representative committee to consider the challenge and to recommend future use of the challenged material. However, even more valuable in preparing for censorship challenges is writing rationales for teaching potentially controversial literary works, a technique that will help teachers decide on the appropriateness of the literature they teach in class.
Part Six: Language and Vocabulary
Chapter 25. Exploring Language: How can teachers have some fun with language in English class? One of the most enjoyable language activities I ever used was to cut maps of the United States into quarters, giving each student a portion of the map. Students looked at the place names in their section of the map and copied down names of cities and towns that they found to be interesting. Next, in small groups, students tried to classify the origins of the names—people’s names, geographical characteristics, biblical references, language of the American Indian, etc. Finally, students attempted to express generalizations about how Americans named their cities and towns. This activity is just one example of how students can have fun exploring the English language. However, in having fun, they will also learn a great deal about how the
English language works.
Chapter 26. Building Word Knowledge: What should a complete vocabulary program consist of? The problem that most students have had with the Verbal Section of the Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT) is vocabulary. Even when they were dealing with sentence completions or analogies that were supposed to be “vocabulary free,” I found that with the harder items, the students knew the process for solving the problem but often did not know the words. Vocabulary development is an important part of the English program, not just because of the SAT, but because knowledge of words extends a person’s range of ideas and is related to IQ, is related to the ability to express one’s ideas with precision, and, of course, is related to success in reading. In this chapter, I offer three methods for helping students build their word knowledge.
Thoughts About Teaching students for Whom English Is Their Second Language (ESL): Most techniques that I have discussed in this book as helpful for students whose native language is English will also be helpful for students whose native language is NOT English, for whom English is a second language (ESL), especially directed reading assignment and the ten-minute writings.
Annotated Table of Contents, Chapters 18 - 22
Chapter 18: Efficient Reading: How can students find
Information quickly? “Some books are to be tasted, others to
be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested; that is,
some books are to be read only in parts, others to be read, but not
curiously; and some few to be read wholly, and with diligence
and attention.” This view of reading was expressed by Francis Bacon in his essay, “Of Studies,” in 1625.
While among professional reading educators, this advice has become almost a cliché, I believe that few students are actually shown how to set purposes for reading, or how to determine the extent to which a book or a chapter or an article needs to be read to achieve their purposes. In this chapter I will show how previewing the material to be read will save readers time and improve comprehension.
Chapter 19. Reading in the Content Areas: How can teachers of subjects other than English help their students read assignments successfully? Reading in the content areas refers to helping students read their assignments successfully in such subjects as social studies, science, home economics and even industrial arts in which students are required to read textbooks.
Instructing students to “read chapter 33 and answer the questions at the end of the chapter” is probably the worst way to give a reading assignment. This method of assigning reading ignores motivation for reading. Such an assignment also assumes that the student does not need any help in reading. However, most students will know very little about the topic, and the topic will more than likely be unrelated to their experience. Experience and background information have a lot to do with how well people comprehend what they read. Students can also be puzzled by a heavy concentration of unfamiliar, specialized vocabulary. Finally, an assignment like this one leaves students wondering what the teacher thinks is important and guessing about what information will be on the test.
Chapter 20. The First Grade—Secondary English Connection: What should secondary English teachers know about beginning reading and writing instruction? What is a discussion of elementary reading and writing instruction doing in a book about teaching secondary English? I include this chapter for four reasons. First, secondary teachers should know how children learn to read. Second, the method for teaching comprehension in the elementary school, beginning in the first grade, is the directed reading assignment, the technique I recommend throughout this book for secondary teachers in all subjects to help their students read difficult assignments successfully. Third, the issue of phonics and the basal vs. “whole language” is typical of issues in education that become “either/or” arguments. A similar “either/or” issue occurred in secondary English in the 1990s when proponents of the writing process battled fiercely in professional journals with the proponents of the writing product. Fourth, the issue of “invented spelling” in the early stages of learning to write is actually an issue for every grade level, including the high school.
Part Five: Literature
Chapter 21. Reading Aloud: Why is reading aloud to students of all ages important? How can students learn to read aloud effectively? I don’t care how old students are; they love to be read to. In my first year of teaching, I discovered the power of reading aloud to my high school students. I actually discovered it because I had given a fairly smart class Poe’s short story, “The Pit and the Pendulum” to read silently. I remembered reading “The Pit and the Pendulum” when I was in high school and Poe’s description of the prisoner’s experiences was so vivid that I had almost lived the experience of the prisoner myself. Therefore, I was surprised when my students finished reading it with glazed eyes and a definite air of boredom. What was wrong?
Chapter 22. Reading, Teaching and Studying Literature. What is the purpose of reading literature in school? The scene was a meeting of parent representatives from each school in the district. The purpose was to review a new part of the language arts curriculum. Before the meeting began, one of the parents asked me a question that I had never had to deal with: “Why is the literature we read in the schools so depressing?” Lamely, I tried to explain that even when the literature involves tragedy, it affirms life and is not pessimistic. Other parents around the table looked at me as if I were speaking Greek, and the chairperson of the group made it clear that she wanted to begin the evening’s main business. I knew I hadn't answered the woman's question satisfactorily, and I was troubled. I would like to answer that question now. However, the question “Why is the literature we read in the schools so depressing?” becomes “Why read literature?”
Information quickly? “Some books are to be tasted, others to
be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested; that is,
some books are to be read only in parts, others to be read, but not
curiously; and some few to be read wholly, and with diligence
and attention.” This view of reading was expressed by Francis Bacon in his essay, “Of Studies,” in 1625.
While among professional reading educators, this advice has become almost a cliché, I believe that few students are actually shown how to set purposes for reading, or how to determine the extent to which a book or a chapter or an article needs to be read to achieve their purposes. In this chapter I will show how previewing the material to be read will save readers time and improve comprehension.
Chapter 19. Reading in the Content Areas: How can teachers of subjects other than English help their students read assignments successfully? Reading in the content areas refers to helping students read their assignments successfully in such subjects as social studies, science, home economics and even industrial arts in which students are required to read textbooks.
Instructing students to “read chapter 33 and answer the questions at the end of the chapter” is probably the worst way to give a reading assignment. This method of assigning reading ignores motivation for reading. Such an assignment also assumes that the student does not need any help in reading. However, most students will know very little about the topic, and the topic will more than likely be unrelated to their experience. Experience and background information have a lot to do with how well people comprehend what they read. Students can also be puzzled by a heavy concentration of unfamiliar, specialized vocabulary. Finally, an assignment like this one leaves students wondering what the teacher thinks is important and guessing about what information will be on the test.
Chapter 20. The First Grade—Secondary English Connection: What should secondary English teachers know about beginning reading and writing instruction? What is a discussion of elementary reading and writing instruction doing in a book about teaching secondary English? I include this chapter for four reasons. First, secondary teachers should know how children learn to read. Second, the method for teaching comprehension in the elementary school, beginning in the first grade, is the directed reading assignment, the technique I recommend throughout this book for secondary teachers in all subjects to help their students read difficult assignments successfully. Third, the issue of phonics and the basal vs. “whole language” is typical of issues in education that become “either/or” arguments. A similar “either/or” issue occurred in secondary English in the 1990s when proponents of the writing process battled fiercely in professional journals with the proponents of the writing product. Fourth, the issue of “invented spelling” in the early stages of learning to write is actually an issue for every grade level, including the high school.
Part Five: Literature
Chapter 21. Reading Aloud: Why is reading aloud to students of all ages important? How can students learn to read aloud effectively? I don’t care how old students are; they love to be read to. In my first year of teaching, I discovered the power of reading aloud to my high school students. I actually discovered it because I had given a fairly smart class Poe’s short story, “The Pit and the Pendulum” to read silently. I remembered reading “The Pit and the Pendulum” when I was in high school and Poe’s description of the prisoner’s experiences was so vivid that I had almost lived the experience of the prisoner myself. Therefore, I was surprised when my students finished reading it with glazed eyes and a definite air of boredom. What was wrong?
Chapter 22. Reading, Teaching and Studying Literature. What is the purpose of reading literature in school? The scene was a meeting of parent representatives from each school in the district. The purpose was to review a new part of the language arts curriculum. Before the meeting began, one of the parents asked me a question that I had never had to deal with: “Why is the literature we read in the schools so depressing?” Lamely, I tried to explain that even when the literature involves tragedy, it affirms life and is not pessimistic. Other parents around the table looked at me as if I were speaking Greek, and the chairperson of the group made it clear that she wanted to begin the evening’s main business. I knew I hadn't answered the woman's question satisfactorily, and I was troubled. I would like to answer that question now. However, the question “Why is the literature we read in the schools so depressing?” becomes “Why read literature?”
Annotated Table of Contents, Chapters 13 - 17
Chapter 13. Writing Across the Curriculum: How can English teachers and teachers of other subjects work together in teaching writing? I did not address the issue of writing in the content areas when I was language arts supervisor, K-12, because I felt that content teachers would have trouble dealing with the amount of time required to mark student papers. That view was shortsighted. I now believe that I could have developed a consensus in the English department concerning the nature of the writing process, the use of writing as a method of learning, the structure of expository writing, a scale to evaluate student writing and procedures for teaching the research paper and the essay exam that we could have shared with the rest of the faculty. I now believe that cooperation between English teachers and the rest of the faculty in supporting the teaching of writing was and is possible. Here’s how.
Chapter 14. Professional Writing: What can teachers of writing learn from trying to publish professionally? If your experience is like mine, you will learn humility. You will learn what it feels like to be rejected. You will gain a better understanding of the writing process. You will feel empathy for your writing students. You will become a sufferer along with your students in learning how to write. In short, you will learn to write all over again.
Chapter 15. Spelling: In the age of computers, is spelling still a worthwhile subject in the English curriculum? “I’ll never use a word [in writing] I don’t know how to spell,” the Syracuse University junior stated candidly.
“Bad idea,” I responded. “Your writing vocabulary will be slim to none. You won’t be able to deliver your ideas with flair. You won’t use that rich vocabulary you’ve developed over the years. Your sentences could sound like those in the Dick and Jane Readers.” In this chapter, I propose a complete, confidence-building spelling program that will be supplemented by “invented spelling” and computerized spelling checkers.
Chapter 16. Speaking: How can teachers help students overcome their fear of speaking in public? Over the years I have learned a great deal about how to speak effectively before an audience. Public speaking has always been a stressful experience for me. I used to worry about my speech for hours before giving it, often not even eating because of my anxiety, and would replay the speech in my mind for hours afterward, assessing the strengths and problems of my performance. I have found that certain methods helped give me confidence in speaking. My goal in working with students in speaking is to help them overcome their fear of addressing an audience, of participating in small groups and of engaging in important interviews like those for employment.
Part Four: Reading
Chapter 17. Speed Reading: Is speed reading a myth? I have trained people in speed reading a number of times. In approximately forty-five minutes, I can confidently predict that readers without reading problems will double, triple, or even quadruple their reading speed. I have concluded that probably this training is worthwhile. However I would use the technique as only one small part of a course in reading efficiency.
Chapter 14. Professional Writing: What can teachers of writing learn from trying to publish professionally? If your experience is like mine, you will learn humility. You will learn what it feels like to be rejected. You will gain a better understanding of the writing process. You will feel empathy for your writing students. You will become a sufferer along with your students in learning how to write. In short, you will learn to write all over again.
Chapter 15. Spelling: In the age of computers, is spelling still a worthwhile subject in the English curriculum? “I’ll never use a word [in writing] I don’t know how to spell,” the Syracuse University junior stated candidly.
“Bad idea,” I responded. “Your writing vocabulary will be slim to none. You won’t be able to deliver your ideas with flair. You won’t use that rich vocabulary you’ve developed over the years. Your sentences could sound like those in the Dick and Jane Readers.” In this chapter, I propose a complete, confidence-building spelling program that will be supplemented by “invented spelling” and computerized spelling checkers.
Chapter 16. Speaking: How can teachers help students overcome their fear of speaking in public? Over the years I have learned a great deal about how to speak effectively before an audience. Public speaking has always been a stressful experience for me. I used to worry about my speech for hours before giving it, often not even eating because of my anxiety, and would replay the speech in my mind for hours afterward, assessing the strengths and problems of my performance. I have found that certain methods helped give me confidence in speaking. My goal in working with students in speaking is to help them overcome their fear of addressing an audience, of participating in small groups and of engaging in important interviews like those for employment.
Part Four: Reading
Chapter 17. Speed Reading: Is speed reading a myth? I have trained people in speed reading a number of times. In approximately forty-five minutes, I can confidently predict that readers without reading problems will double, triple, or even quadruple their reading speed. I have concluded that probably this training is worthwhile. However I would use the technique as only one small part of a course in reading efficiency.
Thursday, February 8, 2007
Annotated Table of Contents, Chapters 10-12
Chapter 10. Helping Students Prepare for Writing Assessments:
How can teachers prepare students for writing 25-minute
impromptu essays? Real writers let ideas incubate, write drafts
and revise and revise and revise. But state writing assessments
and, now, the new SAT requirement for a 25-minute writing
sample to begin in 2005, require practically spontaneous writing on assigned topics. Students are given little time to plan their writing and almost no time to revise. I will suggest methods for preparing students to :”write it right” the first time.
Chapter 11. The Computer and Writing Instruction: What problems did word processing help to solve in teaching writing? Computers and word processing changed the attitudes of students toward writing, a change that was the most significant I have seen in teaching English in the last thirty-five years. However, any change raises issues and I encountered a number of issues when I introduced word processing to teachers and students in the early 1890s. The most popular computers at that time were Radio Shack, Apple, IBM and Commodore.
Chapter 12. Computers, Writing Instruction and the Future: How will the computer change writing instruction in the future? I can foresee some changes in the writing program as the result of computer technology, but no essential changes in the nature of the writing process so long as words are the medium of expression. Of course, students can now add pictures to their compositions and can even turn them into multi-media presentations with sound and film. Although pictures, sound and film will be fun for the writer and maybe even helpful to the reader in fully grasping the writer’s message, they do not replace the need to create unified and coherent text, the difficult, essential skills of writing.
How can teachers prepare students for writing 25-minute
impromptu essays? Real writers let ideas incubate, write drafts
and revise and revise and revise. But state writing assessments
and, now, the new SAT requirement for a 25-minute writing
sample to begin in 2005, require practically spontaneous writing on assigned topics. Students are given little time to plan their writing and almost no time to revise. I will suggest methods for preparing students to :”write it right” the first time.
Chapter 11. The Computer and Writing Instruction: What problems did word processing help to solve in teaching writing? Computers and word processing changed the attitudes of students toward writing, a change that was the most significant I have seen in teaching English in the last thirty-five years. However, any change raises issues and I encountered a number of issues when I introduced word processing to teachers and students in the early 1890s. The most popular computers at that time were Radio Shack, Apple, IBM and Commodore.
Chapter 12. Computers, Writing Instruction and the Future: How will the computer change writing instruction in the future? I can foresee some changes in the writing program as the result of computer technology, but no essential changes in the nature of the writing process so long as words are the medium of expression. Of course, students can now add pictures to their compositions and can even turn them into multi-media presentations with sound and film. Although pictures, sound and film will be fun for the writer and maybe even helpful to the reader in fully grasping the writer’s message, they do not replace the need to create unified and coherent text, the difficult, essential skills of writing.
Annotated Table of Contents, Chapters 5-9
Teaching English, How To….
Annotated Table of Contents
Part Two: Assignments
Chapter 5. Reading: What method helps students read difficult
assignments successfully and turns passive readers into active
readers? How many times have you heard your teachers in school
give a reading assignment something like this: “Open your books
to page 35 and begin to read”? In this chapter, I suggest a better way to prepare students for what they are going to read.
Chapter 6. Homework: What is the most effective method for assigning homework? The class period winds down. Typically, as students begin to gather up their books, papers, and other belongings to leave the classroom, the teacher calls out the assignment for homework, almost as an afterthought: “Read chapter 38.” Or, “Write a paper on a topic of your choice.” Or, “We’ll discuss Chapter 5 of The Great Gatsby tomorrow. Be sure to read it.” Homework assignments need to be given with care. Students need to be prepared for them, especially long-term assignments, and students should be asked to evaluate them.
Chapter 7. Modeling Reading, Homework and Writing. Aren’t directed reading assignments, preparation for homework assignments in class and 10-minute writings simply doing the work for the students? What is the purpose for directing reading assignments, beginning homework assignments in class and correcting 10-minute writings? Am I simply doing the work for the students? Or, do I have some deeper purpose?
Part Three: Writing and Speaking
Chapter 8. Teaching Formal Writing: How can teachers use models and modeling to teach writing? In this chapter, I will explain how I taught students to write with confidence.
Chapter 9. Grammar and Composition: Why teach grammar? In my experience, the problem with the teaching of grammar has always been lack of clear purpose. As a result, students may be taught grammar, but they soon forget it because they do not apply it. In this chapter, I will discuss the purposes for teaching grammar in English, and I will explain how a knowledge of grammar can help students polish their written expression.
Annotated Table of Contents
Part Two: Assignments
Chapter 5. Reading: What method helps students read difficult
assignments successfully and turns passive readers into active
readers? How many times have you heard your teachers in school
give a reading assignment something like this: “Open your books
to page 35 and begin to read”? In this chapter, I suggest a better way to prepare students for what they are going to read.
Chapter 6. Homework: What is the most effective method for assigning homework? The class period winds down. Typically, as students begin to gather up their books, papers, and other belongings to leave the classroom, the teacher calls out the assignment for homework, almost as an afterthought: “Read chapter 38.” Or, “Write a paper on a topic of your choice.” Or, “We’ll discuss Chapter 5 of The Great Gatsby tomorrow. Be sure to read it.” Homework assignments need to be given with care. Students need to be prepared for them, especially long-term assignments, and students should be asked to evaluate them.
Chapter 7. Modeling Reading, Homework and Writing. Aren’t directed reading assignments, preparation for homework assignments in class and 10-minute writings simply doing the work for the students? What is the purpose for directing reading assignments, beginning homework assignments in class and correcting 10-minute writings? Am I simply doing the work for the students? Or, do I have some deeper purpose?
Part Three: Writing and Speaking
Chapter 8. Teaching Formal Writing: How can teachers use models and modeling to teach writing? In this chapter, I will explain how I taught students to write with confidence.
Chapter 9. Grammar and Composition: Why teach grammar? In my experience, the problem with the teaching of grammar has always been lack of clear purpose. As a result, students may be taught grammar, but they soon forget it because they do not apply it. In this chapter, I will discuss the purposes for teaching grammar in English, and I will explain how a knowledge of grammar can help students polish their written expression.
Annotated Table of Contents, Chapters 1 - 4
Teaching English, How To….
Annotated Table of Contents
Part One: Teaching English
Chapter 1. Goals: Why teach English? Somewhere I read that
the goals of a college education are to learn how to learn, to learn
how to think, to learn how to communicate, and to learn how to
solve problems. I believe that that statement is a concise summary of what we try to accomplish when we teach English. In this chapter, I give examples of how to teach each of these skills.
Chapter 2: Active Learning: How can teachers motivate students to learn? Of course, active learning is the goal. Dewey is quoted as saying, “We learn what we do.” I guess, because education is mandatory in the United States, motivating students is part of the teacher’s role. In this chapter, I suggest a fundamental method for motivating students to want to learn.
Chapter 3. Professional Research: How can teachers use professional research? The value of professional research depends on what readers want to do with it. If they want definite answers to their questions about teaching, I’m afraid professional research in education won’t help much. In my experience, most educational research is essentially inconclusive, with findings expressed as “indicates” and “suggests.” Therefore, educational research used as a political device to support certain points of view must be read critically. However, if teachers are looking for ideas that help to answer questions about teaching, published research is a treasure trove. And conducting research in the classroom can help to answer questions about the effectiveness of teaching methods.
Chapter 4. Professional Research Adapted: How can ten minutes a day contribute to writing confidence? The story of how I applied research to a problem in the teaching of writing begins with a girl I am going to call Mary, a student in tenth-grade English. She soon distanced herself from the rest of the students in her ability to write. Her improvement was startling. She was the best writer with whom I had ever worked. One day, I asked Mary about the secret of her success. I knew that my teaching was not the reason because I also taught the other students, and none had progressed as well as Mary. She told me….
RayS
Annotated Table of Contents
Part One: Teaching English
Chapter 1. Goals: Why teach English? Somewhere I read that
the goals of a college education are to learn how to learn, to learn
how to think, to learn how to communicate, and to learn how to
solve problems. I believe that that statement is a concise summary of what we try to accomplish when we teach English. In this chapter, I give examples of how to teach each of these skills.
Chapter 2: Active Learning: How can teachers motivate students to learn? Of course, active learning is the goal. Dewey is quoted as saying, “We learn what we do.” I guess, because education is mandatory in the United States, motivating students is part of the teacher’s role. In this chapter, I suggest a fundamental method for motivating students to want to learn.
Chapter 3. Professional Research: How can teachers use professional research? The value of professional research depends on what readers want to do with it. If they want definite answers to their questions about teaching, I’m afraid professional research in education won’t help much. In my experience, most educational research is essentially inconclusive, with findings expressed as “indicates” and “suggests.” Therefore, educational research used as a political device to support certain points of view must be read critically. However, if teachers are looking for ideas that help to answer questions about teaching, published research is a treasure trove. And conducting research in the classroom can help to answer questions about the effectiveness of teaching methods.
Chapter 4. Professional Research Adapted: How can ten minutes a day contribute to writing confidence? The story of how I applied research to a problem in the teaching of writing begins with a girl I am going to call Mary, a student in tenth-grade English. She soon distanced herself from the rest of the students in her ability to write. Her improvement was startling. She was the best writer with whom I had ever worked. One day, I asked Mary about the secret of her success. I knew that my teaching was not the reason because I also taught the other students, and none had progressed as well as Mary. She told me….
RayS
Teaching English, How To
In July 2004 I published a book entitled, Teaching English, How To.... I am a retired English teacher and K-12 language arts supervisor. I published this book in order to record what I had learned about the teaching of English over a 35-year period. The book contains what I wish I had known when I began teaching English in 1956. The purpose for this blog is to share with interested readers the ideas contained in the book and interesting ideas from newspapers, magazines and professional journals on the teaching of English in secondary schools.
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