Grammar help! (Houston, Dallas, Plano: schools, living, to move) - Texas (TX) - Page 4 - City-Data Forum

bluescreen73 · 04-24-2009, 01:48 PM

If you want a snapshot of the sad state of our educational system these days, pick up a newspaper or browse an internet forum such as this one. Peoples' grammar and spelling are atrocious.

It's really sad when presidential candidates have to debate at a 7th grade speaking level in order to reach a majority of Americans effectively.

momof2dfw · 04-24-2009, 01:52 PM

bluescreen,

Even better. My sister is a teacher and they just got their TAKS scores back. She got bawled out for 10 kids out of 90+ failing. 3 of these 10 failed last year as well. 3 have behavioral issues that are severe and 1 is in a home where English is not spoken. However, she had a 63% rate of students getting COMMENDED PERFORMANCE and not one praise from admin or principal. The math question I just posted is just 1 example of the problems these kids had to do on the TAKS. They faired a HECK OF A LOT better than most college educated adults would if we had to take it. There are so many trick questions it is not even funny. It is pathetic.

bluescreen73 · 04-24-2009, 01:57 PM

momof2dfw -
I'm not big on standardized testing and I'm not looking forward to my oldest having to take the TAKS test for the first time next year.

I understand the need/want/desire for accountability but standardized tests do nothing but put an anchor around the necks of the top tier students. It essentially forces teachers to come up with a lowest-common-denominator approach to education by setting a target that a majority of students can reach. All so we can feel warm and fuzzy about the quality of our education.

Pintea · 04-24-2009, 02:54 PM

To me that math problem actually made sense. I don't think it's difficult for a 4th grader. Sorry!

To get back to the initial post, the teacher's "explanation" is that you can't have the word "was" twice in the same sentence. Hilarious! Or should I be crying?

The height of the clouds was so low, it was frightening.

So that's what he wrote, and the teacher insists it should have been "the height of the clouds were...". I didn't receive the graded work yet, I hope she picks up a grammar manual over the weekend. I know I have one confused kid!
So what do I do? I should mention that it's not the first time this happens, I just didn't document the other errors.
Please give me some advice, all I want is for my son to learn things the proper way. I can see he is confused.

bluescreen73 · 04-24-2009, 02:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pintea

To me that math problem actually made sense. I don't think it's difficult for a 4th grader. Sorry!

To get back to the initial post, the teacher's "explanation" is that you can't have the word "was" twice in the same sentence. Hilarious! Or should I be crying?

The height of the clouds was so low, it was frightening.

So that's what he wrote, and the teacher insists it should have been "the height of the clouds were...". I didn't receive the graded work yet, I hope she picks up a grammar manual over the weekend. I know I have one confused kid!
So what do I do? I should mention that it's not the first time this happens, I just didn't document the other errors.
Please give me some advice, all I want is for my son to learn things the proper way. I can see he is confused.

You can't have 'was' twice in a sentence? I know there are some REALLY stupid rules in the English language, but that's not one of them.

Debsi · 04-24-2009, 03:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pintea

To me that math problem actually made sense. I don't think it's difficult for a 4th grader. Sorry!

To get back to the initial post, the teacher's "explanation" is that you can't have the word "was" twice in the same sentence. Hilarious! Or should I be crying?

The height of the clouds was so low, it was frightening.

The only thing I see wrong with that sentence is the comma, which I don't think is needed.

bluescreen73 · 04-24-2009, 03:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Debsi

The only thing I see wrong with that sentence is the comma, which I don't think is needed.

I was just going to say, replace the comma with 'that.'

Debsi · 04-24-2009, 03:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bluescreen73

I was just going to say, replace the comma with 'that.'

The lowness of the clouds was frightening.

momof2dfw · 04-24-2009, 03:07 PM

If the graded paper comes back w/ "was" marked wrong I would call for a parent/teacher meeting. Not a phone call or an email exchange but a face to face meeting. Hm, can you use the word "face" more than once in the same sentence? I'd start off nice and ask the teacher to explain the rules of the English language and why "was" does not apply in this case. Depending on how the teacher responds during this meeting would determine which route to take from there. If she understands the er of her ways then let it be done. If she gets fiesty and still believes that it should have been "were" I'd call for a larger meeting then of not just her but the entire team (this is all of the teachers on that grade level), the counselor and the principal.

I know that I make plenty of grammar mistakes of my own. This is why I have a smart teenager to help steer me in the right direction

Pintea · 04-24-2009, 03:37 PM

Thank you Momof2dfw, your answer is very helpful. I guess your teenager didn't go to our school!

I don't remember if he had a comma in the sentence and we can't change a thing now. Anyway, I don't do his homework for him. I check it and if there's a serious error we'll discuss it and he makes changes.