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I would make a wager that 90% of school students don't even know what a dangling participle is, or a gerund, or about 15 other types of sentence structures/components.
I don't know what they are anymore, but I am aware that at one point I learned of them, and probably used them correctly, and later became a college student who wrote darn good papers and an adult who communicates well.
My son, however, who has not been taught adjectives and adverb usage, is being told to write more "descriptively". Is he supposed to just figure out what that means on his own? Knowing how to use adjectives and adverbs, and the awareness that they can be used to write descriptively, is the difference between:
The boy ran down the street.
and
The lanky red-haired boy ran frantically down the street.
I am going to have a conference with his 5th grade teacher to ask him what's up. Of course, they have EOG's in less than a month so there's not going to be any new material for the rest of the year.
What the hell kind of school is telling kids that spelling is optional?!
OK, so the actual way that I've recently seen it done is this: I was being a sub TA in a third grade class and the teacher would put about 50 words on the board and then ask the kids to choose 10 of them for their spelling list for that week. Each day they would write the words down and on Friday they had a spelling "test." On the day I was there, she taught a compound word lesson and she was explaining about words such as popcorn, cowboy, and baseball. So far so good but then she asked the kids for examples and one of the boys raised his hand and called out corridor. She said that was a great example and wrote coradoor on the board. And she had misspelled several other of the 3rd grade spelling words as well. I might add that this was one of the top public school districts in this city. (Does anyone know what a cora is? ) This teacher was quite young but it occurred to me that if she knows she's a poor speller, as surely she must, why would she not prepare a spelling list ahead of time and copy that onto the board, rather than the slapdash way she actually did it? Oh yeah, because that's the way they teach it in the university she went to most likely.
I don't know what they are anymore, but I am aware that at one point I learned of them, and probably used them correctly, and later became a college student who wrote darn good papers and an adult who communicates well.
My son, however, who has not been taught adjectives and adverb usage, is being told to write more "descriptively". Is he supposed to just figure out what that means on his own? Knowing how to use adjectives and adverbs, and the awareness that they can be used to write descriptively, is the difference between:
The boy ran down the street.
and
The lanky red-haired boy ran frantically down the street.
I am going to have a conference with his 5th grade teacher to ask him what's up. Of course, they have EOG's in less than a month so there's not going to be any new material for the rest of the year.
I am sorry for your education system where you are.
Not to start a flame war, nor be a troll, but look at the quality of most (not all) of the teachers today. That will set the tone of the quality of education. Thank G*d that I have a child that was educated elsewhere, and now will hit the Ivy leagues.
Honestly, the only time I have ever seen the "spelling (or grammar) won't be counted against you" school of thought specifically employed in a classroom is during certain freewriting assignments/in-class journal writing, where the idea is that the students will focus more on the content than worry about the constraints of making sure the grammar and spelling is perfect. What's being taught is essentially drafting...with the thought that if it were something you'd be turning in/presenting, you would then edit it in a later step.
Personally, I don't agree that the draft stage/brainstorming stage is necessarily a time to "turn off" your grasp of spelling and grammar, because practicing correct usage consistently is how people learn. But I've heard it argued that it's the equivalent of estimating in some math activities, and I get the school of thought, even though I don't agree with it, personally, and certainly don't tell my students that there are times when proper spelling or grammar is optional.
I would make a wager that 90% of school students don't even know what a dangling participle is, or a gerund, or about 15 other types of sentence structures/components.
I think that more people know what these things actually ARE than know what to label them, though. They know them, they just don't know them by name.
The argument of the "grammar is unimportant" advocates, I suppose would be to question if it really MATTERS whether or not a student knows to call something a dangling participle, as long as they recognize that when you are writing/saying, "I saw the house peeking through the trees," it is less clear than when you say, ""Peeking through the trees, I saw the house."
Those darned houses. Always peeking through trees.
I think that more people know what these things actually ARE than know what to label them, though. They know them, they just don't know them by name.
The argument of the "grammar is unimportant" advocates, I suppose would be to question if it really MATTERS whether or not a student knows to call something a dangling participle, as long as they recognize that when you are writing/saying, "I saw the house peeking through the trees," it is less clear than when you say, ""Peeking through the trees, I saw the house."
Those darned houses. Always peeking through trees.
I HATE it when those houses are peeking through the trees at me. Makes me self-conscious.
I would tend to think if someone did not know incorrect grammar such as a dangling participle, then they would not be able to recognize it when they saw it or wrote it.
Reason #861 as to why I had the SO's daughter become fluent in Latin (scientia potentia est), and 3 other languages.
I have long said I wish they taught Latin in school like they did when I was in school. But of course it just doesn't happen. How on earth could a kid learn Latin today if their parents didn't have it. Is it taught on line- in homeschooling, etc? I think my kids would greatly benefit from Latin studies.
I have long said I wish they taught Latin in school like they did when I was in school. But of course it just doesn't happen. How on earth could a kid learn Latin today if their parents didn't have it. Is it taught on line- in homeschooling, etc? I think my kids would greatly benefit from Latin studies.
i've never seen it as a requirement but most middle and high schools offer latin, don't they?
i've never seen it as a requirement but most middle and high schools offer latin, don't they?
Not sure, but when I was a kid, they didn't, (geez, only for about 3 years, when I was in junior/senior high) and my mom taught it to me over the summers, sitting on the basement steps (where it was cool).
The basis (well Greek was also a big contributor) of many English words.
Sort of a mess of a language, but then English has a zillion (technical term ) exceptions.
Not sure, but when I was a kid, they didn't, (geez, only for about 3 years, when I was in junior/senior high) and my mom taught it to me over the summers, sitting on the basement steps (where it was cool).
The basis (well Greek was also a big contributor) of many English words.
Sort of a mess of a language, but then English has a zillion (technical term ) exceptions.
i took latin for all 4 years in high school. it just seems weird that it wouldn't even be offered. we had a decent sized department and we were a normal, 1600-student public school.
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I am going to have a conference with his 5th grade teacher to ask him what's up. Of course, they have EOG's in less than a month so there's not going to be any new material for the rest of the year. 
) This teacher was quite young but it occurred to me that if she knows she's a poor speller, as surely she must, why would she not prepare a spelling list ahead of time and copy that onto the board, rather than the slapdash way she actually did it? Oh yeah, because that's the way they teach it in the university she went to most likely.
