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Death to high school English class....


jamajo
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Thank you so much for sharing this article. I have been asking myself a similar question when it comes to grammar. I suppose it shouldn't matter that those in my world and on NPR cannot match their plural nouns with plural verbs or that 'me" does so much more than "I" will ever do, but it makes me crazy. Or maybe I feel crazy because I feel my own skills slipping.

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Good article. I actually rejected and returned an entire high school program I had already paid for, because the English course contained NO WRITING ASSIGNMENTS whatsoever. None. When I called to ask about it, they said most kids covered that in middle school. ??!!?? They also said there was some writing done when answering questions, etc., as if that was at all comparable to writing an essay!

 

Writing is one of our top priorities. No, likely she won't be writing persuasive essays in the workforce. She will still know how a persuasive argument WORKS for heaven's sake, which she will absolutely use in the workforce. She will be able to write a letter, resume, application, status update, without it being filled with sentence fragments and grammatical errors that detract from her message. This I swear!

 

Off rant now...:)

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Good article. My only disagreement is with the author's idea that reading the classics is not necessary. I would argue that reading the classics is also a dying discipline, that needs to happen in concert with good writing instruction. So many high school literary classes are focused around poorly-written, issues-focused literature and short stories, and also do not require students to read much volume. Reading well-written literature in concert with formal writing instruction will produce good writers even of students who struggle with language arts.

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Good article. My only disagreement is with the author's idea that reading the classics is not necessary. I would argue that reading the classics is also a dying discipline, that needs to happen in concert with good writing instruction. So many high school literary classes are focused around poorly-written, issues-focused literature and short stories, and also do not require students to read much volume. Reading well-written literature in concert with formal writing instruction will produce good writers even of students who struggle with language arts.

 

I agree. I do not think it is possible for a student to become a good writer if he is not also a reader of quality literature (and that's what classics are -that's why they are classics!). The student needs a model for good writing: he needs to read literature that employs a large vocabulary, interesting and varied sentence structures, style.

How can a reader of substandard reading material ever develop into a great writer?

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