jamajo Posted December 7, 2012 Share Posted December 7, 2012 *Warning* there are a few profane words in the linked article. Article makes interesting points. Reassures me that everything we do to make our students better writers is worth it. Interesting food for thought. http://www.salon.com/2011/05/11/death_to_high_school_english/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swimmermom3 Posted December 7, 2012 Share Posted December 7, 2012 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kfamily Posted December 7, 2012 Share Posted December 7, 2012 Thanks for sharing this. I found it very interesting! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goldberry Posted December 8, 2012 Share Posted December 8, 2012 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...:) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Χά�ων Posted December 8, 2012 Share Posted December 8, 2012 Thank you for sharing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dana Posted December 8, 2012 Share Posted December 8, 2012 Nitpicking...yes, you do hear "why do this?" in math classes A LOT..even in classes where the students are learning mostly arithmetic. Enjoyed the article and feel good about where we are. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harriet Vane Posted December 8, 2012 Share Posted December 8, 2012 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
regentrude Posted December 8, 2012 Share Posted December 8, 2012 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? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Serenade Posted December 9, 2012 Share Posted December 9, 2012 Thank you for posting this. I feel like I just got a much-needed pep talk! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ralfy Posted December 9, 2012 Share Posted December 9, 2012 Several students should not be going to college in the first place. Also, writing is not supposed to be taught in college. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamajo Posted December 13, 2012 Author Share Posted December 13, 2012 Yep, I'm filling pretty good about what I'm doing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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