Rationale - Appalachian State University



Old vs. New

Grammar Study That Works!

Lynette Shelby

Action Research Plan

RE 5546

June 29, 2005

Rationale

Whenever it comes to teaching writing in order to prepare students for the North Carolina Seventh Grade Writing Test, we teachers inwardly groan because teaching these students how to write also requires us to focus on grammar. We have tried several methods to effectively teach grammar, from the rote “kill and drill” worksheets to using the students’ own mistakes in focused mini-lessons, all of which have yielded little improvement in their writing abilities. In fact, we teachers have been complaining for years about the lack of carry over from the lessons, which seem to be understood at the time, to actual usage in students’ essays. Now that the state has begun to include a conventions score when factoring a student’s overall writing test score, our desperation for authentic grammar instruction has increased tenfold. It is my intent to help reduce both student and teacher grammar stress by implementing a method of word study which focuses on grammar in an enjoyable yet meaningful method.

Literature Review

There are many articles which state that the grammar study under which the majority of Americans grew up – worksheets, grammar workbooks, diagramming sentences – does not aid in furthering students understanding of grammatical features and functions. One reason for this may be based on the fact that the students do not see any relevance between studying grammar through worksheets and their own personal writing. So what is a teacher to do?

First, it is prudent to explore the reasoning behind current use of worksheets that teachers use to teach grammar. For many, this was the method that was used to teach them grammar; thus, they believe it will work equally well for their students. Other teachers, however, are not comfortable with teaching grammar because of their lack of knowledge about grammatical features (Bloodgood and Pacifici, 2004); as a result, they revert to the method with which they feel most comfortable – worksheets and workbooks with the answers provided in a teacher’s edition. However, do the above methods work? If one were to walk down any school hallway where grammar is being taught through worksheets or the diagramming of sentences, she would hear teachers lamenting how their students are able to answer the worksheet questions correctly, but, when these students are asked to transfer this knowledge to their own writing, they act as if it is a totally new concept.

How can teachers get their students both to understand grammatical principles and then to transfer this knowledge into their own writing? One method, suggested by Marlow Ediger, is for teachers to initially make the grammar study as concrete as possible through pictures, real items, or actions; then, progress to the more abstract by replacing the items with words (1998). For example, if a teacher wanted to introduce verbs to her class, she would begin by having the students perform given actions. Next, these actions would be replaced with the words which represent them. Finally, state-of-being verbs and various forms of the verbs, such as past and future tenses, could be added to a word sort of verbs (Ediger, 1998). By moving from the concrete to the abstract, students, especially younger ones, will begin to understand the parts of speech.

However, a teacher cannot stop here, or the students will stagnate and never be able to transfer their new-found knowledge to their own writing. As The National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) notes, “knowing basic grammatical terminology does provide students with a tool for thinking about and discussing sentences” (2). As a result, teachers next should have their students begin looking at grammatical functions within sentences. There are grammar programs available, such as Daily Oral Language, in which the teacher displays sentences that are grammatically incorrect, and the students’ task is to make the necessary corrections. However, these sentences are obviously created in order to focus on specific rules or spellings (Kane, 1997) and therefore hold no interest for the students. Additionally, by participating in this type of activity, students do not see the connection between it and their own writing (Kane, 1997), thus causing errors to persist. Even if teachers use their students’ sentences to focus on “grammar and usage issues…on an ‘as needed’ basis in mini-lessons” (Kane, 1997) by following Nancy Atwell’s approach, they still are focusing on mistakes which could reoccur in subsequent writing activities resulting once again in the lack of application.

What does the research suggest? Weaver, McNally, and Moerman believe that the aspects of grammar which we want our children to know would best be taught in “the context of writing” (2001). Kane goes a step further to suggest that teachers should use the words of published authors to provide students with examples of sentence structure and grammar usage (1997). In fact, Barnitz, reiterating the findings of Chomsky (1972), Eckhoff (1983), and Phillips (1989), believes that “children with more book experience develop [sentence] structures associated with literate language, which positively enhances their writing and reading performance” (1998). Just showing students these sentences, though, will not be sufficient to assist in their internalization of grammar. Students need to be able to explore and manipulate the chosen book’s sentences in order to become aware of grammar and structure. Bloodgood has created an activity entitled “The Juggler” which requires the students to think about sentences through the manipulation of their individual words. First, students are provided with a sentence and asked to place markers that are labeled nouns, verbs, adjectives, etc., over each word’s correct part of speech. Then another sentence is written on a sentence strip, cut into individual words, and given to a group of students who are to arrange them into a coherent sentence. Finally the markers are to be used again to identify the parts of speech in each new sentence (2004). What makes this activity unique is that these words can be reorganized in a number of different ways that lead to discussions of the various word placements. However, to Bloodgood’s knowledge, this activity has yet to be tested for its effectiveness in a traditional classroom.

Word study is another simple strategy which helps to improve students’ grammar knowledge. Word study is based on the premise that categories of words are compared and contrasted according to their features in order to discover “similarities and differences within and between categories” (Invernizzi, 1997). Depending on the students’ orthographic development (see Bear, 2004, for definitions of spelling stages), activities are constructed which would foster their understanding of both spelling and grammar principles. For example, students who are in the Syllable Juncture stage are ready to examine words for stressed and unstressed syllables in order to know when to double final consonants when adding inflected endings or when to drop the final –e. Invernizzi, Abouzeid, and Bloodgood suggest an activity where students examine multisyllable words which end in –y. When these words are sorted by their final sounds, students discover that those words which end in the /ai/ sound are verbs. Words which end in the /i/ sound can be sorted into the categories of nouns, adjectives, and adverbs. Interestingly, the adjectives which end with the /i/ sound typically have a double consonant (1997). This is just one example of how a word study activity can assist students with making hypotheses about their language. With repeated use, students will begin to “make critical judgments about spelling patterns, word structures, word meanings, and use” (1997).

In summary, the available research seems to suggest that the grammar instruction of the past does not aid in a student’s internalization of grammatical concepts. Instead, teachers should implement various word study activities in order for students to discover the patterns and rules of the English language which then will be transferred into their writing. Invernizzi, Abouzeid, and Bloodgood summarize this point best by stating: “Although teacher-taught rules seldom stick, hypotheses and conclusions that students develop themselves are more readily generalized to their reading and writing vocabulary” (1997). This should be the overall goal of any grammar program.

Method

This grammar study is a three-tiered approach (see Fig. 1) and will be implemented in both of my seventh grade Language Arts classes, one of which is an English as a Second Language inclusion class. Word study will be an ongoing lesson while the grammar study lessons will be based upon mastery of each level. Typically, the first half of the school year is spent on grammar and general writing instruction, while January and February are spent teaching the specific formats for the state’s writing test scheduled for early March. As a result, this study will be conducted during the first two to three months of school.

Even though my students have been taught the parts of speech since elementary school, many still do not have a complete understanding of them. Therefore, I first intend to review the various parts of speech following Ediger’s approach of moving from the concrete to the abstract with picture and word sorts. Utilizing the overhead to involve the entire class, I will begin the review using picture sorts of the four types of nouns. Then students will be divided into groups of four to continue the sort using the abstract words. This same lesson pattern will be followed using the remaining parts of speech, adjusting for each one’s features. Once nouns and verbs have been sorted, students will be creating short sentences using the word cards from their sorts. Adjectives and adverbs will be added to the created sentences after their respective reviews. Word cards containing high frequency words like “and,” “the,” and “a” will need to be added to the sort so that students can create coherent sentences. After each sentence is created, students will record and label each word’s part of speech in their word notebooks.

After a week or two, students should be ready to move on to the next level of grammar study – observing how authors use words to construct sentences. At this time, “The Juggler” activity created by Bloodgood will be implemented. Using either an enjoyable short story from our literature book or a picture book, I will select sentences, based on the students’ level of grammar knowledge, to be examined for their constructions. Then other sentences will be chosen, written on sentence strips, and cut apart for students to reconstruct, labeling each word with colored tiles that identify the various parts of speech or grammatical functions. These sentences also should be recorded in their word notebooks, noting the similarities and differences between the sentences they constructed and the ones they reconstructed using another author’s words.

The final tier of grammar instruction will be a word study based on the students’ levels of word knowledge. The majority of my students are either in the late Within Word Pattern stage or in the early Syllable Juncture stage. Word studies would be created to enhance students’ understanding of regular spelling patterns that also are associated with grammatical functions. Additionally, many of my students, regardless of their spelling stage, continue to use homophones incorrectly in their writing; as a result, the Homophone Rummy game would be a regular part of each week’s lesson.

It is my intent that, once students have completed these grammar study activities, they will have a better understanding of the parts of speech, such as nouns and verbs, as well as grammatical features, such as subjects and predicates. The word study will enable students to learn more about the structure and patterns of the English language. Combined, this knowledge will then transfer into the students’ own compositions which will contain both interesting, eloquent language and sentence structure.

Figure 1

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Parts of speech word sorts with Make-a-Sentence activities

“The Juggler” activities; exploring various authors’ sentence constructions

Student application of grammar knowledge

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