Writing a Wrong

[Unkotare]

Never thought that. Still don’t.

But also, I don’t believe your hollow denials.

You have been told many times that you have the wrong idea. I think you just have a sick obsession.

 

[BackAgain]

You have been told many times that you have the wrong idea. I think you just have a sick obsession.

I was “told” by you. I believe you have been and are lying. And that would make the sick obsession all yours.

 

[hjmick]

I am surprised at times just what poor writers so many people are. It is not at all unusual for high school seniors to show up in my class and claim that they had never been specifically taught proper grammar or how to structure an essay. Since most of my classes are for our most advanced English language learners, I have high expectations for my students. I want them to be equipped to demonstrate their true academic abilities in their other classes and beyond high school. That is why we are already working on essay writing this early in the year. For some of the students, it's a little tricky to build up grammar and vocabulary skills at the same time, but there is no time to lose.

I believe one of the root causes for this is, to few people, especially young people, read these days. I mean read for fun, not just education. In my youth I was, and still am, a prolific reader. I would have to say, it helps. A lot.

 

[Unkotare]

I believe one of the root causes for this is, to few people, especially young people, read these days. I mean read for fun, not just education. In my youth I was, and still am, a prolific reader. I would have to say, it helps. A lot.

That's a whole other kettle of fish. Good luck getting the average teenager to sit quietly for three hours with a great novel vs watching 8000 different video clips, tik-tok, instagram, games, and porn in 20 minutes.

 

[hjmick]

That's a whole other kettle of fish. Good luck getting the average teenager to sit quietly for three hours with a great novel vs watching 8000 different video clips, tik-tok, instagram, games, and porn in 20 minutes.

Luckily, my kids came along before all that crap. They love to read to this day...

But I can't get my youngest to read The Stand... stubborn little bugger that one...

 

[Unkotare]

Luckily, my kids came along before all that crap. They love to read to this day...

But I can't get my youngest to read The Stand... stubborn little bugger that one...

We load kids up with books to read over the summer. These are books chosen in the hopes young people will find them interesting and relatable, with copious awards and incentives for reading them. The number of kids who actually read even one of them is shockingly low.

 

[hjmick]

We load kids up with books to read over the summer. These are books chosen in the hopes young people will find them interesting and relatable, with copious awards and incentives for reading them. The number of kids who actually read even one of them is shockingly low.

That's sad. Making it more sad, and I'm sure you'd agree, is that it starts at home. I'd bet the house that a majority of those kids have parents who don't read anything beyond what's on a screen.

 

[Unkotare]

That's sad. Making it more sad, and I'm sure you'd agree, is that it starts at home. I'd bet the house that a majority of those kids have parents who don't read anything beyond what's on a screen.

Most of my students have parents who work two or three jobs and don't have a lot of time for reading.

 

[hjmick]

Most of my students have parents who work two or three jobs and don't have a lot of time for reading.

Having worked multiple jobs at times, I can see how that could be an obstacle.

On the other hand, one must first have the desire to read. I've passed many a lunch break reading while I ate, or even when on a break...

My dad taught me many things before died, but the one I know for sure stuck: Take a book with you everywhere, you never know when you might wind up waiting.

 

[Unkotare]

Having worked multiple jobs at times, I can see how that could be an obstacle.

On the other hand, one must first have the desire to read. I've passed many a lunch break reading while I ate, or even when on a break...

My dad taught me many things before died, but the one I know for sure stuck: Take a book with you everywhere, you never know when you might wind up waiting.

You mean the can?

 

[hjmick]

You mean the can?

Sometimes, though dad did issue a warning about spending too much time reading on the pot... something about hemorrhoids...

 

[BackAgain]

 

[SweetSue92]

I am surprised at times just what poor writers so many people are. It is not at all unusual for high school seniors to show up in my class and claim that they had never been specifically taught proper grammar or how to structure an essay. Since most of my classes are for our most advanced English language learners, I have high expectations for my students. I want them to be equipped to demonstrate their true academic abilities in their other classes and beyond high school. That is why we are already working on essay writing this early in the year. For some of the students, it's a little tricky to build up grammar and vocabulary skills at the same time, but there is no time to lose.

Broadly speaking, you can thank Lucy Calkins and her defunct "writer's workshop" for that, from what I understand.

I teach a form of writing (songwriting) and kids do not know parts of speech in late elementary school. Nouns. Verbs. Adjectives. Adverbs. I understand not diagraming sentences anymore, which I spent hours doing in HS (to what end, idk). But parts of speech?