Ellie's Final Research Reflections

Ellie's Burning Question

When I am asked to help a student with writing, I wonder how much feedback to give.  Having worked in a college setting where we concentrated heavily on grammar, usage, and mechanics (because so many students arrive with large gaps in their knowledge), then moving to middle school level, I am not sure how thorough to be.  I understand that I need to approach each student where he or she is, and each classroom according to the teacher's style; but in the end, where should the students be by the time they reach high school?  And how can I best assist?  

Works Cited

Atwell, Nancie. In the Middle: Writing, Reading, and Learning with Adolescents. Upper Montclair, NJ: Boynton/Cook, 1987. Print. Atwell provides the gold standard to teaching writing in the middle school. She believes that grammar, usage, mechanics, and spelling are only addressed after the content is set, and the piece is ready for actual publication. Even then, she concentrates only on one or two high priority items, with the understanding that a student must build her skills slowly and deliberately.

Calkins, Lucy. The Art of Teaching Writing. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann, 1994. Print. In the chapter, "Editing: Learning the Conventions of Written Language," Calkiins prioritizes content writing over correctness, but she also makes a good case for "precise, graceful language," in final published pieces. To that end, she will take a student's work home and apply her blue editor's pen, but she qualifies her actions by telling her students that all published authors have the privilege of an editor. Therefore, she is providing a real world, authentic writing experience.

"Middle School Teacher to Literacy Coach." Web log post. : Incorporating Grammar and Conventions into Writing Workshop. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 July 2013. <http://middleschoolteachertoliteracycoach.blogspot.com/2013/03/incorporating-grammar-and-conventions.html>. A middle school language arts teacher discusses her inner pondering over grammar instruction. She posits that "writing should be fun and free." While I don't agree that that is always possible, I am in concert with her opinion that no student needs a personal editor in the early stages of writing, and that no teacher should be spending hours correcting. She says, "Students will never internalize how to use the proper conventions in their writing if they do not construct that knowledge and learn how to apply that knowledge to their own writing."

Weaver, Constance, Carol McNally, and Sharon Moerman. "To Grammar or Not to Grammar: That Is Not the Question." Voices from the Middle 8.3 (2001): 17-33. Print. The premise is that "a little grammar goes a long way," but that grammar lessons are often necessary, as long as they are not delivered in isolation. McNally offers a sample lesson using a passage from The Giver. She first chopped Lowry's sentences, putting the text through a "regression process," and then let her students "discover" the discrepancy. The authors are heavily influenced by the "brush stroke" technique of writing as delineated by author Harry Noden in his 1999 book, Image Grammar. Noden compares an artist's brush strokes to words that create imagery. The writing here tends to be technical and scholarly, most suited to the serious grammarian looking to hold off on the red pen.

Zemelman, Steven, and Harvey Daniels. A Community of Writers: Teaching Writing in the Junior and Senior High School. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann, 1988. Print. "The English Teacher's Red Pen" provided an excellent overview of the philosophy behind limited selective grammar instruction. The chapter "Responding, Evaluating, and Grading" was especially useful in providing nuts and bolts procedure. Included are The Diederich Analytic Scale for grading and another generic scale, both powerful tools for times when there is need for more intensive assessment.

Conclusion

             Having perused these five entries, I have come to the conclusion that grammar instruction has a place in middle school writing, but that it must be approached sparingly and with great sensitivity.  No instruction should be ever given as a drill separate from the context of actual student writing, although it may be approached within a piece of authentic, published young adult literature, (as demonstrated by Carol McNally in “To Grammar or Not to Grammar: That is Not the Question”).  On any given assignment, most students will do best with one revision that, once pointed out in a limited context, they will then search out through the remainder of their piece.  No teacher should wield a red pen, marking out every correction until a student’s page is a sea of red.  Lucy Calkins, however, offers the blue pencil treatment once a piece is in the publication stage and with the author’s permission, because that is real world editing.  In conclusion, I am hereby satisfied that my “burning question” has been most satisfactorily laid to rest.