Bad Grammar

Angelica and her classmates used to commit daily crimes against the language. The 15-year-old admits, “ I used to say ‘my sister and me’ or ‘me and my sister would go somewhere.’”

Kasandra, also 15, gives this example: “I ain’t got this and that.” And Angelica adds, “Starting sentences with ‘because.’”

Sure they’ve had plenty of grammar in school, but in a word it’s “boring,” says 15-year-old Jonathan.

Curriculum developer Dawn Burnette concedes that grammar isn’t always the most compelling subject for kids. “I think the reason that kids have come to despise grammar is because we’ve asked them to do weeks of it in a row … that’s painful for everybody,” she says.

So instead of dedicating entire class sessions to grammar or ignoring it altogether, Burnette spends the first two minutes of each class teaching a single rule. It’s short, and sweet. It’s only a short lesson, she says, well matched to students’ attention spans.

Angelica agrees that the method works. “You know you’re going to do it at the beginning of class and then it’s over with,” she says.

Burnette says students in her classes remember most of what is taught, compared to old style methods where students would forget 50 percent or more. Jonathan agrees: “Like the way teachers taught it, it was just repetitive. And they never made it interesting, and also it didn’t make too much sense.”

Burnette has two thoughts for parents. First, bone up on grammar themselves. “Kids see the parents think it’s important and then it’s going to be more important to them too,” she says.

Second, explain why it’s important. No matter how smart they are, no matter what they achieve, bad grammar can make them appear stupid.

Fifteen-year-old Josh agrees: “I want to be a doctor. And if you don’t act educated, people aren’t going to want to respect you, and they’re not going to trust you.”

Dawn Burnette teaches English at McIntosh High School in Peachtree City, Ga. She spent years teaching and re-teaching her students grammar, and about eight years ago she developed her own curriculum. Fellow teachers noticed students using proper grammar after taking Burnette’s class and encouraged her to publish the program. As the 2003-2004 school year began, Burnette published the program, calling it Daily Grammar Practice.

At the beginning of the week, students receive a grammatically incorrect sentence. Over the subsequent five days, the class is assigned a daily task – like identifying the parts of speech, sentence parts, clauses or sentence type. As the week comes to an end, students add punctuation and capitalization, and then they diagram the sentence. Each daily lesson can be completed in less than five minutes.

Burnette publishes separate lesson plans for each grade level from first to 12 th, as well as a college level edition. A teacher’s guide, which includes material teachers can copy and distribute to students, costs $29.95. Student workbooks cost $5.95 each. Other materials, such as transparencies, are available. Burnette’s husband runs the grammar business full time so she can continue teaching.

“I really need to stay in teaching to validate what I’m doing,” she said. “More than that, I love knowing I’m helping my students learn. I just need to be in a classroom.”

Consider the following:

• Grammar is a branch of linguistics dealing with the form and structure of words (morphology) and their interrelation in sentences (syntax).
• The study of grammar reveals how language works.
• Normative, or prescriptive, grammar defines the role of the various parts of speech and establishes the norm, or rule, of correct usage.
• Over 350 schools use Burnette’s program. They are located in 35 states and three foreign countries (Japan, Turkey and Bermuda).
• There is also a French Daily Grammar Practice version available. Burnette plans to offer German, Latin and Spanish versions in the near future.
• Burnette once published teaching materials for gifted education through PRO ED, Inc. She also has co-published a children’s newspaper and worked as a newspaper reporter.

Make grammar fun for your child. Explain that how one manipulates the English language greatly influences the way others perceive the speaker.

Keep in mind that there are actually many different aspects to grammar. Some grammarians are primarily interested in changes in word and sentence construction in a language over time – for example, how Old English, Middle English and Modern English differ from one another. This approach is known as historical grammar. Other grammarians investigate how words and word order are used in social contexts to get messages across. This is called functional grammar. In recent news, a linguist from the University of Pittsburgh published a scholarly paper deconstructing and deciphering the word ”dude.” Scott Kiesling contends “dude” is much more than a catchall for stereotypical lazy, inarticulate teens. He found the word taps into nonconformity and a new American image of leisurely success.

• As a parent, first and foremost, always speak proper English. Your child learns by example.
• Discuss with your child how television and movie writers and directors use the spoken word, and its accompanying grammar, to create different perceptions of onscreen characters.
• Deconstruct and diagram song lyrics, especially if your child enjoys music.
• Read with your child and consider how the author uses grammar to effectively illustrate his or her point.

The Atlanta-Journal Constitution
Daily Grammar Practice
The Importance of Grammar
MSNBC