blog #2

After reading both of the articles Grammar Alive and Christensen's article, I found these two pieces of literature could prove to be very helpful when teaching grammar. A lot of people struggle with grammar and the English language so bringing in two pieces of work that are working towards a common goal, to help the readers better their understanding of learning. 

In the first article Grammar Alive, they laid out three main goals from the start. Goal A states "Every student, from every background, will complete school with the ability to communicate comfortably and effectively in both spoken and written Standard English, with awareness of when use of Standard English is appropriate.(1)" Goal B was then introduced saying "Every student will complete school with the ability to analyze the grammatical structure of sentences within English texts, using grammatical terminology correctly and demonstrating knowledge of how sentence-level grammatical structure contributes to the coherence of paragraphs and texts.(1)" And lastly Goal C was defined as "Every student will complete school with an understanding of, and application for, the natural variation that occurs in language across time, social situation, and social group. While recognizing the need for mastering Standard English, students will also demonstrate an understanding of the equality in the expressive capacity and linguistic structure among a range of language varieties both vernacular and standard, as well as an understanding of language-based prejudice.(1)" I recognize that these three goals are essential to teaching grammar, and I would like to try to implement these goals into my teaching someday. 

In the second article by Christensen, I noticed that throughout the article the goals from Grammar Alive are present but she presents theme in a less formal and social manner. She brings all of the goals to light, by describing real life situations in which they are present. I found this part of the article to be particularly helpful because, grammar is hard to grasp; especially if there isn't any examples to look at. Grammar Alive did a really good job of laying out what it is that students need to be able to do with grammar but Christensen goes to the next level and applies these goals. 

Although both of the articles were designed to help the reader better their understanding of grammar, I found the way each article approached that to be different. The Grammar Alive article really focused on giving the reader the information and making as clear and understandable as possible. Whereas Christensen assumed the reader was more comfortable with grammar and went on to describe ways in which one might apply the three goals to their teaching. I found both articles to be helpful in creating a better understanding of grammar and how to apply it to a classroom.

Work cited

1.Haussamen, B., & Assembly for the Teaching of English Grammar. (2003). Grammar alive! : A guide for teachers. Urbana, Ill.: National Council of Teachers of English.