Start watching the old School House Rock videos. I’m not kidding.

Anonymous wrote:Yes but as a teacher, I don’t think the way it’s embedded in the curriculum works well. I don’t know how it’s even possible but I get kids in high school who still don’t know a noun = an object = subject of the sentence and verb = action = predicate. They REALLY struggle with *basic* grammar concepts so if you want to work on explicit instruction of that at home, it wouldn’t be a bad idea.

NP. As a parent, it doesn't work well for my kids either.

This seems like another new way of teaching that is a lot of work for the teacher but low results.

I hope the new changes to the curriculum described in this thread are effective instead of just more work that doesn't give results.

Since they got rid of the grammar books and textbooks, this is all supposed to be embedded in the curriculum somehow. It depends on what your grade level decides to teach, because we are all supposed to teach the same. I did my own thing, but it was hard when they took away teaching materials.

If I were a parent, I’d make a big noise about this.

Anonymous wrote:Yes but as a teacher, I don’t think the way it’s embedded in the curriculum works well. I don’t know how it’s even possible but I get kids in high school who still don’t know a noun = an object = subject of the sentence and verb = action = predicate. They REALLY struggle with *basic* grammar concepts so if you want to work on explicit instruction of that at home, it wouldn’t be a bad idea.

There were big changes to the ES curriculum over the past year or two. We spent a lot of time on this with our third graders this year. More than I ever did in the past and I’ve been with FCPS for 30 years.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are working on a summer bridge activities workbook this summer for my rising 5th grader and my kid knows nothing about grammar (doesn’t know pronouns, where commas go, etc) in any of the activities. I’m assuming it’s normally taught in other elementary schools since it’s included int he workbook?

How do kids learn grammar? And how will they learn foreign languages when they don’t know any grammar. I’m trying to teach the kid as we go through the workbook but curious what is going on.

In our experience, not really. Not in any meaningful way. There may be a passing quiz or worksheet on something (e.g., comma usage) but not a thorough grammar curriculum. I asked my kid once, in MS, if they could describe what an adjective was. This kid is an honors and AP student. They could not tell me or describe what an adjective was.

Add on that, the teachers do not provide line edit reviews to correct grammar on written work. A huge problem for me as that is one of the best ways to learn. Instead they use those foolish "rubrics." I know there is a lot of arguments on this point on this site. But without this sort of feedback you simply cannot properly teach grammar and writing. And it's just not done in FCPS.

This occurs during writing conferences.

Yes but as a teacher, I don’t think the way it’s embedded in the curriculum works well. I don’t know how it’s even possible but I get kids in high school who still don’t know a noun = an object = subject of the sentence and verb = action = predicate. They REALLY struggle with *basic* grammar concepts so if you want to work on explicit instruction of that at home, it wouldn’t be a bad idea.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are working on a summer bridge activities workbook this summer for my rising 5th grader and my kid knows nothing about grammar (doesn’t know pronouns, where commas go, etc) in any of the activities. I’m assuming it’s normally taught in other elementary schools since it’s included int he workbook?

How do kids learn grammar? And how will they learn foreign languages when they don’t know any grammar. I’m trying to teach the kid as we go through the workbook but curious what is going on.

In our experience, not really. Not in any meaningful way. There may be a passing quiz or worksheet on something (e.g., comma usage) but not a thorough grammar curriculum. I asked my kid once, in MS, if they could describe what an adjective was. This kid is an honors and AP student. They could not tell me or describe what an adjective was.

Add on that, the teachers do not provide line edit reviews to correct grammar on written work. A huge problem for me as that is one of the best ways to learn. Instead they use those foolish "rubrics." I know there is a lot of arguments on this point on this site. But without this sort of feedback you simply cannot properly teach grammar and writing. And it's just not done in FCPS.

I disagree. I have asked both my kids every day after school what they have learned in each class and they have walked me through it. (I do this to help solidify their learning and to give me insight on what they are doing in school). Line edits are not the only ways to learn to write--they have also sorts of targeted interactive worksheets where they correct incorrect grammar in pre-written sentences and circle parts of speech and the like. I think the "No red ink" program is a reasonably strong way to teach grammar/writing that varies from the traditional line editing practice (which is not possible to do well given the class sizes/teacher workload). And, really, as computer programs improve, using word processers are increasingly becoming like having a constant line editor.
Writing is a significant portion of my professional work and I think it's being taught reasonably well. Sure, I'd love to have my kids receive detailed feedback on all their written work, but I don't think the FCPS approach is foolish.

Anonymous wrote:We are working on a summer bridge activities workbook this summer for my rising 5th grader and my kid knows nothing about grammar (doesn’t know pronouns, where commas go, etc) in any of the activities. I’m assuming it’s normally taught in other elementary schools since it’s included int he workbook?

How do kids learn grammar? And how will they learn foreign languages when they don’t know any grammar. I’m trying to teach the kid as we go through the workbook but curious what is going on.

In our experience, not really. Not in any meaningful way. There may be a passing quiz or worksheet on something (e.g., comma usage) but not a thorough grammar curriculum. I asked my kid once, in MS, if they could describe what an adjective was. This kid is an honors and AP student. They could not tell me or describe what an adjective was.

Add on that, the teachers do not provide line edit reviews to correct grammar on written work. A huge problem for me as that is one of the best ways to learn. Instead they use those foolish "rubrics." I know there is a lot of arguments on this point on this site. But without this sort of feedback you simply cannot properly teach grammar and writing. And it's just not done in FCPS.

Yes, my rising 6th learned grammar during the last school year.

Yes they consistently teach grammar throughout--moving from parts of speech in elementary school to linking grammar with rhetorical strategies in middle school.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:FCPS teaches grammar throughout ELA but some kids don't pick it up as well.

Fwiw, learning a foreign language is a great way to learn English grammar.

This. I spend all of quarter 1 focusing on parts of speech and review all year. I always gave a few who still struggle all year.

We spent a lot of time on parts of speech with the new word study pacing this past year.

3rd grade

Anonymous wrote:FCPS teaches grammar throughout ELA but some kids don't pick it up as well.

Fwiw, learning a foreign language is a great way to learn English grammar.

This. I spend all of quarter 1 focusing on parts of speech and review all year. I always gave a few who still struggle all year.

FCPS teaches grammar throughout ELA but some kids don't pick it up as well.

Fwiw, learning a foreign language is a great way to learn English grammar.

My DD definitely did. Maybe teacher dependent?

We are working on a summer bridge activities workbook this summer for my rising 5th grader and my kid knows nothing about grammar (doesn’t know pronouns, where commas go, etc) in any of the activities. I’m assuming it’s normally taught in other elementary schools since it’s included int he workbook?

How do kids learn grammar? And how will they learn foreign languages when they don’t know any grammar. I’m trying to teach the kid as we go through the workbook but curious what is going on.