By Matthew Tungate
matthew.tungate@education.ky.gov
University of Louisville MAT student Jason Cooper and Jeffersontown Elementary School (Jefferson County) teacher Fife Wicks participate in an activity about subject-verb agreement during the Grammar for Teachers professional development at Westport Middle School (Jefferson County).
When Lynette Ward was in high school, one of her teachers asked the class if it wanted to do a second unit on debate or one on grammar. The class picked debate, of course, said Ward, now a 6th-grade language arts teacher at Bullitt Lick Middle School (Bullitt County).
Ward said she never received a good education in grammar, which presented a problem since it is littered throughout the Kentucky Core Academic Standards for English/Language Arts.
“I was nervous because I felt like I didn’t have the instruction,” she said. “So I’m going to be learning a lot with my students. But it’s important, because I want to sound intelligent and I want them to sound intelligent.”
Patti Slagle, a retired English teacher from Jefferson County, said Ward is not alone.
“A lot of teachers did not have direct instruction when they were students, and they certainly did not have direct instruction when they were in college,” she said. “So there are some teachers who are concerned about teaching this content because they don’t feel they have a strong command of grammar for instructional purposes.” Continue Reading
