Grammar Recitation for High School - Hybrid School

[MrsSmith]

I have recently been employed at a hybrid school teaching ELA for high school. Their high school program is very new and they only have a dozen students and no juniors or seniors. Using this first year as a learning year for myself (understanding where the students are academically and what can be expected of them), I have found the need for grammar instruction. In planning for the next school year, I was thinking of using the English Grammar Recitation Handbook and flashcards to aid in this instruction. We meet twice a week and I am thinking we can begin class with 10 minutes of grammar recitation each day we meet.

I have been homeschooling my own children for over 11 years using a Charlotte Mason philosophy (our core is Ambleside to be specific). However, the students I have come from a traditional "school-at-home" methodology. I am finding Memoria Press literature guides to work to both their sensibilities and mine which is what led me to the idea of using EGR Handbook.

Thoughts?

[igalloway]

Hi MrsSmith, welcome to the Forum! I'll tag Beorn and pickandgrin, who will have some good advice for you. You may also benefit from speaking to a representative in our Schools division--even with a small, new hybrid high school situation, they'd be able to help! Here's their number: (502) 855-4824; they are available Monday-Friday, 8-5 Eastern.

[Beorn]

Hi MrsSmith and welcome to the forum. Thanks for the tag igalloway. I hope I can be of some help!

First off, I want to encourage you, MrsSmith. Teaching grammar is a noble task and starting (or restarting) grammar afresh may be even more noble. So, please be encouraged! And best wishes to you. Your students will God willing be blessed by it

Can you describe the hybrid school a bit? And explain your students traditional "school-at-home" methodology. What is the phonics/grammar background of the students generally before getting to your class? Are they familiar with recitation/memorization and flashcards or will that be new to them? Other than the lit guides, are the students ready to go and familiar with MP/classical philosophy and pedagogy? Or will they need to be "re-trained"? Answering these questions will be helpful to answer your specific questions.

I love the EGR program and I am a big fan of the recitation/workbook/flashcards methodology but I have only gone through the early stages with my oldest child so far. And my kids have been deep in MP world from the very beginning so it was a natural transition for him and hopefully will be so for the next two as well.

There will most likely be some challenges involved in starting EGR in your setting with some students, if I had to guess. You may need to adjust your plans and schedule as you go along. And the 10 minutes grammar recitation will most likely need to include some instruction time (depending on where your students are at) and more at home reinforcements (flashcards, oral recitation and written quizzes). Just some initial thoughts from me, pickandgrin and others with more EGR experience will most likely be of more help to you once everyone returns from Spring Break.

[jen1134]

Beorn's questions are good ones. In my co-op experience, we needed at least 15 minutes of teaching and explanation for the grammar concepts we were memorizing. It will also be critical for the students to diligently recite them at home between classes. If your students need more than just a refresher in grammar, you will need to add the EGR workbooks — and possibly the Core Skills workbooks for even further practice — otherwise, the memorized concepts are not likely to transfer to their written work.

[MrsSmith]

Can you describe the hybrid school a bit? And explain your students traditional "school-at-home" methodology. What is the phonics/grammar background of the students generally before getting to your class? Are they familiar with recitation/memorization and flashcards or will that be new to them? Other than the lit guides, are the students ready to go and familiar with MP/classical philosophy and pedagogy? Or will they need to be "re-trained"? Answering these questions will be helpful to answer your specific questions.

Thank you for your reply!

We meet 2 days a week with homework for the other 3 days. We read literature, discuss it, and they have been either writing a paper, taking a comprehensive test, or other related project. This was somewhat new to them as many of them came out of middle school doing more of a unit study/related busywork.
It is in their writing that I have been noticing consistent grammatical errors. Initially, at the suggestion of a friend, I gave them Editor-in-Chief grammar sheets to see how well they could recognize errors.
As I mentioned earlier, they are bright children and they are willing. They have become more articulate in discussing the books and there is marked improvement in their corrections on the grammar sheets. However, I was looking into EGR handbook as a more formal way to teach grammar that wouldn’t make them feel that I am giving them elementary work.

[pickandgrin]

MrsSmith
Here's another idea to try rather than simply using EGR as written. This may be easier due to the age of your students. You could start the day with a "Grammar Spotlight" and give a brief overview of the concept then give them the simple EGR definition of the concept. You could provide an example of it from something you are currently reading, and/or it could be their job to find an example of it sometime during the day as your regular lessons progess. If you have not already seen it, this EGR Handbook may be a great place for you to start to help diagnose areas that need work in a systematic way.

The workbooks are very, very good, but they do focus on material that is being studied concurrently with the complete MP program. One lesson might have all example sentences from Birds and the book of Jeremiah, while another has sentences about Lassie and Ancient Rome. These make a lot of sense in context, but they may be hit or miss with your students depending on their background. Another aspect to consider is that this EGR course is written to stand alongside the grammatical study of Latin. For that reason, it's extremely streamlined. This may work to your advantage or disadvantage, again, depending on their backgrounds. There may not be sufficient discussion or examples for a non-Latin student who struggles with a concept.

I've often seen Rod and Staff English mentioned here as a resource for others who are looking for a more thorough presentation of English grammar without the support that comes from Latin study. Grade 8 English "Preparing for Usefulness" may be particularly helpful. You can see its TOC here.

It may come down to whether or not you want to present the material yourself and provide a few examples, or if you would like them to have some sort of workbook/text to practice with in and outside class. I hope this information is helpful.

Best wishes on your endeavor!