It's summer break and the time when all good teachers put workbooks in front of their own children.
Despite all of my talk and beliefs about the need for learning experiences marked by discovery, collaboration, connection, relevance, and authenticity, my son spends time with a grammar workbook several days a week.
If I make a Wordle of what his summer looks like, it's something like this, filled with a variety of great summer activities, places and people:
In my mind, though, admitting the existence of the workbook makes his summer look more like this:
He doesn't fight the workbook. In fact, he seems to enjoy it. I think he feels accomplished because he's good at it and it's concrete. Grammar is not glamour and requires practice, practice and more practice.
If you have any suggestions on how grammar can be taught in a way that would capture the minds and hearts of more students, I would love to hear from you.
