Tenth Grade Grammar Instruction

Grammar instruction in the tenth grade focuses on improving students' ability to proofread their own and others' work. At the same time, the students learn those types of errors that figure prominently on standardized tests. We accomplish these goals through a combination of testing and of composition correction.

At the center of the instruction is our GUM sheet. "GUM" stands for "grammar, usage, and mechanics." The GUM sheet is a list of rules, model sentences, and abbreviations. Teachers of all grades and of all disciplines use the abbreviations to mark errors in students' papers. For example, when students see one such an abbreviation in the margins of their papers, they know that they have commited that error somewhere in that line of the paper. Students then find and correct the errors, using the GUM sheet as a guide. Although different teachers grade grammar in different ways, grammar within students' writing makes up a part of the students' paper (and, therefore, semester) grade.

To assist students in learning the GUM sheet rules, we give the students four tests, two in each semester. The first semester tests are simple memorization of sixteen of the GUM sheet abbreviation, rules, and sample sentences. We give this test at the start and at the end of the semester. In the second semester, we give tests made up of thirty-two sentences. Half are correct, and half are flawed. The flawed sentences represent the sixteen rules we asked students to memorize in the first semester. These tests challenge the students' proofreading skills.

Mindful of the standardized test, we have made sure that the rules we ask students to learn are among those most commonly tested.