Whatever happened to teaching grammar?

I always cringe at the start of each school year when I ask my 8th graders what a noun is and get a bunch of puzzled, blank stares. Verb? More stares. Adjective? More. Adverb? Now I must be from another planet.

The de-emphasis on grammar instruction in our K-12 language arts classrooms is disturbing, disappointing, and unacceptable. We are raising a generation of obedient test-takers rather than creative, critical thinkers who can read, write, listen, speak, and interpret ideas/concepts well. Grammar and writing are SO devalued  in today's classrooms that it is no surprise college professors are appalled with the poor writing skills of incoming college freshmen, even at select colleges and universities.

What, then, can we do to change this horrible, depressing phenomenon? It's simple. We need to make a determined, honest commitment to our students to incorporate solid grammar and writing instruction into our curriculums and daily lesson plans. We need to teach them how to write a good sentence, how to use each part of speech well, and, of course, how to diagram a sentence. Can you remember doing that? Maybe not. And that is a real shame.

Grammar does not have to be a boring, tedious, or obligatory part of our English lessons. Instead, it can be fun, informative, and relative to our students' lives. It can be taught in a student-centered, hands-on format that challenges students to think outside their comfort zones and start considering why we write the way we do -- and choose the words we do to write.

One gem of an article I've recently found that encourages just this kind of grammar instruction considers the same end goal -- How do I help my students with their writing, and how can grammatical skills help them get there? See what you can incorporate into tomorrow's lesson. An excerpt is below. For access to the full article, please visit: http://siu-voss.com/Documents/grammar_without_grammar.pdf.