Grammar question

[Susan1]

6 a.m. I saw my first typo of the new year. ha ha ha
The only local station with news on - the crawl said, about the weather ".........kick off out first day of the new year". I wasn't even reading the crawl. I just glanced at it and that jumped out at me.

 

[Susan1]

And sort of related. I didn't know where else to go with this -
"The legislation, House Bill 58, passed the state Senate earlier this month and mandates that every student in Ohio be able to write in cursive by the end of fifth grade.
It was first introduced in February 2017 and passed the House in June 2018.

Teaching students to write in cursive has come to be thought of as an outdated lesson in the digital age by some, with many kids not able to write in the formal font. The bill, however, instructs that the Ohio Department of Education compile "supplemental instructional materials on the development of handwriting as a universal skill in the English language … for grades kindergarten through five."
"The instructional materials shall be designed to enable students to print letters and words legibly by grade three and create readable documents using legible cursive handwriting by the end of grade five," the bill states.
The new instructional materials must be added to the curriculum no later than July 1."
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I saw that on the news today. I wonder if any other states will require cursive too. I wonder if they still teach spelling, or just text speak.

However, on the news report, they showed an example of cursive writing and someone had written "Niagra Falls" in cursive. Of course *I* noticed that out of the whole page of cursive words! Holy cheese and crackers. It's still only January 1 and my brain is about to explode.

 

[PDilemma]

And sort of related. I didn't know where else to go with this -
"The legislation, House Bill 58, passed the state Senate earlier this month and mandates that every student in Ohio be able to write in cursive by the end of fifth grade.
It was first introduced in February 2017 and passed the House in June 2018.

Teaching students to write in cursive has come to be thought of as an outdated lesson in the digital age by some, with many kids not able to write in the formal font. The bill, however, instructs that the Ohio Department of Education compile "supplemental instructional materials on the development of handwriting as a universal skill in the English language … for grades kindergarten through five."
"The instructional materials shall be designed to enable students to print letters and words legibly by grade three and create readable documents using legible cursive handwriting by the end of grade five," the bill states.
The new instructional materials must be added to the curriculum no later than July 1."
------
I saw that on the news today. I wonder if any other states will require cursive too. I wonder if they still teach spelling, or just text speak.

However, on the news report, they showed an example of cursive writing and someone had written "Niagra Falls" in cursive. Of course *I* noticed that out of the whole page of cursive words! Holy cheese and crackers. It's still only January 1 and my brain is about to explode.

Oh FFS. I just spent 7 weeks as a long term sub in third grade. Every morning at 8:30 we did spelling. Every day immediately after lunch, we did a cursive letter then the kids practiced it in their cursive workbook while I read a few chapters of a book aloud.

"Schools don't teach cursive" is mostly an internet meme. The reality of it is that as technology becomes more and more part of our daily lives including in schools, they don't use it as much as they used to. So it's a skill that while they do master it in elementary school; they quickly get out of practice. Most of us type more than we ever write anything by hand. More and more schools have 1:1 tech programs now, especially on the secondary levels. When I did a long term sub in high school English last year the majority of assignments were turned in electronically because it is a 1:1 school. The only things they did on paper --quizzes and lit journals--were also not stuff they did on paper for their regular teacher as she used two other programs for that, but the tech department didn't want to create a new account for me for that or let me into hers. My estimate is that about 80% of student work in that high school is submitted electronically in one way or another and that is also increasingly true in colleges now as well.

 

[Susan1]

Oh FFS. I just spent 7 weeks as a long term sub in third grade. Every morning at 8:30 we did spelling. Every day immediately after lunch, we did a cursive letter then the kids practiced it in their cursive workbook while I read a few chapters of a book aloud.

That's good. I read somewhere that it is not a "required" subject anymore. And I know a lot of the concern has been that kids won't be able to READ historical documents or store signs or anything from someone who writes in cursive if they don't know how to write it themselves.

Do they still teach it the fussy way, with the curlicues and sharp angles, like capital F's? Or starting with a tail on the bottom line? I STOPPED writing like that in about fifth grade. I used to get complimented on my handwriting, then learning shorthand ruined it. Now with the RA, sometimes I can't even read what I wrote or printed 10 minutes ago. Numbers too. Anyway..........

 

[Prancer]

That's good. I read somewhere that it is not a "required" subject anymore. And I know a lot of the concern has been that kids won't be able to READ historical documents or store signs or anything from someone who writes in cursive if they don't know how to write it themselves.

I will take that argument seriously just as soon as I see all the conservative types who make it start studying Aramaic and Greek so they can read the historical documents that make up their Bibles.

I've had several students tell me that that is their concern and I ask them how many of them have ever read the Declaration of Independence (which is apparently THE document that must be read in the original form) in its original form and of course, none of them ever have, but the point is that they COULD. They just haven't needed to.

And yes, the schools still teach spelling.

 

[MacMadame]

I don't take that argument seriously either. After all, I can read stuff written in the Middle Ages when the way letters were formed is often very different than how we write them now even in cursive. They are different but they aren't all *that* different. And the confusing ones can be figured out from context and having a good vocabulary.

 

[Susan1]

I don't take that argument seriously either. After all, I can read stuff written in the Middle Ages when the way letters were formed is often very different than how we write them now even in cursive. They are different but they aren't all *that* different. And the confusing ones can be figured out from context and having a good vocabulary.

I really don't want to argue about this. It makes me feel old. What about signing a person's name? I just feel like someone looks uneducated if they print their name where you are supposed to sign for something. Do you (collectively) really think, I don't know, 20 years from now there won't be a need for pens and paper because everything will be electronic? More manufacturing to go out of business.

 

[MacMadame]

What about signing a person's name?

Have you seen some famous people's signatures? They are just a scribble.

And, I'm sorry if you think printing your name on the signature line is somehow ignorant. Luckily, the people who accept signatures don't care.

 

[Susan1]

I mentioned this in one of the political threads, but it drives me crazy when they say "woman senator" or whatever. They wouldn't say "man senator". They would say "male senator". So, the final Jeopardy category last night was "Women Writers". Will "Man Writers" be tonight's category? No no no no no. Women is not an adjective. Female is the adjective. Make everybody stop doing that!!!!

 

[Japanfan]

I really don't want to argue about this. It makes me feel old. What about signing a person's name? I just feel like someone looks uneducated if they print their name where you are supposed to sign for something. Do you (collectively) really think, I don't know, 20 years from now there won't be a need for pens and paper because everything will be electronic?

People already provide electronic signatures.

As to printing, it may look uneducated to you, but could be the norm in years to come. And yes, in 20 years there will probably be much less of a need for pens and paper. I prefer doing my book-keeping with pen and paper, though record the actual numbers electronically. But people who grew up with computers probably have away of using it for note-taking. For example, when I get a phone number to call such-and-such, I almost always write it down on a piece of paper. But younger people might prefer to note the number on the computer.

I actually often print addresses on envelopes, because I think the printing is easier to read than my handwriting.

 

[Susan1]

I mentioned this in one of the political threads, but it drives me crazy when they say "woman senator" or whatever. They wouldn't say "man senator". They would say "male senator". So, the final Jeopardy category last night was "Women Writers". Will "Man Writers" be tonight's category? No no no no no. Women is not an adjective. Female is the adjective. Make everybody stop doing that!!!!

o.k. - AAARRRGGGHHH - Last night's (Thursday) final Jeopardy category was FEMALE singers. Why not women singers? My head almost exploded!