Blog Post #12 Personal project

Self Assigned Assignment: English

English, language and grammar are tough beasts to master. Usually, when a student is in an English class, they are assigned essay, after essay. To me, the quickest way to get, burnt out on a subject is for the material to be given to you in a tedious way. Some of my favorite things in English are poems and grammar. My assignment to my future students is a two part lesson. They will learn the importance of editing, punctuation and spelling.

1. Write a poem. It can be about anything they want. Catch: You must your hardest to use BAD grammar. Little to no punctuation, misspell almost everything and no need for capitalization or subject-verb agreement. There is no specific length for the poem, just BE CREATIVE!

My Poem:

the see the see the see
unparaleled en it's beuty
its waves ror lik a lion
and rol twards the shoor
they begun on the horizen
breck an roll no moar

the son the son the son
pravide us with som fun
it glow and lights the wurld we're in
for half of the day cause it can
it's warmth dances up on our skin
and kises us until we tan.

the beech the beech the beech
for me its alwayz in reech
An our driv and one quik dash
akros the sand to meat the see
and touch the waves; b4 they crash
while injoying the son that incumpeses me.


PART 2: Revise the poem! Have a classmate proofread your revised draft. Write one to two paragraphs explaining the kinds of mistakes that were in the first draft. Also explain the overall importance of proofreading and editing.

The sea, the sea, the sea
Unparalleled in beauty
Its waves roar like a lion,
And roll on toward the shore
They begin at the horizon,
Break, and roll no more.

The sun, the sun, the sun,
Provides us with some fun.
It glows and lights the world we're in
For half a day because it can.
Its warmth dances upon our skin,
And kisses us until we tan.

The beach, the beach, the beach,
For me, it is always in reach.
An hour drive and one quick dash
Across the sand to meet the sea
and touch the waves before they crash
while enjoying the sun that encompasses me.

              In my first poem I threw grammar out of the window. I used no punctuation, or capitalization and I used terrible spelling. I did this on purpose, just to see how important grammar really is. I tried to use little or no punctuation, which turned into the old example of, "Lets eat, Grandpa. vs. Lets eat Grandpa." It goes without saying that a period or comma helps make important distinctions in a sentence. I basically closed my eyes when I was trying to spell the words. Incorrectly spelled words just make the poem that much more difficult to comprehend. Overall, without grammar my poem makes no sense at all.
             It is important to edit your work to make sure that no small errors slip through the cracks. When I rewrote the poem and heavily edited my work it turned into a pretty good poem. I am clearly talking about different aspects of the beach, and describing them. This would be a great project for secondary students. It allows them to be creative and silly with the first poem. The second poem requires them to correct themselves and let themselves be corrected by a classmate. The students also get experience in basic peer review.