Summary
Is bad grammar on business signs a pet peeve for you? Does it make you want to give your business to a competitor who pays more attention to details? Inspired by grammar errors on local business signs and the Internet, and the potential positive uses of Twitter and Instagram, teachers and students used grammar skills and social media to raise awareness of bad grammar on local advertising signs. Students applied their knowledge of grammar and social media to interact positively with their peers and the community by making bad grammar a point of discussion, making it acceptable to politely point out errors and play “Grammar Police” in everyday life.
TIPC Ratings
Not a focus of this lesson: The students didn’t conduct research in the traditional sense, where they picked a topic and used a combination of library resources. It wasn’t a focus of this lesson, but the students did have to go out into the community to find the sources for the grammar corrections and rely on their previous knowledge of grammar rules to make the corrections in the right way.
Approaching: The students communicated with one another, their teachers, and local businesses in the community through Twitter and Instagram, responding to each other’s corrections and interacting together through social media. They tweeted to @byrdgrammarcops on twitter and used a hashtag (with the teacher’s name) to engage their teachers and classmates in digital conversation. They didn’t collaborate in groups as part of a project, but they involved the community beyond the classroom in conversations about grammar. They could choose Twitter, Instagram, or a School Space drop box for their correction submission.
Ideal:The students had to apply their knowledge of grammatical errors and their solutions to real world scenarios they encounter outside of the classroom. They recognized the errors, made suggestions for corrections, and considered if that changed their opinion of the business. The students reflected on the experience and whether or not grammatical errors influenced purchasing decisions.
Not a focus of this lesson.
Student Artifact
