Five Lies We Tell Our Students - #2: "You have to learn the rules before you can break them."

In the first series under Lies ELA Teachers Tell, I will discuss the top five lies we tell our students.  As with everything we do as teachers, we are well-meaning with these lies.  But, in the long-term, these lies hurt our students.  I will discuss the lie, what we really mean when we tell the lie, and how we can achieve the same objective. 

Rules are meant to be broken.  Some of the best literature out there (I would say most of it) breaks some sort of rule.

This lie makes me most upset when teacher use it, but NEVER teach their students to break the rules.  When are the students ever going to know the rules enough that we deem it appropriate to show them how to break the rules?  Never, usually.

Why should we be teaching students "the rules" and how to break them at the same time?  Because we want our students to use language, not be used by language.  I'm not saying that we shouldn't teach the rules (I can just read the comments to come!).  We should teach the rules, but at the same time we need to teach students that these rules can be broken for different effects.

Students need to know when it is okay to be innovative with language and when it is not okay to break the rules.  In some situations it is of vital importance for students to play by the rules.  But, not always.

Is it okay to have something a student writes to be one huge run-on sentence?  It depends on the purpose and audience of the piece of writing.  For an argumentative essay on a standardized test, no.  In a story where the author is trying to convey a rushed tone, yes.  We need to teach students how to use language like this - appropriately.

I've already reviewed a great book on this topic - The Power of Grammar.  It gives practical ways to teach both the rules and breaking them.

Next time: Lie #1 We Tell Our Students ... "The five paragraph essay is a good form of writing."

Comments

[Waterfall]

Heh ... I just told my kids today that, for their next essay, their thesis statement does NOT have to be in the introduction. I told them to "experiment" with thesis placement. They cheered. Just wait'll I tell 'em next time that they can use not one but TWO sentences for it. I'll be their favorite teacher ever! :)

[daniel]

What does it mean to say that one wants students to "...not be used by language"?