New addition to English curriculum coming this semester

English teachers are making way for a new curriculum system to be put in. This semester, all English teachers will be adding grammar to their curriculum so that all students are getting the skills they need to be successful in their post-high school careers.

“We have known that there has been a glaring grammar gap in our curriculum and so it’s always been something that we have been talking about,” said English Department Co-Chair Molly Spisak.

Even though English teachers know about the lack of grammar knowledge at the high school, teaching grammar is difficult, because to teach grammar effectively, it has to be in context with writing. It’s because of that obstacle grammar is just now being introduced.

Students might have experienced kill n’ drills in elementary or middle school, where students would get a worksheet of 50 sentences asking to identify key grammar elements like where to place a comma in a sentence. Though useful then, Spisak and the rest of the English department are looking to move away from kill n’ drills.

“Research says that the kill n’ drill worksheets don’t do anything for grammar instruction or attention,” Spisak said.

All grades will experience the new change in the curriculum sometime this semester, but grades 9 through 11 will see the most drastic change.