The Fresh Prince of Grammar

Who says teachers can't flip the script? Recently, Jen Harkness, a former teacher candidate, now teaching in Chicago, sent me this email:

"My students are learning the parts of speech as a component of their grammar unit, and they have been frustrated with the monotony of writing from the book. I decided to mix it up...and I wrote a poem about the different types of nouns. Then I put it to the theme of The Fresh Prince of Bel Air (a TV show many indicated as being a favorite on initial surveys). I used my skills learned in [our English education class] to make an iMovie, and I even did a voice over! ...The students LOVED it. They were then asked to make [their own] poem, song, or rap about different parts of speech...."

Here's Jen's video:



When I asked, Jen was kind enough to share some examples produced by her 10th grade students. Here's part of one:

"This first round is 'bout demonstrative pronouns
Points out specific persons, places, things, or ideas
Here's a couple examples right here
Singular "this" and "these"
Plural "that" and "those"
This is how our demonstration goes

Specifically, this girl, that boy,
These clothes, and those toys
We hope this knowledge brings you joy

This last round is 'bout interrogative pronouns
They're used for questions
In case you were guessin'
Who, what, whomever,
Whom, which, whatever
Demonstrative pronouns and interrogative questions
We really hoped you listened
We hope you learned a lesson"

I've learned a lesson about listening, thanks to Jen and her 10th graders: If you build on students' uses of language for your own teaching purposes, they'll return the favor. In fact, it's a lesson I keep learning and relearning as a teacher. A lesson I guess will always be...fresh.