How well do you remember what grammatical words like adverb, adjective, prepositions actually mean? There is a lot of discussion in the education world at the moment about how much focus should be on teaching these word classes and instead focussing on whether a sentence instinctively feels right. Some research suggests being able to circle an adverb or noun on a worksheet has zero impact on writing ability. Other educators say everyone should have a common understanding of formal language grammar so that teachers can say 'try adding an adjective here' and students would be more clear about what kind of word to add in. Helen Walls aka The Writing Teacher looks at this debate in this episode of School Shorts. She has spoken in a previous episode about the importance of handwriting in the thinking process. This episode takes that discussion further to look at how to help children who are having challenges with writers including how to help older students still struggling. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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