I didn't say that was the only word I missed. It was the 4th incorrect
out of 10, giving me an F. What is even worse, I brought the detergent
box to school as proof that I was correct. Learned how to spell a new
word that day, HUMILIATION


On Thu, 28 Aug 2003 18:06:05 -0300, "Capt. Mooron"
wrote:

What kind of test is it that you only have to miss one word to fail??

CM

"Marc" wrote in message
.. .
| Case in Point. I failed a sixth grade spelling test because I
| misspelled "does". My mother, at the time, used a laundry detergent
| brand named DUZ.
|
|
| On Thu, 28 Aug 2003 14:16:34 -0400, "Scout"
| wrote:
|
| Frank,
| Even with all the outrageous expectations placed on schools, they still
find
| time to do some serious and legitimate research. Take it or leave it,
here
| is some insight that the English teacher may have left out.
| There is overwhelming evidence (formal educational research) which
strongly
| suggests that teaching the conventions of English (spelling, grammar,
etc.)
| does not work, simply because it is taken out of context. Translation,
| students (people) learn the rules of a language much more effectively by
| exposure to others who use it correctly (i.e., via reading).
| Memorizing rules does not make significantly better writers. Reading well
| written literature does. Reading well written anything increases language
| skills. Well written work is focused, organized, has style, displays
| content, and obeys all the rules of the language. These things are nearly
| impossible to teach with memorization techniques. Reading teaches
language
| skills by example, the same way most of us learned to speak in the first
| place. At 3 years old, most of us could form sentences without the
benefit
| of grammar lessons. Why? Because we were imitating what we took in. We
hear
| before we can speak. We read before we can write (effectively).
| The catch, as I see it, is that many people don't like to read, for a
| variety of reasons. It's no wonder then, that they don't write well
either.
| Kids need to be read to from an early age, to have pleasant memories
| associated with reading, and to be encouraged and rewarded (initially at
| least) for focusing long enough to read an assignment. Good parenting
here
| is critical and irreplaceable. Like so many other things, if you can get
| them started early, they will enjoy much greater success later.
| One bit of evidence seems irrefutable: those who won't or can't read,
can't
| write very well either.
| The billboards you mention make a good point. The people who create them,
| I'm sure, know the rules of language well. Their casual (mis)usage
promotes
| and instructs others, albeit informally, to follow suit. They're selling
a
| product other than language, and have no direct stake in the educational
| outcome of their work. People see them, read them, and proceed to write
| using similar syntax. One way or another, we're all learning something.
|