According to Psychology Today, "Dogs can provide support and a sense of calm for our daily emotional and psychological stresses." This is not to say that teaching grammar to eighth graders isn't fun, but today when I featured my own, Alice Thundercracker, in my lesson on sentence structure, I enjoyed a sense of calm.
She was there when I reviewed the simple sentence: I have a golden retriever.
A photo of her smiling face greeted me between Google slides as if to say, "We may be apart, but I'm thinking of you, too."
With a slight dopamine hit, I reminded students of compound subjects: Alice and I run on the trail. Oh, the countless miles we've shared over the years, side-by-side.
Zipping along, I wowed the class with a new one: She stops and sniffs flowers whenever she can. That's right, kiddos, watch out for compound predicates too.
The whole class was grooving by now--they were ready for the next phase: Sometimes Alice is a criminal, so we can never leave food out.
Shock and horror! Still, the kids weren't yet masters of compound sentences, so I went on: My son’s sandwiches are not safe, and I must hide everyone’s socks. She's very cute, people, but did I ever say she was perfect?
The plot thickened with news of her thievery, but I ended the lesson with truth: Although Alice is sneaky, I love her a lot. Sure, it's a complex sentence, but the love I feel for my dog is uncomplicated.
I went home later and took her on an extra good walk. That's a good girl, I said.
Weaving your dog’s life into your grammar lesson is ingenious! Engaging and effective. In fact, I can’t wait to read more! Are you sure there aren’t more sentence types you need to teach me?
ReplyDeleteDogs and grammar? This is a mighty blog post!
ReplyDeleteAnd she was probably thinking about socks and sandwiches at home, unaware of her blossoming star status.
ReplyDeleteIf you want to engage middle school students, throw in a cute dog or an angsty love story and they are hooked. Love that you went with your pup.
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