How can i do it?

Hello,

Yesterday i asked my students to make a question from the following sentence.

"The steady stream of fossils discovered during the 60's dazzled the scientific world"

I asked them to make a sentence to which "the steady stream of fossils" would be the answer

And they asked the flollowing questions which are grammatically incorrect

1 - what was dazzled the scientific world?
2 - what made the scientific world to be dazzled?
3 - what did dazzle the scientific world?

I also know why they are wrong. But I don't want to tell them about object, subject, passivisation and and the rest of the frightenning grammatical terms.

is there a way of making them aware of their mistakes in the above questions without having to discuss grammar directly? I mean,may be, with the help of siuations only .....

can anyone plz help?

thanks

What an excellent approach takes courage. I prided myself in appearing to be totally vulnerable when teaching mathematics so if I unwittingly slipped up the students and i would work out the answer together. Fortunately they realized I knew my subject and were happy to explore possibilities with me. Not the right approach for all subjects. I am a great believer in bringing humour into a classroom and approaching students not as a group but as individuals. Iloved teaching as I think you do.

Miriamise the explanation? ~chuckles~

Bubu, I'm not sure what to tell you. It's sometimes too easy to give advise when we're not involved in the situation ourselves. I don't know why your students made those mistakes. Did they have enough practice before you gave them that activity? In what way/s do you deal with grammar in your classroom?
To many teachers, and perhaps to even more padagogists, "grammar" sounds like a taboo word. To me, on the other hand, grammar is a great tool. What do you do when the problem is grammar? Explaining grammar doesn't necessarily mean that you have to get too technical.
I agree that it's not necessary to "overuse" grammar explanations, but then the grammar of a language is as important as any other aspect of it. Teachers have been, for many years, claiming that communication is the goal, the beginning and the end. Well, in my opinion, in order for a person to communicate effectively in any language, grammar is important.
Many students are taught "fixed" constructions -according to their function- so they will be able to ask "How old are you?" or "Can you tell me if there's a post office near here?", but they will have problems when they have to build their own sentences.
Teachers' taboos only hinder learning. I'm not saying that every single lesson should be based on grammar, but the other extreme isn't "healthy" either.
Sometimes a grammar explanation is the only thing that will work. Sometimes translation will work; sometimes things not favoured by the communicative approach to teaching will work wonderfully. I think we have to use anything that will help our students. It doesn't matter if it goes against this or that approach. The question is "Does it work?". If it does, then it can't be that bad.
Have you tried giving your students the right question to ask, perhaps together with a question along the lines of "Who did the steady stream of fossils discovered... dazzle?". You can make them compare both questions and call their attention to the difference in the form of the verb in each question. That will be working with grammar and still not using specific or complicated terminology.
"What dazzled someone?" contrasted to "Who did something dazzle?" will surely bring up interesting responses from your students.
But, if that doesn't work either, then why not give them a grammar explanation? A simple one if you wish. I can't tell if that's the best thing to do with your group of students, but I think that exposing learners to grammar rules and to grammar terminology can be a plus.

I hope someone with a different view will post a response here, and I'm sorry I can't be of help.

Miriam

Of course I don't mind! Actually, I'd love to hear how you explain grammar to your students.
I'll surely learn something from you.

Miriam

Bubu,
that wasn't a very happy choice for an opening paragraph. I don't need humbling, I meant exactly what I typed. I've learned great teaching techiques even from people who are not teachers! Please relax, and accept compliments for what they are.

What you've described is interesting, and I think it should work. Have you actually put it into practice? If so, I'd like to know if you got good results.
I do things a bit differently, though. I don't teach everything through grammar but, at the same time, I try to show my students (and I mean students of any level of English as long as they are no younger than pre-adolescents) that grammar is not a huge ogre that will eat them raw. Rather, I try to introduce it as a tool they can profit from.

I'm afraid -and I'm sorry- I can't show you a similar way to solve your problem, Bubu. My teaching is different in several aspects. Again, though, I think the technique you've described here should bring good results.

I have a question: what level of English are you teaching? The sentence you posted in your first post doesn't have the type of vocabulary I would use with beginners. On the other hand, the two structures you've posted now are fairly simple, and in my country they are taught at a beginner level (I'm still talking about pre-adolescents or older).

Thank you.

Miriam