“Dora Learns to Write…” pages 59-71
In the article, "Dora Learns to
Write and in the Process Encounters Punctuation" by Pat Cordeiro, we
explore what one teacher does and does not do to help her students learn punctuation
and syntax formation. The method the teacher uses to help Dora learn how to
correctly punctuate the end of her sentences is to start, she asks Dora to talk
about her writing and read out loud what she has written down. The first time
around Dora does not see anything wrong about her punctuation. NOR DOES DORA
RECOGNIZE HER AWKWARD PERIOD PLACEMENTS [USE OF NOR]. The teacher has Dora
compare her writing to the writing she sees in her reading books. While looking
at the book, the teacher points out the spaces between the words. Then both the
teacher and Dora use their hands to frame the words in Dora’s story in order
for Dora to physically see that each word should have its own place and be
separated from other words. The next time the teacher has Dora read aloud, she
introduces the idea of how punctuation sounds out loud by taking pauses for
periods to show the end of the sentence.
Throughout this learning process, the
teacher often relies on the reading books Dora and her peers use in order to
let them gain a visual understanding of punctuation. By having the teacher
point out the use of periods in the reading books, Dora and her friends notice on
their own that there are too many “dots” in their writing compared to the
writing in the reading book. They slowly start thinking of them as “periods”
instead of “dots,” and start putting them in their writing fewer times. THE
TEACHER LETS DORA CONSULT HER PEERS OFTEN, THOUGH SHE SPENDS ONE-ON-ONE TIME
WITH DORA AS WELL, IN ORDER FOR DORA TO RECEIVE FEEDBACK FROM BOTH HER TEACHER
AND HER PEERS. [THOUGH INTERRUPTS MAIN SENTENCE] The teacher allows students time to
formulate their own ideas together in groups after hearing what the teacher has
to say and looking at the books. Even if Dora and her peers all start doing
something incorrectly, the teacher never demands to know whose mistake led the
group down the wrong path. BECAUSE THE TEACHER UNDERSTANDS IT IS A COLLECTIVE
WORKING PROCESS, SHE DOES NOT HOLD ANY INDIVIDUAL ACCOUNTABLE FOR NEW MISTAKES.
[START SENTENCE WITH BECAUSE CLAUSE] The next time the teacher reads out loud
with Dora, she points out how “we let our voice drop down” (Cordeiro 62) for
periods. THE TEACHER UNDERSTANDS THAT PUNCTUATION IS SOMEWHAT NEGOTIABLE
BETWEEN THE READER AND THE WRITER, THEREFORE, FOLLOWING GRAMMAR RULES CAN
ACTUALLY HINDER A STUDENT’S LEARNING; UNDERSTANDING THE USE OF LANGUAGE IS MOST
IMPORTANT. [LONG SENTENCE CONNECTED TO SHORT ONE WITH SEMICOLON] By following these in-class practices, students
will learn when punctuation sounds right.
DURING THE LEARNING PROCESS, THE TEACHER
DOES NOT HAND OUT PUNCTUATION WORK SHEETS FOR STUDENTS TO COMPLETE; DURING THE
WRITING PROCESS, THE TEACHER DOES NOT CIRCLE STUENT’S PUNCTUATION MISTAKES AND
THEN HAND THEM BACK TO CORRECT. [COMPOUND SENTENCE MIRRORING EACH OTHER WITH
SEMICOLON] The teacher believes it is harmful to force Dora to follow certain
syntax rules on day one. THE TEACHER ALLOWS DORA TIME TO COME TO HER OWN
UNDERSTANDING OF PUNCTUATION BY, FIRST, GUIDING HER THROUGH QUESTIONS ABOUT HER
WRITING; SECOND, COMPARING HER WRITING TO THE WRITING SEEN IN HER BOOKS; AND,
THIRD, READING OUT LOUD TOGETHER. [SEMICOLON AS SUPER COMMA] The teacher
understands that there are a lot of different ways punctuation can be used, and
it is usually not right or wrong; the punctuation can be unique to the writer.
The author’s unique writing style is not limited to what words they use but also
the way they employ periods and commas. THEY OWN THAT PUNCTUATION BECAUSE THE MEANING
IT CONVEYS IS THEIRS. [END SENTENCE WITH BECAUSE CLAUSE]
It
takes Dora awhile to start applying the concept of sentence-end-marking because
she needed to develop a workable hypothesis that made sense to her – not a
strict rule that seemed foreign or confusing – but something that she
understood and appeared to devise herself. At
the beginning, Dora was concerned with the unit word, and consequently, she would mark the end of each word with a
period. However, overtime Dora learns that writing concerns itself with larger
units.
Learning about syntax is a long series of
trial and error, and has important implications for language learning in
general, thus the teacher does not try to hurry the process. As Cordeiro said,
“in the world of period placement, every sentence is a new experience” (65).
