To Grammar or Not...

I agree with the article that teaching grammar skills in isolation does not really help students improve their writing skills by itself, but I still think there are some valid reasons for teaching it the way most teachers still do. Sometimes the only way to learn basic concepts is by practicing them over and over until you are familiar with them, which I think teaching the individual parts of speech is good for. I always like grammar lessons in high school because I actually felt like I was learning something useful, so I don't see a big problem with how they are being taught. I do like the idea, however, of using literature to teach grammar, perhaps after students have already learned the basics so they know what to look for in the literature. Students learning this way must also realize that many authors take liberties with common grammar and sentence structure, and that "good writing" does not always mean the author has used "correct grammar". I suppose I am old fashioned in that I believe students should be taught that there is a correct way to use grammar and punctuation that should not be deviated from in formal writing so that their ideas can be clearly understood according to a common standard. In their creative writing they should be allowed to play around with grammar and sentence structure as long as their writing makes sense.