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Show School ( and ri Home by Dr. Daryl J. McCarty N-yf Executive Secretary J Utah Education Association Mm fc-S I cannot blame you, gentle reader, if you gnash your molars when you hear a term like "viable candidate," "Nitty-gritty," or "meaningful "meaning-ful relationship." THEY'RE NOT precise. Those who scold us for using such terms are quite correct in doing so. But don't get me wrong. I'm as much a villain as many people in using obscure, rather meaningless statements. state-ments. FOR THAT reason, I'm indebted in-debted to a fifth-grade teacher who declared war on our inability to speak or write plainly, precisely and pointedly. poin-tedly. Bob Wiedrich writes that this teacher's weapons are a loaf of bread and a jar of peanut butter. THE TEACHER uses a game to show her students the need for exactness in writing. First, she directs her class to write the instructions for making a peanut butter sandwich. sand-wich. THE NEXT day, she takes the bread and peanut butter to school with her. She asks her students to follow their own instructions for making peanut butter sandwiches. Some forget to include the need for a knife, so they must use their fingers to spread the peanut butter. Others neglect to mention that the process requires two slices of bread. So they wind up with one-sided "sandwiches." THOSE CHILDREN learned a lesson of crucial importance. It's simply this: Communication with other humans requires a lot of thought and care. Using words to explain something as simple as making a peanut butter sandwich isn't enough. A person has to use the correct words. Children in that class will be viable candidates for success suc-cess if they will only get down to the nitty-gritty of things by forming a meaningful relationship rela-tionship with precise language. |
