How do you ensure your students don’t get spooked by grammar?
For many students, the rigidity of grammar instruction feels like a nightmare. Here are a few ways to make it less scary:
- Keep It Relevant.
Many viral memes focus on hilarious grammatical errors. Compile a simple slideshow of them and discuss why grammar is important and how the comical errors can be fixed.
Draw connections with everyday experiences to make grammar concepts meaningful.
- Team Up.
Prompt collaborative activities among students. Display an erroneous paragraph and give each team three minutes to find as many errors as possible. Have the groups share their discoveries and correct all the mistakes as a class.
- Examples, Examples, Examples.
If tough grammar concepts are a foreign language, contextualized examples are the translator. Offer as many as possible when giving feedback and require students to do the same during peer review.
- Give Tech a Chance.
Use technology as an ally. Proofreading features like Microsoft Editor can give detailed explanations of grammatical mistakes. Many submission platforms offer customizable comments, tags, and peer review options for a collaborative writing environment.
Hawkes Learning provides grammar resources:
- Grammar Workbook helps students develop their understanding of grammar by asking them to annotate reading passages, identify parts of speech, and define key terms.
- Reading & Writing Handbook contains reading, writing, grammar, and research tips that students can use across multiple disciplines.
- Grammar Diagnostic Test identifies individual skill gaps and provides custom lesson plans.
News from the Nest 