How to Teach Grammar Concepts to Students

By Author, Poet, and Playwright Valek Mitsuhide Akechi

Teaching grammar to students is something that should be simple, but yet it is not. Grammar is something that students use all the time whether it is through texting, writing academic papers, or simply talking which makes it something people are familiar with; however, when trying to explain grammatical concepts to students, some of which may argue they already know the basics and do not require a more in depth explanation, it can be quite a tricky ride. I will admit that as a somewhat professional writer beginning in my sophomore year of college, I was one of those students who believed they did not need a class on grammar because I already knew how to use it, and also the fact that creative writing doesn’t always follow the proper grammar rules. But grammar is actually something interesting to think about regardless of the profession students desire to pursue. Here are a few examples of activities to give teachers an idea of how they can help their students learn grammar

Try Some Interactive Activities

Students often enjoy interactive activities in the classroom, or at least from what I’ve seen firsthand. I remember back in high school my teachers would often create Gimkit or Quizizz games which may have gotten a tad competitive, but the students enjoyed it greatly and it was a way to make learning fun for the classroom. A great example of using this type of media to teach students would be helping them learn how to identify gerunds. Gerunds are simply verbs that act as nouns (Ex. Running, Fishing, Sleeping, etc) and this activity would be a wonderful way for the students to practice identifying them in sentences. Gimkit offers teachers a way to create answer choice options as does Quizizz, but it works as a way for students to identify different aspects or elements of grammar which makes it a very versatile tool. Students also enjoy the competitive nature of the game because it puts the students in teams in which they compete against each other to see which team can accumulate the most money which is earned by getting the questions correct. An example question would be giving the students a sentence (Fishing is a wonderful way to relax) and have them identify if it is a gerund or not. On the other hand, Quizizz is more like a race in which students work individually as they answer questions. Correct answers move the student closer to the finish line. Quizizz is versatile in that teachers may create interactive quizzes, lessons, and assessments for students. Overall, an interactive approach keeps things lively in the classroom. Just lecturing can sometimes cause students to fall asleep or to lose interest… and during a personal experience all students were drained from a lecture in which we were then asked to go outside of the room for a few minutes to refresh ourselves.

Fill in the Examples

This next suggestion may seem boring or mundane, but it is a simple option. This idea occurred to me while I was thinking back to my time as a young child in church. At the church my family attended, kids’ classes only lasted up until about four years old I think and it was difficult for children to pay attention to the sermon as the preacher would drone on about topics or things that most children that age would understand. It was not until I was around eleven years old that whoever made the bulletins for Sunday decided to add fill in the blank notes inside. It was something simple and easy that gave children the opportunity to have a reason in which they focused on the sermon. I actually paid more attention to the preacher and didn’t misbehave because I then had something to do. One way in which teachers can use this method to teach students grammar concepts would be understanding participles which are verbs acting like adjectives. This may sound or seem childish but it would be a way for students to have something to refer back to when they need it. Teachers could create a worksheet that has a selection of questions on it and provide the students with the option of whether or not they need to fill in the blank with a gerund, participle, or verb. Once the students select which one they must write in the gerund/participle/verb of their choice to make the sentence correct. I feel that a simple activity like this can greatly help students so they can learn to identify the differences while also being able to refer back to these notes/worksheets later. This approach can be graded on identifying which “type of verb” goes in the blank and how well their selection fits the sentence or they can only be graded on the identification—it’s up to the teacher.

Sentence Builders

As a writer myself, I had to include an activity in which students create their own sentences. I think it is a great way to learn, especially when it comes to working with the different types of clauses. It can help students to look at them as pieces of a puzzle in order to make the task of understanding them seem less daunting than it sounds. I suggest having students create just the adjectival clause first to teach them the different types of adjectival clauses (or any other type of clause). After creating the clauses they can then fit them into a sentence as a way to construct sentences using the clauses. I know it helps me sometimes to see things separate and to understand them on their own before attempting to put them all together. Through having them create the parts of the sentences before putting them together, it provides students with a hands-on experience that takes them through the material in a step by step process that helps them understand the material they are working with so that they are not confused or overwhelmed by everything. 

And Many More

I have listed a few classroom activities above, but there are of course many more options to be used within a classroom setting as well as new teachers coming up with new activities every day. Grammar is something that seems ingrained within us from a young age when we began to be taught to read and write. Yet, there are concepts about grammar that can be more difficult than others to explain to students who may view it as just another boring school subject. There are ways to help them learn the rules of grammar so that they may be even more successful. I hope that this list helps the teachers who read it and that their students become successful throughout their school career.