Combine Reading with Grammar Lessons
Reading with your students is a good way to discuss grammar in real life, as it appears in literature. Why not take a popular book, fairy tale or poem and turn it into a grammar lesson? Here are just a few ideas, using the fairy tale Cinderella to illustrate.
TENSE:
By middle primary, students will be beginning to learn about how tense works (ACARA, n.d.)
"The Fairy Godmother appeared in a puff of smoke. She was old and plump and dressed in purple."
What tense is this in? What would this sentence say if it were in present tense? Future tense?
TENOR
"Please let me come with you to the ball, Stepmother!"
"No. You're clumsy and dirty and you'll only embarrass us!"
Even if we didn't know what the characters were like, what could we learn about their relationship just by reading this dialogue?
NOUN, VERB, ADJECTIVE etc. etc. etc.
"The Godmother waved her wand and puff! The pumpkin turned into a carriage! Puff! the mice turned into horses! Puff! The dog turned into a fancy footman!"
How many nouns were in this excerpt? What was the first verb? Why do you think there were so many nouns? What effect would there be if there were more adjectives in this excerpt?
Of course, the possibilities for lessons by no means end at these few examples, the possibilities for illustrating grammar are endless, and you can use virtually any type of text too, whether it be story, video, or song lyric.
The Name of the Game is... Games!
Because grammar can sometimes be a dry topic, many teachers struggle to keep their students engaged in grammar lessons (Winch et al. 2010). So what can teacher do to keep their students interested and eager for the next class on grammar? The answer may be playing games in addition to more formal instruction. A study by Cochrane, Reese, Ahearn and Jones (2013) found that grammar games could be effective tools for keeping students engaged, and resulted in an improvement in grammar knowledge as evidenced in their creative writing. They designed several functional-based games for primary students. The first two games outlined here are taken directly from their study.
FISH OR STEAL (to play in small groups)
Games focused on clauses help students to understand what needs to be included in a piece of writing in order for there to be sufficient information. By middle primary school students should be just becoming familiar with clauses, and that the subject and verb should be in agreement (ACARA, n.d.).
Resources: Laminated "fish" with a clause written on them (eg, riding a bike), "fishing rods", game boards.
1. Students must "fish" clauses out of a pond and place them on a board of partially completed clauses so that they make sense
2. Students are permitted to "steal" other students' clauses from their boards, adding an element of engagement. Groups may not steal more than one clause from any one other group's board.
3. The first group who is able to fill their board with finished clauses wins.
CRACK THE CLAUSE CODE (to be played in small groups)
This game allows students to consolidate their understandings of the different elements of a clause.
Resources: Dice, colour coded playing boards, counters, cards with single clauses written on them (eg: The girl in a blue onesie is playing hopscotch in the yard)
1. Students take turns to roll a die and move around a board marked with:
a. green squares (Process)
b. red squares (Participants)
c. and blue squares (Circumstance)
2. After landing on a square, students must identify the relevant part of the clause read
aloud from a pile of cards by one of the players. The clauses written on the cards are
colour coded so that the game is self-correcting.
3. The winner is the first student to complete the circuit.
THE ADVERB GAME (to play with the whole class)
(Taken from http://www.english-grammar-revolution.com/grammar-games.html)
1. One student leaves the room. Another student decides on a manner adverb, such as quietly, and secretly conveys this adverb to the student who left the room.
2. The student returns to the room and the rest of the class gives the student instructions to follow in the manner of their given adverb, for example, sit on the floor (quietly).
3. After three orders have been given and followed, the rest of the group are allowed to guess the adverb.
Whether the games are "functional-grammar based" or not, it is important for the teacher to think about whether this game they select is actually going to add anything to their lesson. Teachers should remember that the games they play with their students often have little context, and this being the case, meaning should be consolidated at the end of each lesson, with students being told why the lessons learned from the game are valuable for their overall understanding of grammar.