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Grammar: Teaching Activities
At a basic level you can play games with grammar. Design your own or take advantage of the numerous activities available for free online (see the link on the Links page to several interactive grammar games). I have always enjoyed using song lyrics and music to teach grammar (many of us are familiar with the Schoolhouse Rock grammar musical videos . . . Conjunction, Junction, What's Your Function? . . .).
Activities I like to do involve an instructional strategy called contrastive analysis. Have your students look at how writers actually use language (on social media sites, on t.v. and radio, in periodicals, academic texts, on the backs of cereal boxes, etc.) and see if the grammar that is used follows common "rules" as spelled out in grammar books. If a "rule" is broken, ask the students, "Why" or "Does it matter?" This kind of approach leads students to consider more critically the notion of purpose, context, audience, etc. in reading, speaking, and writing, and how grammar fits in to that discussion.
If your ELLs are making a lot of what you would consider grammatical "mistakes," then take the time to review carefully their heritage language or the English dialect they may have acquired and point out similarities and differences between the "rules" that govern each language or dialect. This kind of linguistic compare/contrast activity leverages an ELL's proficiencies and makes grammar instruction much more meaningful.
At a basic level you can play games with grammar. Design your own or take advantage of the numerous activities available for free online (see the link on the Links page to several interactive grammar games). I have always enjoyed using song lyrics and music to teach grammar (many of us are familiar with the Schoolhouse Rock grammar musical videos . . . Conjunction, Junction, What's Your Function? . . .).
Activities I like to do involve an instructional strategy called contrastive analysis. Have your students look at how writers actually use language (on social media sites, on t.v. and radio, in periodicals, academic texts, on the backs of cereal boxes, etc.) and see if the grammar that is used follows common "rules" as spelled out in grammar books. If a "rule" is broken, ask the students, "Why" or "Does it matter?" This kind of approach leads students to consider more critically the notion of purpose, context, audience, etc. in reading, speaking, and writing, and how grammar fits in to that discussion.
If your ELLs are making a lot of what you would consider grammatical "mistakes," then take the time to review carefully their heritage language or the English dialect they may have acquired and point out similarities and differences between the "rules" that govern each language or dialect. This kind of linguistic compare/contrast activity leverages an ELL's proficiencies and makes grammar instruction much more meaningful.