Grammar doesn’t have to be boring! Make learning fun with these 3 tips for teaching grammar. Read for different ways to incorporate activities that are not only fun but also reinforce a foundation of learning.
When you think about teaching grammar, do you instantly think BORING? Guess what? You can make learning fun for your students, even when teaching grammar!
Teaching grammar in upper elementary is critical because it is the foundation for good writing. Equally important is engagement because it is the foundation for retention.
If you make learning fun when teaching grammar, your students are more likely to retain the information needed to become better writers.
Make Technology Your Friend
Incorporating technology is a great way to make learning fun for upper elementary students.
When teaching grammar, it’s easy to increase student engagement with digital grammar activities.
For example, this Forming Possessive Google Slides allows students to practice identifying singular, plural, and irregular possessive nouns in fun and engaging ways.
This Google deck includes activities from matching possessive nouns to labeling possessive nouns, and more!
There are many other ways technology can be used in the classroom aside from grammar.
I would set up stations during different subject blocks, and I would have students review skills through different Google activities or interactive games on kid-friendly sites depending on the skill.
One of the kiddos favorite technology stations was to listen to audio books using an iPod or a small portable radio. I would use an adapter so several students could listen with their personal headphones at once.
Make learning fun through movement
Kids need to move! Allowing for movement breaks makes learning fun while also reinforcing the concepts being taught. Surprisingly, it is possible to incorporate movement into a variety of grammar lessons.
For example, one simple way to incorporate movement when practicing punctuation is to assign a fun gesture to each punctuation mark.
Stomp for a period, clap for an exclamation point, and do shoulder shrugs for a question mark.
You can also assign a punctuation mark to each corner of your room, and have students move based on punctuation needed for a sentence.
Upper elementary students love any chance to move during a lesson! Sittig in a desk most of the day is hard, so students thrive on being able to move.
Another great way to make learning fun with movement is to do a gallery walk using task cards. Gallery walks are a fantastic way to get kids up and out of their desks as they circulate around the classroom.
This task card resource is a fun and engaging way to help your students review the four Types of Sentences with movement. They can be printed and used as a scoot activity, in small groups, as station work, or even as an outside gallery walk on a sunny day.
Open up the creative minds through art
Another way to make learning fun is to activate creative thinking with art during your grammar lessons. Whether you have your students illustrate idioms or create an adjective collage, art can easily increase student engagement and learning.
You can even combine art with technology, which upper elementary students love!
For this reason, this Mystery Pixel Art Grammar Review is one of my favorite grammar activities.
It includes three-pixel art activities that are not only easy to use but also fun and engaging for students. As each correct answer is typed in the answer column, mystery pictures begin to appear.
Students get so excited when they see the mystery pictures. Your students will ask to do this one over and over again!
Final thoughts on how to make learning fun with these tips for teaching grammar.
In summary, grammar lessons don’t have to be boring! In fact, it’s easy to make learning fun by incorporating technology, movement, and art. Google Slides, Gallery Walks, and Pixel Art are all fun and engaging ways to teach and reinforce grammar concepts with upper elementary students.
For more ideas and tips for teaching grammar, check out these blog posts:
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