Grammar tips for your classroom
As an English teacher, grammar can be one of the most difficult aspects of the language and for good reason. Many of us don’t fully understand our grammar rules and even if we do, conveying and explaining them in an understandable way is a challenge on its own.
In order to grasp a language, the grammar rules must be understood by the students. As a teacher, you have the difficult task of ensuring that your students fully understand how grammar impacts the use of the language.
The following tips can help you to teach grammar to your students easily and effectively.
1. Plan your lesson
Many first-time teachers think that they can “wing it” during the lesson because they are comfortable with using the language. Sadly, it is not that simple as it takes proper planning to avoid any unwanted situations such as giving examples that don’t actually apply or work out as planned. Lesson planning will allow you to determine the course of your lesson beforehand including important examples.
3. Make grammar fun
Teaching grammar has been known to be “cut and dry” and it can be easy to lose the attention of your students. Well, why not make it exciting for your students by incorporating games, stories, activities and visual aids. This would make the students more attentive and help them to learn while having fun.
4. Assess the prior knowledge of your students
Teaching grammar as teacher depends on your students and what their needs and expectations are. Examine the skills of your students and determine if they can speak, read or write in English, or even know the correct grammatical terms. This will help you to better assess your students and create an effective lesson plan catered to their needs.
5. Teach grammar in context
When you provide some context for your students, they are able to recall information and interpret meanings more easily. Being exposed to a language and picking up on the meaning can make it more engaging, and develops understanding among the students. To create context while practicing grammar, you can use sentence starters and let the students complete the sentences.
6. How to use inductive and deductive learning while teaching
Inductive learning could be used for students with little to no recent educational backgrounds, such as adult learners. This method is usually effective due to its discovery process, which allows students to discover the functions and rules over the course of various exercises, for example reading an article to point out the past, present or future tense in the text.
The deductive approach is more of a classic teaching style where the teacher explains the exact rules and how they function in a sentence, then goes on to use those rules during the lesson that has been prepared.
Teaching grammar is challenging at times, but it is just as rewarding if you take the time to implement these tips in your lessons to improve your teaching strategies. When just starting out, students may find the grammar and rules surrounding them difficult. But in no time, they will instinctively know how to use and apply the rules.