Introducing different tools for teaching and learning grammar

1. Tools for teaching Grammar
Grammar Teaching Techniques to Try

2. 1) Grammar Mind Maps
Grammar mind maps can make your grammar
lessons more visual. The goal of grammar mind
maps is to appeal to both the left and right sides
of your brain and hopefully thus enable students
to learn concepts more successfully. The
website GrammarMindMaps.com has a number
of great examples you can employ. Just take a
look at this one that explores the present simple
tense as one example – it’s got colors, fun
images, and examples of the different forms of
the tense.

3. http://www.edudemic.com/grammar-mind-map/
• Educators are nothing if not creative though, and
some have been working to find more innovative,
entertaining, and effective ways to teach grammar to
students. Here are a few ideas and resources that
can help you make one of the most dreaded
classroom subjects one that students actually look
forward to.

4. 2) Writing Assignments
An article in the Atlantic last year made
the point that sentence diagrams and
memorization aren’t helping students
learn in the way we want them to.
Instead, the writer made the case for
teaching grammar through more active
writing assignments. Let students write
first, and then use their writing as
examples for focused grammar
instruction. Authentic practice is a more
powerful tool for learning effectively than
any other.

5. 3) X-Word Grammar
This editing technique came
recommended by one of our loyal readers.
It’s meant to help students learn grammar
rules as they go (so it works well in
conjunction with #2). The idea behind it is
that our language has a number of key
terms (the “x words”) that play an
especially important role in understanding
the grammar in any sentence. By focusing
on the x-words and the part they play in
each sentence, you can come to better
understand sentence structure and the
relationships between parts of speech.

6. 4) Use Existing (Fun) Text
Analyzing sentence structure can become
immediately more entertaining if you start
with sentences that students have a
reason to care about. You could take a clip
from a popular TV show, children’s book,
or even comic book and pull out
sentences for your students to analyze.
Grammar will be a little more entertaining
for your students if they get to talk about
the Avengers or Dora the Explorer in the
process.

7. 5) Physical Games
Why not bring a more playful physical
component into your grammar lesson? Over
at Busy Teacher, they recommend gathering
your students into a circle for a parts-of-
speech challenge. Throw a beanbag toward a
student chosen at random and name a part-of-
speech that they must provide an example of.
If they get it right, they stay in the game. If
they get it wrong they leave the circle until the
next game.
Education World recommends a game of
verb/adverb charades, which is just what it
sounds like. Students have two stacks cards
with verbs and adverbs and choose one of
each. Then they act out what the two words
together mean while other students guess.
These are just a couple of starter ideas, but
with a little creative thinking you can probably
come up with more.

8. Online Grammar Games
• 6) Sheppard Software
• With games like Verbs in Space and Comma Chameleon, Sheppard
Software combines fun scenarios with grammar lessons. All of the games
are free, but there’s an ad-free version of the website you can pay for.
• 7) ESL Games Plus
• As the name suggests, ESL Games + is mostly targeted at students learning
English as a second language, but some of the games help with grammar
concepts useful to any student. Sentence Monkey, in particular, can help
students learn different parts of speech in a playful context.
• 8) Maggie’s Earth Adventures
• Maggie’s Earth Adventures is a set of games provided by Scholastic that
explore different subject areas. You can choose from five games focused
on grammar that touch on subjects like prefixes and suffixes, nouns and
verbs, and punctuation.

9. • 9) Skillswise
• This resource from the BBC claims to cover “English and Math for Adults.”
so is more appropriate for older students. Not all of the games are focused
on grammar, but many challenge the player to spot punctuation errors.
• 10) English Media Labs
• English Media Labs provides games and other interactive activities that
teach kids about a long list of grammatical lessons, including tenses,
adjectives and adverbs, and prepositions and conjunctions

10. Grammar Apps for Kids (and
Teachers)
• 11) Grammar Police
• The Grammar Police app drops different parts of speech into a police
chase scenario that will keep kids entertained while teaching them about
sentence structure. It was designed by English teachers and is available on
iOS devices for $0.99.
• 12)Grammar Jammers
• Grammar Jammers uses catchy songs, animation, and quizzes to give
students lessons in the parts of speech. You can find a free version in the
Apple store for iOS, as well as versions more focused on elementary and
middle school specifically for $2.99.
• 13) Jumbled Sentences
• Jumbled Sentences is an app in nine parts available for iOS for free
and Android for $0.99. It gives students a group of words to start with, and
has them put the words in order into a sentence

11. • 14) Grammar Wonderland
• Grammar Wonderland is an app provided by McGraw-Hill Education that
allows students to play as a character moving through different settings
that advances by succeeding at grammar activities. It’s available for $2.99
in both elementary and primary versions for iOS, and for free
in elementary andprimary versions on Android.
• 15) Grammar Games
• The Grammar Games app provides two games, Flight Take Off and Flight
Landing, that cover a number of grammatical concepts, along with
illustrated tutorials students can view. It’s available on iOS for $1.99.

12. • Special thanks to: Dr. Nami
• Technology has made it easier for students to
learn with devices new, but nothing can come
close to the experience of being taught by an
inspirational professor like you. Thank you.
• Done by: Samira Asgari ‫عسگری‬ ‫سمیرا‬
• IUST, 2017