Today we’re kicking off this series with Tip #1: Integrate, Don’t Isolate.
Whether we are ready or not, a new school year is peeking over the horizon. Even if we teachers aren’t ready for summer to end. *And trust me, I am not.*
While I may not be quite ready to wake up before dawn or pee on a schedule just yet, I can’t help but get a little excited. A new school year brings new school supplies (who doesn’t love buying new whiteboard markers?), new students (along with all their funny antics and academic challenges), and a chance to rethink and improve on my teaching practice. For me, that means re-envisioning how I teach grammar because I’m a total grammar nerd.
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Let’s face it. Teaching grammar is hard. Like really hard. Teachers hate it. Kids hate it. And no amount of dull grammar worksheets or DOL editing practice has made even the slightest dent in our student’s writing. They still start their sentences with a lowercase letter, and punctuation is haphazardly strewn about the page, if at all.
But why?
What the Experts Say
In the book, GRAMMAR ALIVE! A Guide for Teachers, author Brock Haussamen states that the trouble with the traditional way of teaching grammar through isolated and contrived sentences is that, “It focuses on errors instead of on the understanding of language.”
Grammar isn’t about rules. Grammar isn’t about right versus wrong. Grammar is an active choice author’s make to help them best communicate an idea.
Deborah Dean, author of What Works in Grammar Instruction, concurs with Haussamen’s sentiment and posits that, “Knowing something about language and grammar can help us read – and understand what we read – better.”
So we need to teach grammar because it helps our students become better readers and writers, BUT the traditional methods of grammar instruction are not helpful and can even be harmful because it takes up time that could – or should – be better spent on writing instruction.
Got it. Now what?
Teaching Takeaways
After a deep dive into a variety of research and grammar books, it became clear to me that in order for grammar to mean something to students, it must be connected, or integrated into both the texts they read AND the texts they write.
That means every single text my students read can be used as a grammar lesson. And every writing piece my students do is a chance to practice using that same grammar skill.
I can call attention to a rich sentence for student discussion and analysis, then we can mimic those rich sentences in our own writing. It’s pretty easy once you get the hang of it. The hard part is picking which sentences to focus on.
In 5th grade, I’m looking for juicy sentences that have commas. I can decompose those sentences down into tiny sentences that have 1 bit of info, then let my students combine the bits of info to reconstruct the sentence in a variety of ways. For more info on this, check out the book, Revision Decisions by Jeff Anderson and Deborah Dean or check out this blog post here: https://iteachiwrite.com/2024/03/16/teaching-grammar-through-revision/
My Tips to Try
Here’s a few teaching tips to try out when teaching grammar through (integrating into) both reading and writing time:
- When you see a juicy sentence in a text you’re reading as a class, call attention to it. Reread that sentence and marvel at its beauty.
- Then ask your students to reread aloud (I like having my students reread and state the punctuation marks aloud) and analyze the sentence with a partner. What do they notice? What do they wonder? Why is that sentence punctuated or written the way it is? Is there a different way the author could have written it?
- Hold a class discussion to talk about their ideas. Ask the kids to name the pattern or “rule” the author may have been following. NOTE: memorizing terms is NOT vital to writing development but can be helpful when discussing the grammatical structure of sentences.
- Create an anchor chart about this grammatical structure for students to refer back to.
- Model writing a similar sentence that follows the same pattern.
- Ask kids to create their own sentences that follow the same pattern, then read them to their partners or class. Consider displaying their sentence creations.
- Throughout the next few days, be on the lookout (you and the kids) for other examples of this same grammatical pattern.
Keep in mind that this is NOT a one and done kind of lesson. Learning writing and grammar is an ongoing process and mastering these skills takes time and repetition.
Your Mission
Select a text that you’ll be reading with your students within the first 2 weeks of school. Read the text carefully and pull out one rich sentence that you want your students to analyze. It might be a long sentence that might trip them up when reading, or a sentence with a specific grammatical structure they need to learn in order to accomplish an upcoming writing task. Set aside or save 10 minutes of your time for this mini-lesson, following the above steps.
Remember, this week’s goal for improving your grammar instruction is to INTEGRATE, Not Isolate your grammar lessons. Think of grammar as a zipper that pulls close and holds together your reading and writing instruction.
Want More?
If you’re looking for a way to help students notice specific grammatical structures while they read, you might like this Grammar bookmark resource from my TPT store. You’ll get 17 interactive grammar bookmarks, correlating posters, and Google Slides for grades 3-8.
