I really like teaching grammar because I think that it must be included in every lesson regardless of what people think.
What I mean by that is that certain topics offer the possibility to include some grammar.
You see that pattern with some of the most famous books to teach English such as Touchstone and Interchange. They provide grammar lessons in context through dialogues, reading, and listening tasks.
When you teach daily routines you can reinforce what learners know about the simple present.
The same can be said about topics such as setting goals in English, the perfect topics to teach how to make sentences using future tenses, and other expressions such as I hope to, I would like to and I wish.
Table of Contents
Approaches to Teach Grammar
There are two main approaches to teaching grammar, the deductive and inductive approaches.
The deductive approach is the traditional method to teach grammar in which the professor explains the rules and provides practices to make sure students understand.
An Inductive approach is an approach in which grammar rules are not given to students, the students have to put together sentences by paying attention to samples of the target language provided by the teacher.
Practical Ways to Teach Grammar
These are some practical ways to teach grammar, these ways includes technology.
Take into account that these are practical ideas, you have to integrate these ideas into the framework that you use to teach classes.
I highly recommend reading more about how to teach English from these books:
- How to Teach Listening
- How to Teach English with Technology
- How to Teach Grammar
#1 Unscramble Sentences
You can go to the scramblinator page and add some sentences and then let the web application scramble the words within a sentence.
Give those sentences to students so they can unscramble them.
I find this useful when you want students to think a little bit.
These are some examples I made using that web application:
- have / eyes / I / blue
- hair / long / She / has
- blue / He / has / eyes
#2 Fake Chat Conversations
I think that another great way is using fake conversations with Fake Conversations apps.
I am not gonna tell you how you should use the app because that depends on your creativity and that’s a whole other topic.
This is an example of a fake chat conversation that I created for my students:
#3 Padlet
I have used Padlet in face-to-face and online classes and I love it because I can see what students are writing in real-time.
I can see the mistakes students are making in real time and also praise their work.
With this tool, you can indicate learners to write sentences about a particular topic.
When teaching about hobbies in English, they can write sentences and illustrate their sentences with pictures and links
Have a look at this example
#4 NoteVibes
Notevibes is one of my favorite web applications to create audio in English.
You can create some questions about any particular topic and ask learners to listen to it and provide a written or oral response to that.
Questions like these can ensure the successful repetition of the simple past in a context related to going out or going on a vacation.
- Where did you go?
- Who did you go with?
- What did you eat?
- How much money did you spend?
#5 Vocaroo
Sometimes you don’t have enough time to listen to all of your students especially when you have large classes
Instruct your learners to go to Vocaroo and record their answers and then submit the link to you via a Google Form
#6 Mentimeter
I like Mentimeter a lot, I think that you can do lots with it if you are creative enough.
I love this web app because you can create tasks that are helpful to promote the successful repetition of grammar structures.
Check this example:
You can easily help students digest the new vocabulary and then ask them to make a sentence such as
- There is a pool in the hotel
- There is a disco nearby
- There is a fitness center
#7 Google Docs and Writing Task
I am not gonna explain how to use Google Docs in this post but I am going to tell you that you can check writing tasks easily.
You can assign a simple homework every two weeks or something so students use the language outside of the classroom, at least a bit.
I suggest keeping your assignment short so you don’t burn out
This is an example of me praising the work of one of my students.
#8 My Free Bingo Cards
I love playing bingo with my students, you gotta play sometimes and forget the routine.
You can create your bingo and add the words you want. You can use verbs with ing if you have to make sentences with the present or past continuous.
i am sure playing bingo will make whatever you have to teach after that a little bit easier.
Conclusion
I am sure that there are other ways and I will be coming back with more examples in the coming weeks.
Teaching English can be quite easy if you try to make things interesting for you and your learners.
