Basic Grammar

[readlucy]

I am struggling with getting my 6th graders to master basic grammar. They can tell you definitions they have memorized but they can't apply this knowledge. Any suggestions?

[teacher5]

Dear Readlucy- Doing is learning. Telling why or teaching it to others is even better learning. Put the sentences on colorful sentence strips. Get them laminated. Have the students use Vis a Vis pens to make the corrections. Now you have a set of reusable sentence for next year. Take one rule at a time and make them apply it to sentences where there are mistakes related to the rule. Then ask them to explain why the sentence needs to be edited. Good luck!

[Brit]

what "basic grammar" are you aiming for? basic grammar is a pretty wide topic. Punctuation? parts of speech?

for parts of speech, I have my students actually get up and act things out before going pencil/paper. e.g., act out a verb, then others need to guess it. It gets the idea of action very clearly. act out a noun. I've had some pretty good 8-year-old impressions of me during that one. Then move to mad libs using the parts of speech you've learned. this is where I throw in verb tenses. THEN have them identify parts of speech in worksheets.

Punctuation: editing sentences is a great idea. Also have them self-edit or trade with a friend. there are great one-a-day editing exercises out there, too that would be great bell-ringers. Also, model how to read poorly punctuated writing (a sample of your own, or from a book, not one of the kids'). I mean by this, read exactly what is on the page, with pauses or lack thereof as marked. Then have them punctuate the writing based on what they hear that doesn't sound right. I've found it VERY effective in solving run-on sentences especially (though some of my smart cookies then get into comma splices, until they learn that is not the best solution).

Showing how innacurate punctuation can warp meaning can also be funny and help kids look for correct punctuation in their own work. Examples are out on the web everywhere. Lynn Truss also has 2 great books for kids about punctuation that show this, though the langauge is a bit British in nature.