Creative Approaches to Teaching Grammar is an easily accessible, practical guide full of ideas to support teachers in making the learning of grammar a natural part of developing their students as writers and as readers. Written for those teaching years 5,6,7 and 8, the authors’ approach concentrates on the individual needs of students rather than of a year group as a whole.
Split into two main sections, the first looks at creative ways of exploring grammar and includes more than forty ideas that can be implemented into the classroom. This section can be used as a quick resource or the whole sequence can be followed to ensure students are investigating, exploring and having fun with grammar.
The second section includes an extensive glossary of terms to develop a full understanding of grammar which can be used to audit your own competences and highlight areas for further development.
Creative ideas explored include:
- Being silly with grammar
- Favourite words
- Exploding sentences
- Writing for real audiences
- New punctuation marks and emoticons
- Sorting out confusing words
- Broadening active vocabulary
- Top ten spelling tips
- Flexing your vocabulary brain
- Redundancy in language
Creative Approaches to Teaching Grammar is a truly practical guide that is a must read for anyone teaching grammar to years 5,6,7 and 8. With plenty of ideas to implement into the classroom it encourages students to take ownership of their own learning and progress.
Table of Contents:
Teachers of Key Stage Two
Teachers of Key Stage Three
The problem with transition
Auditing your knowledge
Levels of understanding in testing
Relevance
Ideas for teaching grammar
- Questioning
- Sentences
- Marginal commentaries
- Collecting signs
- Guiding the reader
- The grammar of speech
- Being silly with grammar
- Your attitude towards grammar
- Favourite words
- Syntax
- Dictionaries
- Stop pee-ing!
- Significance and value
- Exploding sentences
- Grammar working wall
- Finding your voice – Auto/ biography
- Handwriting
- Writing for real audiences
- Chasing the dream
- Telling stories
- Twitter stories
- Just because it is
- New punctuation marks and emoticons
- Grammar t-shirts
- Sorting out confusing words
- High frequency language
- Broadening active vocabulary
- Re/drafting
- Patterns and exceptions
- Top ten spelling tips
- Big, deep and wide questions
- Making up new words
- Difficult words/ punctuation
- Cut and paste fun
- Dramatic readings
- The grammar of photography
- Innate competence
- Word classes
- Explicit modelling of writing
- Ask the author
- Flexing your vocabulary brain
- Redundancy in language
A glossary of terms
About the Author :
Martin Illingworth is Senior Lecturer in English Education at Sheffield Hallam University, UK.
Nick Hall is the Director of Teach First East Midlands, UK.
Review :
"This book – part of a series co-published with the National Association for the Teaching of English – takes into account the latest standards and expectations, but thoughtfully contextualises them within the bigger picture of what students genuinely need to know, and why, before suggesting creative and relevant ways to improve learners’ language skills across the curriculum. It’s positive, inspiring and enormously sensible – if you only read one book about teaching grammar this year, make it this one. And if you weren’t planning on reading any; change your mind." Teach Secondary
