10 More Fun Ways to Teach Grammar: Using Grammar Activities and Games

Let's face it. Most students may not find grammar fun or exciting, but that doesn't mean that our grammar lessons have to be monotonous and boring. For some teachers, grammar can be the toughest subject to teach because it can be difficult to get students on board and excited about learning concepts such as parts of speech, punctuation, and so on. However, with some creative ideas and lessons, grammar can be not only fun to teach, but fun to learn as well. Putting a little fun into our grammar lessons is a sure way to help teach our students the grammar skills that they need.

Make It Visual and Engaging 

The use of mini-lessons is an effective strategy in teaching grammar skills. Often, a short lesson is sufficient in helping students grasp a new grammar concept or in reviewing a forgotten grammar skill. Why not make these mini-lessons visually interesting as well? Because PowerPoints can be very visually appealing and can increase student engagement, they are a great tool to incorporate into our mini-lesson routines. I love a good parts of speech PowerPoint that is not only visually stimulating, but provides opportunities for students engagement. 

Beth S. says, "I used this (Adverbs PowerPoint) in a 6th Grade English class Zoom meeting. I shared my screen so (students) could see the PowerPoint on their screens, and then we practiced together. I split them into breakout rooms to work as small groups on the practice sheets and then brought it all together at the end to go over together. Much more engaging than me just talking or writing on the whiteboard!" 

Videos

Videos are a great way to quickly review a grammar concept, and there are a lot of fun ones out there to choose. If you have a subscription to BrainPop, be sure to check out there great grammar videos. Schoolhouse Rock is an oldie, but a goodie! I have used Schoolhouse Rock for 25+ years, and students still love these catchy songs and videos. Most videos from this series can be found on Youtube, and Conjunction Junction is still one of my favorites! Silly School Videos also has some fun grammar videos such as Nouns. You and you're students are sure to get this catchy song stuck in your head! 

Front and Center

Make grammar fun by placing it front and center in your classroom! Create a fun and colorful bulletin board or wall space using grammar posters. By dedicating space on your walls for grammar, students can easily reference and utilize the information on the grammar posters for classwork and writing. You will be surprised how often your students will use these colorful posters.

Get Active

Students need to move. Get your students moving with grammar lessons by playing games like Scoot with grammar task cards. Find fun movement games and ideas in my previous grammar blog post such as Fly Swat and Around the World. 

Another fun grammar game to add in a little movement is 4 Corners. To play, choose 4 parts of speech, for example noun, verb, adjective, and pronoun, and write the name of each on a separate piece of paper (or use grammar posters). Tape one part of speech at each corner of the room. Next give a word and use the word in a sentence. Students will then decide the part of speech of the word by going to the correct "corner." An alternative for social distancing is to have students point to the correct corner, or divide your students into 4 or 5 groups or teams. Read a word and sentence to one group at a time to allow that group to go to the correct corner. Then they can return to their seats before you read the next word to the next group. 

Snacking with Grammar

Create a fun grammar activity for your students with Skittles. Give each student a fun-sized packet of Skittles. Cut out four to five 4 inch circles from each of the following color construction paper. red, orange, yellow, green, and purple. On your white board, create a key by writing noun and placing a red circle next to noun. Then verb = orange, adjective = yellow, and conjunction = green. (Your key can be changed to meet your classroom needs.) Write a sentence on the board and have each student to copy it onto a sheet of paper. (For example: The huge trees swayed in the wind.) Students will use the key to place the correct colored Skittle over the words in the sentence. Give students time to complete, then model for students the correct color placement by taping your colored circles over the correct part of speech. ( For example huge = yellow, trees = red, swayed = orange, wind = red). If students placed their Skittles incorrectly, instruct them to make corrections as needed. Once correct, everyone may eat those skittles above the words. Continue with other sentences until Skittles run out. 

Use Grammar in Context

At first, this suggestion may not seem as fun as some of the others, but establishing the importance of grammar and making that connection to real life is vital for students to understand the importance of grammar. Connecting grammar instruction to student writing is key for students to internalize grammar concepts. Encouraging students to write and write often will help students improve grammar skills. The more students practice using grammar, the better they become at using it correctly, and in my personal experience, most students love writing, so this is a win-win.

Color with Grammar

Make grammar review fun with some coloring! Using color by code grammar pages are a fun way to review the parts of speech. These are perfect for Fun Fridays, after testing, or to use as morning work. Students love reviewing parts of speech with these fun pages.

Jessica D. says, "A fun activity to assess and practice parts of speech. It makes it great to do a class quilt each month, then at the end of the year, each child has a completed quilt to bring home."

Incorporate Grammar with Art

Unfortunately, my students have never had an art teacher, so I am constantly searching for ways to incorporate art into my subject lessons. Use simple how-to drawing books or how to-draw videos to let students draw an object or animal. Once complete, instruct students to list as many verbs related to that picture all around the drawing. For example, if students draw a dog, they might list verbs such as bark, lick, jump, run, walk, play, chase, and catch. Change the part of speech as needed (noun, adjective, preposition, etc.).  Students may share the words listed and their drawings with a partner or with the class.

Get Digital

Digital, of course, now is "a must"  in our classrooms whether in person or digital, and there are many fun digital activities available for grammar. If you are looking for a quick and easy-to-create digital activity, use Google Draw to create a sort. Simply create a T-chart using the line tool. Next, using the text box, label one side of the T-chart "nouns" and the other side "verbs." Then on the outside of the T-chart randomly create and label text boxes with specific nouns and verbs (dog, sniff, ruler, shiver, etc.). You can also change the background of the text boxes using the bucket tool. Once you have 10-15 different nouns and verbs, assign to students using Google Classroom. Students will simply slide each word to the correct category. You may want to create other categories (common noun/proper noun, pronouns/nouns, etc.). There are many possibilities.

Write a Book About It

Students love working together, and they will love this grammar activity. Divide students into groups and assign each group a different part of speech. Students will brainstorm a list of words for that part of speech. After students have generated an accurate list, ask each student to choose one of the words from their group's list. Each student will write her word at the top of a blank piece of paper and below that create an illustration of the word. Students may also define the word, or you may choose to have them use the word in a short story. Once complete, laminate each page for durability. Finally, gather the pages together to publish each student's writing into a Parts of Speech Class Booklet. Create a cover page and create divider pages for each part of speech. Place all of the corresponding pages for that part of speech behind that section. If your school has a book binding machine, bind your class booklet. If not, you may choose to simply staple the pages together or punch holes and place in a ring binder. Place your class booklet in your classroom library and watch your students enjoy this booklet for the remainder of the school year.

Weave Grammar Into Daily Practice

Finding time for grammar practice can be challenging. Utilizing small chunks of time for practice or review is a great way to squeeze grammar into the day, but how can we make this fun? Finding no prep or easy prep fun activities is perfect for this! Simple, yet fun grammar activities can provide engaging opportunities for students to practice and remember grammar concepts. My Monthly No Prep Grammar Practice Bundle was made with this in mind and contains fun puzzle pages, coloring pages, word searches, crossword puzzles, and more.

Kimberly S. says, "I absolutely adore this!!! What a great purchase!!! It is fun enough for the kids to want to do it and practical enough for me not to feel guilty about letting them." And Diana P. says, "Awesome resource with loads of motivating and different skills." 

Have fun teaching grammar, and have a blessed day!