Blog Layout

Tips Teaching Grammar

in Just 10 Minutes a Day

Teaching grammar and getting it all in no matter what schedule you have is a challenge because time is limited… and grammar is difficult to teach. Nonetheless, there are standards we middle and high school English teachers must cover before the end-of-course exams or standardized tests roll around. Plus, if you are a writing teacher like me, you really just want to see your students’ grammar, usage, and mechanics improve. Grammar is one standard that must be taught, but it’s a huge umbrella encompassing so many skills that it becomes overwhelming to plan for.  However, after years of just trying to figure out what works, I developed my Ten-Minute Grammar Program. Now you can benefit from my trial and error! Thus, here are five tips for teaching grammar using my classroom-tested Ten-Minute Grammar Program. It really does cover all that grammar — in just 10 minutes a day.

1. DAILY GRAMMAR PROOFREADING STARTERS


On Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday, my daily starter is two sentences with various mistakes. I have those on the board when students come in, and they know to get started making corrections. I give them time to write the sentence as is, and then they go back and make corrections with a red (or colored pen). — Why do I have them write the sentences as-is? As we make corrections to the sentences, I explain the rules and use the proofreader’s marks to make corrections. I want students to be able to see the original mistake, how to fix it, and what the rule is. — Then, we go over the answers together, and I use that time to provide any additional instruction, explanation, or rules. It takes about 10 minutes each day. Students keep up with their corrections and notes in their folders from day to day. The sentences that I’ve written in my complete grammar curriculum are based on research from current events or provide information about authors, so there’s always something interesting to read about!



2. FLIPPED CLASSROOM GRAMMAR VIDEOS


I recently discovered the value of the “flipped classroom.” I was aware of the idea but had never tried it. I hadn’t tried it because I just couldn’t really find an effective way to make use of it – until this year. My students struggle with grammar concepts, as most students do. They actually asked me for more lectures on grammar because they were concerned about the ACT. But, I just couldn’t devote large chunks of class time to PPT presentations of grammar. Even though they said they wanted more instruction and practice, I don’t really think they wanted that either. My solution was to try the flipped classroom concept. Each week on Tuesday afternoon, I send out a link to a grammar tutorial via my Google Classroom. You could also just send an email or use the Remind app. It is a short video on one skill. I encourage students to watch it as many times as needed and to take notes. We will typically work on the same skill or skill set for a few weeks but with a different video each time.  So, where do I get the videos? I certainly don’t make them myself ;)! I once had a college professor say, “Work smarter – not harder!” All the videos I send come from youtube.com. Some of my favorite go-to channels are GrammarBytes, Shmoop, The Sentence Center, MrsBartonFWA, and MisterSato411. These weekly videos work pretty well for my juniors and seniors partly because most grammar has been covered by the time they get to me, so a quick refresher typically will suffice. Even with younger students, though, I could see the value in sending home the video link the day before a lecture to set it up. The more times they hear and see the information the better. My complete grammar curriculum includes links to the videos that I’ve carefully curated and collected over the years.

3. GRAMMAR WORKSHEET WEDNESDAY


Students need regular practice with specific, isolated skills. I like the idea of a skill drill to give students specific practice. These worksheets are unlike the daily bell ringers, which have a random selection of mistakes. Each Wednesday when students come in the room, they have a grammar worksheet to pick up and do as a grammar drill for the day’s starter. It’s timed (10 minutes), but they can use their notes that we’ve taken in class or from last night’s video. The worksheet usually has some notes at the top and examples for that skill. This way students can give their attention to that skill and work through examples of all the rules associated with that skill. The skills that I’ve included in my grammar curriculum were selected primarily from the skills covered on the ACT.



4. WEEKLY GRAMMAR QUIZZES


Weekly quizzes go hand-in-hand with the daily proofreading starters. Yes, students may see a question from the skills worksheet, but mostly the questions from the skills we covered in the bell ringers. That is because it’s during the bell ringers that I’m giving the most instruction and rules. Plus, just like on the ACT – the skills are all mixed in, so I want these quizzes to simulate that experience. When I first started doing the daily proofreading, I was collecting notes and notebooks and giving credit for that. It was cumbersome and so time-consuming, and I realized I wasn’t actually assessing if students knew those grammar skills we had worked on all week. I was just measuring if students could take notes and keep up with them! At that point, I started making multiple-choice weekly grammar quizzes. The task was huge, but after several years I had a nice compilation. Since they are multiple-choice, my students can take them on the ActivExpressions or Scantron, and that makes easy grade recording for me.  We take the short 5 to 6 question quizzes on Friday and go over the answers immediately. I spend time discussing why one answer is correct over the others, and then students take time to chart their scores and make notes on strengths and weaknesses. It’s a 10-minute time commitment, and students often report increased scores on ACT after having worked through the daily starters and weekly quizzes. Click here to read another post about how I track data. In my 10 Minute Grammar program, the quizzes are also now available in self-checking Google format.



5. OLD-FASHIONED GRAMMAR HOMEWORK


One way to get more grammar practice is to assign homework, but it needs to be homework that requires application. Grammar homework (worksheets) typically has right or wrong concrete answers, thus making it very easy for students to cheat. Instead of assigning worksheets, have students write 10 sentences or a paragraph demonstrating their understanding of sentence structure, subject-verb agreement, parts of speech, etc. This way you can be certain their work is original as it will be easy to spot “shared work.” The worksheets in my 10 Minute Grammar Bundle are great practice for extra work, reteaching, etc. I also have two new sets of digital self-checking worksheets for focused practice. I’ve also found these digital worksheets work well to send home on Thursday nights before Friday’s quiz.



I know there are camps of teachers who suggest that teaching grammar “in isolation” doesn’t work, but I am here to say that it really can. When done well, teaching students the grammar rules, having them practice the rules correctly each day, and holding them accountable with assessments and their daily assignments is the ticket. In that case, to me, it really isn’t teaching grammar in isolation. It’s teaching students fundamentals, explaining the whys and hows, and modeling when and where to use what they’ve learned. You wouldn’t teach an auto mechanic how to work on a car’s engine without first teaching him or her what each tool does and the correct process of dissembling and reassembling.  The same is true for teaching students grammar. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen students’ test scores go up by 3,4,5,6,7,8 points. As a writing teacher as well, after students have worked through this grammar program with me, students CAN apply the fundamentals to their own writing because they understand the why rather than having to just rely on what they’ve memorized or managed to figure out from the guesswork of “exploration-type” teaching.  I wouldn’t be sharing this if I didn’t KNOW that this method worked – from my own experience, from students who have seen better scores on tests and writing, and from parents who see how much their students have learned and can do.


WANT TO TRY THE FIRST WEEK BEFORE YOU DIVE IN? SIGN UP TO RECEIVE EMAILS FROM JULIE’S CLASSROOM STORIES, AND I’LL SEND THEM OVER TO YOU IN A SNAP!


CLICK HERE TO SUBSCRIBE.


If you are ready to try a 10-minute grammar program, take a look at my complete grammar program with daily grammar proofreading sentences, the video links I use, rules, worksheets, weekly quizzes, and explanations and answers. It’s a one-stop shop for grammar instruction.



Love this content?

Sign up for my email newsletter with more tips, ideas, success stories, and freebies!


Insights from a Student Teacher of High School English

Insights from a Student Teacher of High School English

25 Jul, 2024
It’s a unique situation for both parties of a student-teaching experience: on the one hand from the point of view of the student teacher, you are entering someone else’s classroom and you may be teaching solo for the first time, and on the other hand, you may be the classroom teacher who is welcoming someone else into your classroom to take the lead. To say the least, this is a tricky space to navigate. That’s why I thought it would be interesting to speak directly to a student teacher – to hear her thoughts and experiences. Whether you are a cooperating/mentoring teacher of a student teacher or you are a student teacher heading into the classroom, this interview with a student teacher of high school English (Miss M), who just completed her placement, is very enlightening.
Everything You Need to Know About How to Sell the Yearbook

Everything You Need to Know About How to Sell the Yearbook

25 Jul, 2024
You’ve worked hard for half a year or longer to create this beautiful time capsule — the yearbook. You’ve sold advertisements, taken pictures, written headlines and captions, and included as many students as possible. BUT — what if no one sees what you and your staffers have created? That may be a little hyperbolic, but it is super important to have a strategy in place not just for creating the yearbook but for selling it as well. Here’s everything you need to know about how to sell the yearbook!
Make Your Yearbook More Diverse & Inlcusive with These Easy Tips

Make Your Yearbook More Diverse & Inlcusive with These Easy Tips

25 Jul, 2024
Our yearbook staff’s motto is “Everybody’s Story. Everybody’s Book.” That means everyone! Not just the seniors, the athletes, the staffers and their friends, certain cliques – everybody. Why does that matter? For one, if we are creating a book for people to purchase, they need to be reflected in it; or they won’t purchase it. But the bigger, more important reason is simply that we are telling the story of a year, and without every person represented, considered, and included in the yearbook design, we haven’t done our job: We haven’t told the true story of the year at all if we let bias or favoritism creep in or if we get lazy with coverage and choices. The yearbook must be an accurate time capsule with reflections of each person’s interests, styles, talents, abilities, and backgrounds. Therefore, you can make your yearbook more diverse and inclusive with these easy steps! Tips for your yearbook pages and beyond.
Planning the First Week of Yearbook Class

Planning the First Week of Yearbook Class

25 Jul, 2024
You’ve just been assigned the yearbook, or last year didn’t go so well, and you want your first days plans to be solid, effective, and fun! Does this sound like you? I’ve been there. The first week of school is a whirlwind, but in yearbook class, the first week back to school is even more topsy turvy, to say the least. You might have looked through my Tips for New Advisers post or How to Have a Picture-Perfect Start to the Year posts for adviser-facing suggestions, and you feel good-to-go from that side of things. However, now it’s time to decide what to do when students are walking through the door — AKA planning the first week of yearbook class! When I think about what to do the first week of school in my yearbook class, I try to think of it like one my English classes in some ways, and in other ways, it is completely different! In this blog post, I’ll share my student-facing plans for the first week of yearbook class.
What the COVID-19 Pandemic Did Not Change About My Classroom

What the COVID-19 Pandemic Did Not Change About My Classroom

25 Jul, 2024
The 2020-2021 school year was the year of the unexpected, the year of changes, the year of disappointments, the year of frustrations, and certainly the year of loss. It goes down in my book as the hardest year of my teaching career — that includes the first year I taught in middle school, the first year I was a lead in an inclusion classroom, the year I taught while building a house, the first year I was the new yearbook adviser, and the year I taught while having multiple surgeries for some serious medical issues. And let’s not forget that I actually contracted COVID-19 THE. FIRST. DAY. BACK of teacher in-service. However, I didn’t quit. I did survive, and I’m going back. That said, I am choosing to look at the positive — shall we say, “COVID Positive” — Bad pun. Anyway, despite all change that occurred this year — schedules, classrooms, assignments, students, and more, there were a few things that I’m thankful that the COVID-19 pandemic did not change about my classroom.
5 Ways to Use Class Time After the Yearbook is Complete

5 Ways to Use Class Time After the Yearbook is Complete

25 Jul, 2024
The yearbook is complete, submitted, done. Now what? You have several months of school left, and you aren’t sure how to keep your students on task for the remaining days. Does this sound familiar? With spring delivery or even summer delivery books where students take yearbook/journalism as a class, it’s often difficult — and even daunting — to come up with creative and constructive ways to use that time. As we all know, doing nothing is not an option! In this blog post, I’ll share 5 ways to use class time after the yearbook is complete.
How to Re-Purpose Lesson Plans & Materials for Digital Classrooms

How to Re-Purpose Lesson Plans & Materials for Digital Classrooms

25 Jul, 2024
Whether you are teaching via full remote learning, on a hybrid schedule, or blending your in-person classes with virtual classrooms, you’ll need your lesson plans and materials ready for digital classrooms. The good news is — you can re-purpose lesson plans and materials for digital classrooms without reinventing the wheel or making all new activities, worksheets, files, etc. In this blog post, I hope to share some hacks you can use to easily convert, edit, and share what you have from your traditional classroom right into your digital classroom.
How to Select & Use Paired Texts for Teaching Reading

How to Select & Use Paired Texts for Teaching Reading

25 Jul, 2024
In my previous post on the Benefits of Using Paired Texts to Teach Reading, I discuss the advantages of this brain-based teaching method. It’s no secret that offering ways for students to making connections — text to text, text to self, and text to world — is an opportunity to exercise higher order thinking skills. Teaching shouldn’t happen in a vacuum, even though sometimes it does as we stress to move units along the conveyor belt, more acceptably known as pacing guides. Often and unfortunately, we teach one skill and move quickly onto the next. Confession: I don’t teach that way. Everything must build and connect from unit to unit, text to text, and skill to skill. That’s why paring texts is so important, and in this final post in the series, I want to share the practical, actionable ways that I select and use paired texts for teaching reading.
Benefits of Paired Texts for Teaching Reading

Benefits of Paired Texts for Teaching Reading

25 Jul, 2024
Paired passages or paired texts are texts that are connected in some way. When the Common Core State Standards rolled out years ago, the concept of teaching with paired texts surfaced. At first, English teachers were worried that the demand for more nonfiction and the requirements of CCSS, R.9 would limit the amount of fiction they could teach. Over time, it became evident that pairing texts and teaching students how to “analyze how two or more texts address similar themes or topics in order to build knowledge or to compare the approaches the authors take” (CCSS, R.9) actually has more advantages than disadvantages. Many states are moving away from CSCC (mine included), but the standard of pairing texts is still required. Not only does pairing texts meet this specific standard, but also it allows you to address several others at once. Once I began to see the benefits of paired texts for teaching reading, it stuck. This is one strategy that will be a permanent part of my teaching reading toolbox. In this blog
Interview with Yearbook Representative

Interview with Yearbook Representative

25 Jul, 2024
Creating and running a successful yearbook program does require a lot, but it doesn’t have to be a mystery. While this post isn’t designed to promote one specific yearbook publishing company, I am happy to share some expertise from my amazing Jostens representative. With 14 years in the industry, she has seen a thing or two and knows a thing or two about yearbooks. In this interview with a yearbook representative, I am happy to introduce my long-time yearbook rep and friend: Rebecca Kilday. Below she shares peeks into the industry and her job, insightful advice, and practical tips for new and seasoned yearbook advisers.
More Posts
Share by: