The Why & How of Teaching Grammar
Grammar has gotten a bad rap. The endless worksheets and disjointed sentence diagramming have made teaching and learning grammar feel boring and pointless. But when taught right, grammar is the key to unlocking the structure of language, and it can be both fascinating and incredibly important. Students who grasp grammar and syntax become more fluent readers, improve their comprehension, and find that writing comes more easily and at a much higher level.
We need to teach grammar, but we need to teach it well.
1- The Why
Teaching grammar effectively enhances students' reading fluency, comprehension, and writing by helping them understand sentence structure and meaning. Recent research highlights that a strong grasp of grammar enables students to read more smoothly, process information more accurately, and express their ideas more clearly in writing. One study by Jones et al. (2023) found that students who received targeted grammar instruction showed significant improvements in reading comprehension and writing clarity. The research demonstrated that understanding grammatical concepts like sentence variety and complex structures directly contributed to students' ability to decode and interpret challenging texts.
Look at these sentence from Esperanza Rising:
Esperanza’s parents, Ramona and Sixto Ortego, stood nearby.
Alfonso was el jefe, the boss, and papa’s closest companion.
Distracted, Mama paced at the window, each step making a little tapping sound on the tile.
How many of your students would struggle to fluently read this sentence? Perhaps it is because we have not taught them what an appositive phrase is, how it fills gaps in the reader’s understand, and how it should be read.
Think about the students that write very basic sentences that all sound the same:
Then she went to the mall. Then she bought an ice-cream. Then she ran into her worst enemy.
Maybe these students have not been taught why varied sentence structure is important and how to write compound and complex sentences!
Explicit instruction wins again.
2- The How
Historically, here’s where we have gone wrong: we've taught grammar through textbooks and worksheets that feel disconnected from real reading and writing. We haven't shown students that understanding the building blocks of our language helps them grasp the structure of what they read and enables them to create strong, expressive writing. By bridging this gap, we empower students to see how grammar is not just a set of rules but a tool that enhances their reading fluency, comprehension, and ability to craft meaningful written work.
Integrating grammar and syntax instruction into real reading and writing involves embedding these lessons within authentic literacy activities. Here are some strategies:
Teach Grammar in Context: Use excerpts from texts students are already reading to highlight grammatical structures. For example, when reading a novel or article, point out sentence structures, verb tenses, or punctuation used by the author. Discuss how these choices affect meaning and tone.
Writing with Purpose: Encourage students to apply grammar rules directly in their writing tasks. For instance, after a mini-lesson on complex sentences, have students revise a piece of their writing to include more varied sentence structures. This reinforces grammar as a tool for enhancing communication.
Sentence Combining and Deconstruction: Practice sentence combining, where students take simple sentences and combine them into more complex ones, using proper grammar. Conversely, deconstruct complex sentences from texts to understand their grammatical components, helping students see how syntax contributes to meaning.
By weaving grammar and syntax instruction into these authentic activities, students will see the relevance of these skills in real-world reading and writing, making them more engaged and invested learners.
Integrate grammar and syntax instruction into authentic reading and writing.
3- Bringing Grammar to Life
When I taught 5th grade, I’d start our first grammar lesson with an activity to gauge the room. I’d ask students to come to the front if they loved grammar, stand in the middle if they felt indifferent, or head to the back if they “hated” it. Most of them, unsurprisingly, ended up at the back! I’d then share a story about how I was never really taught grammar in school. In high school, I had an English teacher who would let us leave class to buy donuts as long as we brought one back for him! As a result, I went to college not feeling like a strong writer. It wasn’t until I later learned grammar, syntax, and how language truly works that I began to improve. I promised my students that we’d have so much fun learning grammar that, by the last day of school, everyone would be at the front, and they’d all be better readers and writers!
From that day on, I focused on creating short, engaging, and purposeful grammar lessons. I made sure my students knew exactly how each concept we learned would make them stronger readers and more effective writers.
Two key concepts are important to understand before you get started.
1- You must understand the big picture of syntax.
2- You must understand where in the grammar scope and sequence your grade level lies.
Start with The 4 Big Ideas of Syntax. You can watch the presentation I use with students. The Slide Decks can be used to introduce the concepts and then use your own content to practice and bring it to life.
Next, look at your grade level’s Language State Standards. For each standard, ask yourself, “How can I connect and integrate this to our current texts and writing?”
(If you need help understanding and lesson planning using the standards, check this mini pd out)
Then, head to our VIP site where you will find Grammar Sprints! Did you know there are just 8 parts of speech? Those 8 kinds of words are used to build sentences that describe the world around us. For each part of speech, we created a mini-lesson set for you using the 3rd-5th grade standards. Each set includes: a Google Slide Deck, Student Note Catcher, Class Practice Activity, and a Quiz.
Remember, this is not a “grammar curriculum.” Instead, it’s a road map to help you teach grammar in an integrated, interesting way. Teaching these mini-lessons in isolation is no better than the old-school grammar textbook. The magic comes when you understand the importance of syntax to all literacy skills and weave it into your own content instruction!
Here are some additional resources we love and recommend:
Let us know your favorite ways to make grammar instruction purposeful and fun!
