{"id":4013,"date":"2022-03-20T10:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-03-20T15:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/itslitteaching.com\/?p=4013"},"modified":"2025-01-05T19:08:13","modified_gmt":"2025-01-06T00:08:13","slug":"5-myths-about-teaching-grammar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/itslitteaching.com\/5-myths-about-teaching-grammar\/","title":{"rendered":"5 Myths About Teaching Grammar You Can Forget Now"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I avoided teaching grammar during the first few years of my career. My students were so behind that the thought of teaching them grammar was overwhelming.<\/strong> It had also been a long time since I had studied grammar myself, and I wasn’t confident in my own skills.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But then our district rolled out district-wide assessments for every student (I know). I spent hours pouring through the test that my seniors were going to have to take and became dismayed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If my students were going to have a fighting chance on this assessment, we would need to cover a lot of grammar during the year. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

So that summer I put together a curriculum and smashed all of my worries about teaching grammar, even to students who struggle to put together a sentence. (If you, too, are worried about teaching grammar to students who can’t write, check out this blog post.<\/a>)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this post, I hope to dispel some common misconceptions about teaching grammar.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Teaching Grammar Myth #1: You Have to be a “Grammar Nazi”<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Most of my ELA colleagues hesitated to engage in direct instruction of grammar. But their students’ inability to adhere to grammar rules drove them nuts. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

(First rule–you can’t complain about students not knowing something you are unwilling to teach.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But you don’t have to be a grammar nazi to teach grammar.<\/strong> In fact, your students will probably appreciate you more if you aren’t.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When introducing grammar to your students, explain that there is a difference between formal and informal writing.<\/strong> More than ever before in history, I think we need to emphasize this point to our students. Flawless grammar is essential for college essays, cover letters, and publications.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Not sure where to start? Grab this FREE Coordinating Conjunctions Poster you can refer to again and again for your classroom!<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

But we don’t care what they do when they text their friends.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let students know that as their English teacher, you want them to know how grammar works when it’s important.<\/strong> But that you also sometimes mess up your “theirs,” choose emojis over real words, and forget comma rules. It will take the pressure off of all of you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This will take some pressure off of your students and you<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As you progress through class, be sure to let students know when grammar does and does not count. Final essay? Grammar absolutely counts. Two-second exit ticket? Maybe not so much. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Also, if you are<\/em> a grammar nazi, try cutting back your criticisms outside of an actual lesson.<\/strong> Calling out a student’s improper subject-verb agreement while they’re casually chatting to a friend in the hall just isn’t cool, man.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Teaching Grammar Myth #2: You Have to Know Everything about Grammar<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

A lot of teachers avoid incorporating grammar into their curriculum because they’re worried about getting it wrong.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Need a grammar curriculum? These no prep, printable and digital lessons teach grammar in short chunks and are already sequenced for you! Get them here!<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Don’t let perfectionism stop you from helping your students!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

You don’t have to be an expert in everything you teach. Teachers just need to be a few steps ahead of their students to be helpful.<\/strong> And when it comes to grammar, I have no doubt that you’re much more knowledgeable than most of your students.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Instead of waiting until you know everything there is to know about grammar, find a curriculum that works for you and your students and stick to it. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

As you teach those lessons, your own competence will improve. After all, the best way to really cement a topic in your brain is to teach it. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

And if your students ask questions that you can’t answer, turn it into a teachable moment! Look up the answer together. Admit that you’re not sure and that maybe, most of the time, it doesn’t even matter. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For some reason when it comes to grammar, we forget to have fun with it and to just be people. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

You don’t have to be perfect to teach, and your grammar doesn’t have to be either.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n

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Teaching Grammar Myth #3: Students Hate Grammar<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Now, look. A lot of kids are not going to love<\/em> grammar (and maybe you won’t either). But I was absolutely shocked when I began teaching grammar and found that some students loved it!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For students who struggle in their English class, the lack of a “right” answer is often infuriating.<\/strong> But with grammar, there is finally a “right” and a “wrong.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is unbelievably freeing for students who struggle with open format questions and never feel confident in English class.<\/strong> Finally, there is something they can just learn and do. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I had a student once who absolutely hated English class. She struggled with reading, interpreting, and writing about a text. But when it came to going over the grammar warm-ups, she volunteered to lead the whole class in going over answers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why? Because she finally felt confident in having a right answer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You probably won’t end up with a whole class of grammar lovers, but it just might reach the kids who struggle with the rest of your content area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Teaching Grammar Myth #4: You Only Need to Teach the Grade Level Standards<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

During my first year of teaching, I read through the Common Core State Standards to prepare for my lessons just like college told me. <\/p>\n\n\n

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Find out what your students know–and need to know–with these grammar assessments. Get them here!<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

According to the standards, my students needed to learn about semicolons, and they were ready for the new material.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As any veteran teacher can tell you, however, just because it’s in the standards for a certain grade level doesn’t mean that grade level is actually ready for it. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can guess that my semicolon lesson flopped. Students didn’t have enough prior knowledge of grammar to receive a random semicolon lesson.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If your grade-level standards say it’s time to teach something, consider giving a preassessment to find out where your students really are. <\/strong>Often, you’ll need to back way, way up in order for the new lesson to make any sense. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you need some tips on sequencing your grammar lessons, check out this post here. <\/a><\/p>\n\n\n

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Teaching Grammar Myth #5: You Don’t Have Time for Grammar<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Between mandatory testing, the list of books you’re supposed to get through, and the essays your students need to write, you’re probably feeling too strapped for time to get through a whole grammar curriculum.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And I can’t blame you. The truth is that there is never enough time in the classroom to do it all.<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n

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Don’t think you have time for grammar? These daily Grammar Warm-ups<\/a> can be completed by your students in about five minutes a day and reinforce basic grammar skills and punctuation use.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

But I believe that grammar is worth prioritizing. Instilling basic grammar skills in your students will serve them for the rest of their lives regardless of their post-school paths. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Instead of focusing on big, massive lessons that take up an entire hour, break down lessons into bite-size chunks.<\/strong> Don’t talk about clauses<\/a> for an hour; talk about them for ten minutes and then move on. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But do that frequently. Every day, if you can. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Breaking up grammar instruction and practice into smaller, more frequent chunks will be beneficial for you and your students.<\/strong> Neither of you will burn out on grammar concepts, and students will more easily be able to build upon the knowledge they do have. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Daily grammar warm-ups or bell ringers<\/a> are a great way to do this. In just five minutes every day, students can have a grammar review that forces them to practice their skills just a bit. <\/p>\n\n\n\n