Six More Grammar Lesson Tips: Advice on Planning and Resources
Show Notes
In episode eight, we brought you six actionable tips for teaching grammar lessons. Now we’re taking it all the way back to the planning stage to help you structure a successful grammar lesson from the ground up. We’ve got six more of our best, most practical tips for you- this time focused exclusively around how to plan your lesson from start to finish and how to find and use the resources you need. We’re covering everything from effective lesson structure to our favorite reference books. And we share our strategies for how to look at a course book and know exactly what to keep and what to cut.
In this Episode
Tip #1: Use a lesson framework. A framework is a set pattern of activities you can use to structure your lesson. It’s an essential outline that will guide your students through the lesson and ensure your main aim is achieved. Head over to the blog post on frameworks for more in-depth information.
Tip #2: Use the course book as a jumping off point for grammar research. Did you know most course books have a “grammar bank” in the back? The grammar bank provides a clear explanation of exactly what your students need to know about the target grammar- already curated and simplified for you.
Tip #3: Teach a lot about a little, not a little about a lot. Focus is key. Make sure you’re narrowing your focus to a digestible amount of material for your students (and for yourself!) to ensure that the students walk away really being able to use a small amount of new language, rather than still feeling confused about the ten different things you tried to teach at once.
Tip #4: Extra time? Add more activities, not more information. Avoid the temptation to bring in new language or material near the end of your lesson. Students will benefit much more from additional opportunities to practice what they’ve just learned rather than having to completely shift their focus and try to grasp brand new information in the last fifteen minutes of class.
Tip #5: Adapt, adapt, adapt! Take ownership of your material and be proactive in making sure it does exactly what you wan it to do. If you’re using a course book, take the exercises you want, cut the ones you don’t, and change any activity to ensure it helps streamline your lesson. Want to know what this looks like in practice? Register below for our free video training on exactly how to adapt course book material.
Tip #6: Use the right resources. Here are a few of our favorites that we mention in this episode:
Our online grammar course: Be Your Own Grammar Guru
Grammar reference books, especially Teaching Tenses by Rosemary Aitken and Understanding and Using English Grammar by Betty Azar (plus more recommendations).
Upcoming webinars on how to teach grammar
Podcast Episode 8: Our Top Six Tips for Teaching Grammar Lessons and Podcast Episode 2: Five Misconceptions About Teaching Grammar