Need some fun ideas to introduce grammar topics in a fun way? I’ve got you! I’ve rounded up all my favorites – which I rotate throughout the year – to help you become good at this stuff. Introducing grammar in an interesting way is so important! If you can activate students’ prior knowledge as well as intrigue them about what’s to come, then you’ll have a winning lesson on your hands! So let me show you how I do it!
Before we start, you might want to also grab my free Great Grammar Lesson Road Map if you haven’t already. It shows you how to structure a great grammar lesson!
Alright, now, here we go. How can you introduce your various grammar topics:
PICTURE
Use a picture to introduce the grammar point. A picture of people is great for the verb tenses (what are they doing, what did they do before this, etc.), or adjectives and adverbs, while a picture of objects could be amazing for comparatives/ superlatives, and prepositions.
VIDEO
Use a video to introduce a grammar point. A video is awesome for the verb tenses if the clip is about actions; for reported speech if it’s got people talking in it; or for adjectives if it’s got landscapes in it. It may be harder to find the right video for the topic you’re looking to teach, but you will come across them at some point and then you just have to keep them safe somewhere. Of google the topic you’re teaching + video.
OBJECT
Use an object to introduce a grammar point. An object is great for prepositions (next to, behind, under the object), for adjectives, comparatives & superlatives, conditionals (if I squeeze the object, it will … ) or asking questions. Because objects really make the meaning of words visual, it’s super fun to use them. Have students bring objects for you, or bring some for them. I wrote another blog post about this very topic. Check it out here.
TEXT
Use a piece of text to introduce a grammar point. A text is wonderful for the verb tenses (a newspaper article for the passive, or a story for the past simple). Manuals and recipes are great too, because it’s all about sequencing. Get students to read it and comment on what they see. You could even have them bring their own text!
THE ROOM
Use the room you’re in to introduce a grammar point. Describing things in the room is great for comparatives & superlatives, and how much/ how many of something there is, but also for verb tenses and relative clauses (Rose is the girl who is wearing a sweater today).
STICKY NOTES
Use post-its to introduce a grammar point. This one is in line with the previous one, because you’ll get students to put post-its on things in the room. Post-its are great for demonstrative pronouns (this, that, these, those), adjectives, possessive pronouns, prepositions and verbs. Check out these colorful ones*!
MUSIC
Use songs to introduce a grammar point. A song is wonderful to introduce verb tenses (my personal favorite is I Kissed a Girl for the Past Simple or Next to Me for the future tense), for adjectives (Stronger by Kelly Clarkson) or pronouns (Me, Myself and I) and asking questions (the Earth Song). Oh side note, I love Diamonds in the Sky by Rihanna for figure of speech, but that’s not grammar of course 🙂
CHARADES
Use a game of charades to introduce a grammar point. It’s easy to make cards for words and have students act out for the rest of the group to guess. Charades is great for adjectives, pronouns, and prepositions of place, because it makes these types of words visual for students.
DISCUSSION CARDS
Use discussion cards to introduce a grammar topic. A set of questions about students’ own lives will trigger their interest in the topic. You can ask questions about their future, past, or present (verb tenses) to give them a feel of what you’re going to be talking about. They work really well for modals too, because you’ll ask them about likelihood of things.
Check out the discussion cards for grammar topics that I made for my students, here!
RED & GREEN CARDS
Use easy to make red and green cards to introduce a grammar topic. Red and green cards are great for checking prior knowledge quickly and activating the brain. Pass each student a red and a green card and ask them questions. If the answer is yes, they must hold up green, is it no, they hold up red. Again, this is a really visual way of checking something, and it will help students understand their own learning.
DRAWING
Use students’ drawing abilities to introduce a grammar topic. Have them draw what you are going to tell them, because this will help them visualize the grammar topic and understand it better. Drawing is great for the verb tenses, prepositions, pronouns, adjectives, adverbs, and comparatives & superlatives.
PROBLEM SOLVING
Create a challenge that students must undertake to introduce a grammar topic. Solving a problem will ask of students to talk to each other and get into the topic. The Marshmallow Challenge is great, as is building a dominoes track that works. It does take some prepping, but it’s fun! Problem solving is great for discussing modals and conditionals.
GAMES
Use games to introduce a grammar topic, because people learn better when they are having fun, and games are fun! I love information gap activities for the tenses; dominoes, memory and puzzle piece games for matching words with meaning or even pictures, which are great for prepositions and parts of speech; and board games with questions for the tenses.
Choose a game that works well with your grammar topic, and just give it a go! I’m sure you’ll love it! If you want to try my verb tenses board games, I’m selling the whole set of 9 games for $4.50 over here, or you can grab my whole grammar games bundle with 28 games here, and you can check out my free games here.
INTERVIEW
Use interviews to introduce a grammar topic. Have students ask each other questions about a certain topic and get them to answer the questions as well. This way they’ll already experience using the grammar point. Interviews are great for the tenses, for modals (ask about rules), for prepositions, for adjectives, and much more, but really they should be used all the time when learning a language.
And that’s it, that concludes all my ideas to introduce grammar topics in a fun way! I hope you can use some of these tips, and that they’ll make your lessons even better.
Wanna know more about teaching grammar? Check out this article:
How to Make Grammar Practice Fun
Or check out this article by Teacher Writer:
How to begin teaching writing in the elementary grades
*This is an affiliate link, but I love this product!
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