Topic: Semantic structure of the English words content

2.3 Strategies of teaching grammar.
Even as a young lover of literature, grammar was never my favorite subject. I know most of my students feel exactly the same way. Learning the rules of punctuation and structure can be less appealing to kids than the more obviously creative and fun aspects of writing. That’s why the best strategies for teaching grammar in elementary school all focus on the same things: piquing your students’ curiosity and bringing language to life in creative, engaging ways. The following strategies are sure to give your grammar lessons that extra edge they need to be truly effective—and enjoyable.
As much as I love reading and writing, even I have to admit that sometimes, words just aren’t enough. A picture, after all, is worth a thousand—or so they say. Sometimes visual aids are necessary for helping your elementary students grasp something as conceptual as grammar in concrete terms.
Educational videos can be a great way to grab younger students’ attention and help them see how different parts of speech and rules of punctuation work together to create meaningful sentences. (And yes, believe it or not, Schoolhouse Rock is still a thing!)
Graphic organizers, like this “Spice Up Your Writing” worksheet, can help students understand how different words are classified, as well as keeping them on task and on topic when formulating sentences and paragraphs of their own.
Posters and other classroom decorations, whether bought at an educational goods store or hand-drawn by your students, help remind them of basic rules and provide a quick and easy guide to refer to when practicing writing
Strategy 1: Get Playful
Grammar is surprisingly easy to turn into a game—and doing so makes it so much simpler to both teach and learn! To gamify your elementary students’ next grammar lesson, try one of the following:

Grammatical Go Fish. Go Fish vocabulary cards are widely available for purchase, but it’s also a breeze (not to mention inexpensive) to have your students make their own using index cards and markers. Instead of asking for threes or aces, they’ll be fishing for parts of speech.

Fill-in-the-Blanks. Create your own Mad Libs-inspired word game by asking your students to create framed sentences with only certain types of words missing—adjectives, or perhaps adverbs ending in “ly”. Ask them to create a list on a separate piece of paper of just the types of words needed to fill in the blanks. Have them partner up and swap lists, filling in the blanks without seeing the original framed sentences. Finally, ask them to swap back and fill in the blanks with their partner’s words. Be sure to have them read these aloud at the end!
Pin the Punctuation on the Sentence. A literary twist on Pin the Tail on the Donkey, there are no blindfolds involved in this version of the game. Instead, create (or buy) a few oversized punctuation marks and write a sentence on the board at the front of the classroom. Have your students draw the marks blindly from a hat or bag and see if they can pin it to the board in a spot that makes grammatical senseStrategy
2: Get Creative
Working with examples is especially important when it comes to teaching grammar in elementary school. Seeing the rules of writing in action helps illustrate the purpose and importance of those rules. However, as tempting as it is to simply use cut-and-dried examples straight from a textbook or other basic resource, a far more engaging lesson plan will involve thinking a bit farther outside the box.
Try asking your students to bring in their favorite books to use as reference material. Ask them to copy a sentence, a paragraph or even a page from the book and identify different grammatical elements and how they affect the meaning of the text. Reading something they enjoy will motivate your students both to pay more attention and dig a little deeper when completing the assignment.
Alternatively, you can hand-pick a few clips from popular age-appropriate movies or TV shows to use as examples. Transcribing the dialogue might be a bit difficult for your students, so you can use these clips in other ways—for instance, asking your students to raise their hands whenever someone uses a pronoun, or pausing after each sentence to ask what sort of punctuation mark should go at the end of it.
To practice what they’ve learned in real-time, try having your students write a page-long short story. After completing the first draft, ask them to proofread each other’s work and revise it accordingly, making sure to check for grammar and punctuation.
There are three golden rules for successful grammar teaching. Unfortunately, nobody knows what they are. So instead, let me offer a few personal opinions. I'll try to be brief: I've spent the last three years writing a practical grammar course that's moving towards publication, and I've got so much in my head that it's hard to sum it all up.
theory
There is a lot of theory around, much of it contradictory. It can be valuable, but I sometimes feel, to quote Mark Twain, that "the researches of many commentators have already thrown much darkness on this subject, and it is probable that, if they continue, we shall soon know nothing at all about it". My rather unhelpful view is that it all depends. Learners vary greatly in their response to grammar teaching: some get a lot out of it, some very little. Learning contexts and purposes also vary greatly. And 'grammar' means so many different things that it's extremely difficult to generalise about how to teach it.