I remember my first year of teaching, thinking how can I teach language standards like grammar and parts of speech to my students in a fun way? Well, I definitely came up with some “fun” lessons, but they were time consuming and my students didn’t actually apply what they were learning. More so, only about half of them were understanding what I was teaching. I felt at a loss.
Over the years, I learned lots of strategies to engage students with their learning in meaningful ways. I learned about activities and games that had purpose and didn’t take up too much time. With everything that I learned there were a few key take-aways that I use to structure most of my explicit lessons:
I do : The teacher explicitly teaches the lesson
My lessons start with a learning target or objective so that everyone is clear with what the goal of the lesson is. We unpack the learning target vocabulary and talk about what is will look like and sound like when we know we have met the success criteria of the target.
Then I build on background knowledge. Any time I can connect to what I previously taught, I take time to activate schema and do it! This lets the brain get ready to make stronger connections.
I then usually use an anchor chart to explicitly teach the concept. I engage my students by asking questions, doing turn and talks, and more. In the anchor charts I created for my Grammar BUNDLE, I have a learning target, definition and examples with pictures. I always leave a question on the anchor chart asking “Can you think of more examples”. This is where you can ask kids to think-pair-share or just share as a class!
I love integrating books with what I am teaching and am very intentional when choosing a book so I can connect it to the concept we are learning about. I make sure to use fluent, expressive reading that will engage my students. I point out the concept and have children help me point out the concept while we read. The research behind the science of reading supports applying concepts in reading and writing to strengthen brain connections.
We do : We practice the concept together
This is where the fun really happens! The students have been explicitly taught the concept and are ready to try out their new learning together! Some of my favorite activities are mysteries, front-to-front & back-to-back, building posters, carousel writing, buddy-share, fill in the blank & detectives! I have written the how to’s for most of these to my email group and a bit on my Instagram as as well, so be sure to sign up if you haven’t already and give me a follow!
In my Grammar BUNDLE, there are a wide variety of these activities (and several more) to use as you teach each of the grammar, language & parts of speech standards for both 1st & 2nd graders. Most of these activities are no-prep, so they are quick and efficient. All the kids have a chance to participate and be engaged, so that everyone can practice the concepts with teacher guidance. Most of my activities use interactive slides (I project them onto my screen) and little whiteboards. I find that the kids really love detective and mysteries!
Now the kids are having a great time, and I get to see what misconceptions they have to quickly redirect my teaching and address those misconceptions. Research supports corrective (and kind) feedback that is immediate. This is the perfect time to give that feedback! Make sure you have developed a growth mindset community where mistakes are showing learning and growth. I have some resources in my Build Classroom Community product that can help with this!
Y'All Do : The students practice the concept with a group or on their own.
I absolutely love my students learning together and love centers (after expectations and routines have been established of course). I’m sure most of you reading this have literacy centers like me so I bet you already know that you have to at least introduce the materials at a center before letting them use the center. That is why I have an instructions page for each of the “we do”, “you all do”, “we do”, and “exit ticket” of every lesson, so that students know just what they are doing before starting!
I also love to make my “y’all do” games self-correcting and/or with some kind of student recording sheet. For example, I love using puzzles. We can all play as a class because I make sure there are enough pieces for everyone to get one, and then they can play at small groups. I put colored symbols on the backs of each matching piece so that the kids can correct themselves!
Other fun games are SCOOT (aka write the room), going fishing, quiz-quiz-trade and matching. In my Grammar BUNDLE, I have lots of no=prep & low-prep games for the students to do independently or in small groups! Did you know that children learn academics from each other along with learning the social skills of learning together. That’s a double-win!
You Do : The students show what they know on a worksheet
I use worksheets in different ways for different students. For some of my students, I know they still need more practice with the concept, so I give a lot of guidance. For others, they may just need the reading done for them, but can get the concept on their own. Others can do the entire worksheet all on their own.
My students also have learned how to rate their own understanding of concepts, so you will always see a “self-check” area for my students to assess their own understanding of the concept. All of my worksheets have pictures that go along with everything because I want it to be as developmentally appropriate as possible. To do that, I know that I need picture scaffolds and simple sentences with decodable words and sight words to help my students. Make sure to grab my checking for understanding freebie below if you haven’t already!
Here is how I usually do a worksheet with my students: I have the worksheet projected on my document camera and activate what they have learned about the concept using my anchor chart again. Then, I read the directions aloud. I excuse my group from my rug that knows how to read and feels comfortable completing the page on their own. Next, I read through each section and prompt the kids to mentally think about their answers. I excuse the kids who feel comfortable to go independent from there. (My kids can move back to the rug if they feel like they need to). Finally, I have the group that needs lots of support. I go through each problem one at a time and let the kids answer the problems. At the very end, the kids make sure they have their name and self-check score.
All of my worksheets have a color and blackline option. They also all have answer-keys to make checking them fast! I know that saving time is very important for teachers like me!
Exit Tickets : a quick assessment on the concept
Have you ever used exit tickets? They are meant to be a super quick assessment for each student. The exit tickets in my Grammar Bundle are mostly circle the answer or draw a line to match. They are 6 to a page and have an observation sheet for you to take notes as you go through them! They also have an answer key on the observation sheet.
Applying Concepts to Make the Learning Stick
Our number one goal is for students to actually learn what we are teaching, right? Well, to do that, we need repeated exposure and time to practice!
That is why I always start the lesson with activating prior learning! Make sure you are doing think-alouds when you find concepts in anchor texts.
Also, have the kids apply the concepts in their own writing during their writer’s workshop time! Have them identify, use, and add the concepts you are focusing on when applicable. Drawing repeated attention to each concept is another exposure to it!
We want to give dedicated time to practice the concepts as well. Throughout the year, students will be growing in reading. As teachers, we need to integrate those repeated exposures as much as we can. For me, I wanted anchor reading passages for my students to practice 1. language ccss, 2. reading decodable words and sight words, 3. a chance to build vocabulary and define words, 4. reading comprehension & 5. written responses.
I created Language CCSS Reading Passages to do just that! So, in the 1st half of the year, I get to teach explicit lessons one at a time. In the 2nd half of the year, I get to re-teach and integrate learning with my reading passages!
Bonus, my passages are a variety of narratives, non-fiction, persuasive, opinion, letters and more. Like I said, we need to integrate and repeat exposure as much as possible, so that is what I’ve created!
Year-Long Grammar, Language & Parts of Speech MEGA BUNDLE for
1st & 2nd Grade
This year-long curriculum covers 1st & 2nd grade Language CCSS. It is full of 22 weeks of explicit lessons with low-prep, engaging activities & games for centers, worksheets and exit tickets.
It also has 20 reading passages that integrate the previously taught lessons with vocabulary building, types of writing, written responses and more!
Each individual lesson is $3, but you can get them all for 50% off ($1.50 each lesson) when you buy the bundle!
You can also get the reading passages for 50% off when you get the MEGA BUNDLE!
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