. . . grammar games

Grammar can be a difficult thing to wrap your head around. Sure, we use it every day without even thinking about it, but that might be just the reason it can seem so foreign to take it apart. Like dissecting the elements of movement or breathing, it requires tools and techniques to reveal its structure. Getting to know how to use those tools is the first step to understanding how things work.

Tools are my everyday armor.  No matter the situation, as long as I have a few tools in my toolbox, I know I’ll be ok.  Sometimes that literally means a hammer and a saw, and sometimes that means patience, curiosity, or a willingness to look at something from a different perspective.   

Every person has a different way of seeing things, and that natural perspective will make it easier or harder to understand different subjects. In my own life, I had to learn what my strengths were and how to translate them into areas where I had weaknesses, a process that I could not have moved through without the help of some pretty amazing teachers. You see for me, the world is not made of lines, it’s made of shapes. I understand things in blocks instead of dots, as groupings instead of individual components.  A very wise art teacher helped me to understand this when I was younger and it has forever changed the way I approach learning and exploring. That teacher gave me a tool. . .

. . . to unlock nearly every situation and subject. She helped me understand that there was no ‘right’ way to approach a problem and that any way in, was a good way. . . aren’t teachers fantastic?

The same concept applies to learning grammar.  There is no ‘right’ way, just your way, and finding your way can be fun.  It can even be a game. . .


Grammar Games

Materials (suggestions, but really anything you have on hand will work):

• Cardboard
• Paper
• Tape
• String
• Notebook
• Pens and pencils
• Paints and paintbrushes
• Stamps
• Bag or box (to hold everything in)
• Buttons, stones, whatever else suits your fancy. . .

Do the activities from the “With the Kids” section below to determine the elements you’ll need for your game.

Once you know which components you’ll need, cut shapes out of cardboard, type tags on the typewriter, make wire sculptures, play Mad Libs, write a play. . . but most importantly, have fun!

 

With the Kids: Talk to your kids about their favorite subjects in school and why they like them. Talk to them about the subjects they have difficulty with and why they might be struggling. What are the differences between them? What are the different skills they require? If your child likes to build things, try working on grammar concepts with shapes. Make one shape for each part of speech. Then write a sentence and arrange the shapes to correspond to the sentence. Then, try doing the reverse: organize the shapes randomly and do your best to make up a sentence that matches the shape. If your kid likes make believe and the dramatic arts, try your hand at Mad Lib play-writing. Come up with a simple plot structure and leave open spaces for nouns, verbs, adjectives, etc. When you’ve made your list, apply them to the story and act it out. If your little buddy feels most at home drawing pictures, ask them to draw a picture of each part of speech. They could be plants, animals, humans, or objects. Then, take those characters and make a graphic novel. You could even have different comic book issues about each part of speech or the concepts they represent. For example, you could have one issue that was all about actions (verbs) and one that was all about putting things together (conjunctions) etc. What does your adjective superhero look like? Ask your children to come up with their own grammar game and make a rule book. You’ll be surprised how much they learn about grammar when they’re trying to come up with their own game.

 

~ Sarah

*Last time in Crafts and Activities: Back to School Crests and Patches