Teaching Grammar - Week 3 - What makes a good grammar explanation?

Introduction: Hello and welcome to Week 3 of the course Teaching Grammar for the Licenciatura in English Teaching at ULACIT. In this class we will do several activities to explore some basic grammar terminology and we will also explore the principles of a strategy for presenting and clarifying grammar called Guided Discovery.

Today's Goals:

• Clarify your understanding of the functions of the 8 parts of speech.
• Discuss your criteria for an effective grammar explanation.
• Analyze the transcript of a guided discovery presentation to identify the functions of the teacher's interventions. 
• Participate in a guided discovery activity and articulate its strengths and challenges as a grammar activity type.

Guiding Questions:

• What are the functions of the eight parts of speech?
• What makes a good grammar explanation?
• How can teachers help students make discoveries about how grammar works?

Task 1: Part of Speech Rally

To start today's class you are going to do a competitive activity to review the 8 parts of speech. Click your group link below. You have a maximum of 10 minutes so work as quickly as you can. If you get stuck, just move on!

• Group 1: CLICK HERE
• Group 2: CLICK HERE
• Group 3: CLICK HERE

Task 2: Basic Grammar Labels for Sentence Structure

For homework you read a complicated section from Folse regarding the basic labels for sentence structure and you completed a study guide to help you organize and process this information. We do not have time to review this in class today so I created this short video presentation to clarify some of the most important points. Feel free to check it out in your own time. 

Task 3: What makes a good grammar explanation?

Discuss the following questions with your classmates.

• In your experience, what are the characteristics of an effective grammar explanation?
• What are some alternative ways to introduce and clarify new grammar structures?
• What is the role of teacher questions in the process of grammar explanation?
• Are you familiar with the concept of "guided discovery"? If not, what do you think the term might mean?

Task 4: Analyzing a Guided Discovery Presentation

Now we will look at a transcript of a lesson in which a teacher uses the guided discovery technique to introduce and clarify a new structure. We will read and analyze the transcript as a group and identify the specific techniques the teacher uses to help guide students in their discovery of how this grammar topic works. 

• Transcript: CLICK HERE

Task 5: Guided Discovery Activities

We can also take the principles of guided discovery in presentations and apply them to grammar activity worksheets. The idea is have students perform a series of tasks that will help them discover the important features of the new structure. Work with your partners to complete this guided discovery worksheet I created to help students understand the passive voice.

• Guided Discovery Worksheet: CLICK HERE

• CLICK HERE to see another example of a guided discovery activity I created to help students review the form and functions of the present perfect. 

 

References:

Folse, K. (2017). Keys to Teaching Grammar to English Language Learners: A Practical Handbook (2nd ed.). University of Michigan Press. 

Scrivener, J. (2005). Learning Teaching. Macmillian.