The Best Education Practices for Teaching Middle School Grammar
Best-practice teaching is the use of research-based instructional methods that have proved to provide students with the most learning. In teaching grammar, best-practice teaching is based on real-life situations and includes activities that allow students to build on background knowledge and actively apply their knowledge. Best practice teaching gives students a reason and a purpose for learning. It allows them to apply what they have learned in their lives and increases the amount students learn.
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Active Learning
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Research shows that best-practice teaching methods employ activities that engage students in the learning process, giving them responsibility for their work and allowing them to direct their own learning. Active learning in grammar includes engaging students in discussions, giving them writing assignments and allowing students to engage in conversations, all with the goal of using grammar properly. Activities such as conducting student-to-student interviews, creating skits and plays, and writing stories or journals give students a chance to actively participate in the learning process.
Real-Life Application
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Students find meaning and purpose in learning when they can relate it to their own lives. Giving students a reason for learning will motivate and inspire them. Grammar activities that focus on how to properly answer interview questions for a job, or how to use proper grammar when writing a college essay have meaning for students who see themselves getting a job or going to college in the upcoming years. Grammar instruction that allows students to practice correct forms with peers in real-life situations, such as role playing ordering from a menu or discussing a problem with a teacher, is effective because of its real-life application.
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Opportunities for Interaction
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Giving students opportunities to interact with their peers and other teachers is a best-practice strategy for grammar instruction. Teachers should model proper grammar when interacting with students, and students should practice using proper grammar when interacting with one another. Some examples of grammar lessons that allow for peer interaction include peer editing, peer feedback and grammar games. Teacher-student interactive activities include conferencing, teacher and student paired editing and grammar games. Interaction engages students in the activities and involves them in the learning process. Interaction decreases the amount of time students spend learning rote facts or just listening to a lecture that they may not apply in practice later.
Build on Background Knowledge
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Background knowledge, the information that a student already possesses, is important in all learning. Best-practice grammar instruction includes building new grammar knowledge by connecting it to what the students already know. If students already know what a verb and a noun are, use that knowledge to help them understand subject and verb agreement. One strategy that is commonly considered to be best-practice teaching is scaffolding, or building on knowledge in a step-by-step manner. Teachers should assess what students know and build from there. Teachers can teach grammar in context by teaching as students read and write, pointing out proper use of grammar and modeling correct use of grammar. Teachers should take the opportunity to teach grammar from a text or while writing when they can connect it to previous learning experiences students have had, and build on them.
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References
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