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As a teacher of ESL and EFL children, I have always wanted to help my students with their grammar skills, assist them in overcoming their fossilized mistakes, and help to improve their oral and written performance in general. I would like to share with you ten fun and useful strategies I typically use to help my learners significantly improve their grammar accuracy in a fun way.

Develop your Grammar Lessons In a Single Context:

I always plan my ESL and EFL children’s grammar lessons in a single context, as maintaining a topic from the beginning to the end of the class is key to creating a through-line in your class. To do this, you might choose meaningful written or oral input from which the target grammar point will be extracted from, and taught. This will help students understand how grammar is really used and will allow them to imitate the structure.

But Adriana, you might be saying, “what’s the best way to choose this meaningful material to teach grammar to children?”

How To Choose The Best Material for your Grammar class

When selecting meaningful material, it is relevant to use material that involves real-life examples and situations.  I always prefer choosing pieces in which young learners’ needs and interests are reflected. Excerpts taken from their favorite books, comics, TV shows, movies, and series will always be appealing, and a great start when planning your lessons. However, don’t forget to carefully filter them based on their complexity, teaching purpose, and group of learners.

How To Practice Grammar In a Fun Way

After having chosen my input material, I always make sure I include plenty of grammar practice in my lessons. I usually start with controlled oral practice to build the base of the structure; I use songs or a fun drilling activity. Later, I add some variables that will allow students to step outside of their comfort zone, such as the inclusion of an unexpected situation that promotes the spontaneous use of negative and interrogative sentences. Then, I usually provide my learners with some fill-in-the-blank worksheets and games. I also use Boom Cards™ decks to support the students who need a different approach or differentiated instruction.  To finish this process, I provide my learners with immediate feedback that helps them identify their strengths and weaknesses, to improve their performance in the future.

Here you have some amazing fun Boom Cards and Printable FREEBIES you can use to teach grammar in a fun way: