Grammar skills are important for your 4th graders to know and understand. It is easy to give a worksheet, take a grade, and move on to the next skill. But, are your students truly learning this way?
Incorporating grammar games in your fourth grade class will help students learn and remember grammar rules in an engaging way.
I teach grammar skills heavily at the beginning of the year since I have to prepare the students for the STAAR Writing test. We begin the revise and edit questions in October, so the students need to be exposed to grammar rules early in the year. I focus on one or two grammar rules a week.
My grammar lesson format is:
- We review the grammar rule– glue the grammar rule in the students’ STAAR Writing Notebook which they can reference throughout the year
- We watch a music video over the grammar rule– Flocabulary offers a wide range of grammar songs, and you can sign up for a free month subscription to Flocabulary with just an email address. On YouTube can find School House Rock videos (oldies but goodies) on most grammar rules.
- The students play a grammar game in a small group– see different games below.
- The students will do a short independent assignment– I will be able to know who understood the concept and who needs it retaught
- I put my grammar games in a station– students can practice throughout the year.
If you’re looking for more tips on teaching grammar in your 4th grade classroom, check out my blog post on the topic: How to Teach Grammar in Your 4th Grade Classroom
GRAMMAR GAMES
Mad Libs Grammar
A fun way for students to review parts of speech. Students work with partners. One student fills in the paper while the other gives the answers. The kids enjoy reading the funny story together at the end. These books can be found in bookstores or online. I found mine on teach-nology.
Grammar Task Cards
Grammar task cards are an easy and engaging way for students to practice a specific grammar skill. I put students in groups of 4-5 students. They divide the cards evenly among themselves and then read their cards out loud. I emphasize the importance of the discussion in this activity. The students help and encourage each other in finding the right answers.
Then students use either the QR codes on the cards or the answer key to check their work. They must go back and look at the ones they missed. It’s important for them to figure out why they missed it.
Here are a few that I use in my fourth grade classroom:
Compound Sentence Task Cards and Activities
Grammar in Mentor Text
Students can work in groups or independently to look for a particular grammar skills in mentor text. For example, if you have gone over compound sentences, have students use the novel they are reading or you are reading to the class to look for and write compound sentences (be sure they label, subject and predicate).
The students then share what they found with the class. If students have an incorrect example, I use this opportunity for all the students to learn from the mistake by explaining how it doesn’t match the grammar rule.
Grammar Sort
Students will work in groups to sort cards into the correct categories. The manipulation of the cards and the discussion among the students really makes the information stick.
Here are a few sorts I use in my classroom:
Fragment, Run-On, Complete Sentence Sort
Simple and Compound Sentence Sort
The grammar rules in the English language are hard to learn especially for 4th grade students. Using grammar games in your 4th grade classroom is a fun and engaging way for your students to remember and use grammar rules.
GRAMMAR GAME BUNDLE– includes 8 hands-on grammar games!
