English grammar is the rules on how to use the English language. Children learn grammar as soon as they hear their parents speaking in English. Once they enter school, teachers give a more in-depth instruction on grammar for constructing sentences and essays. Students may work on English grammar projects according to their age and level.
Elementary School
Young children start learning grammar through simple songs and projects about functional literacy. The first years of elementary school focuses on the basics of identifying high-frequency words such as "is" and "the." You may assign a project to cut out high-frequency words from magazines and newspapers. Once students master basic reading, grammar projects may include games where students use paper word cards to construct impromptu sentences and play games about synonyms for common words.
Middle School
Middle school benefit from hands-on projects. One grammar project for expanding vocabulary should be assigning students a new vocabulary word to illustrate on posterboard. Students may have free reign on how they will accomplish the project, and the students will exhibit all the new words around the classroom after, with each student presenting her word to the class. Another project should be separating the class into small groups to make grammar board games. Students will come up with their own games that incorporate English grammar. When the projects are completed, different groups will play each other's games.
High School
Challenge high school students with grammar projects that focus on creative writing. Poetry and memoir type stories help older children work on their grammar skills. Also, a comic strip project is an alternative to the typical creative writing assignment. Students create their own characters, scenarios and dialogue. Assigning students to edit each other's writing is another project for high school students. Student should set up their own mock-magazine or newspaper with writers and editors. Once students play one role, they will switch.
English as a Second Language
English as a second language students of all ages learn English grammar better through singing popular English songs. Give students a project to listen and find good songs for the entire class to sing along to like karaoke. Another project is to create stories where students have to fill in the blanks for different parts of the sentences. Like the children's "Mad Libs" books, create age-appropriate stories with blanks for nouns, verbs and proper nouns. Students will create funny stories while learning about sentence structure and grammar.
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Writer Bio
Charong Chow has been writing professionally since 1995. Her work has appeared in magazines such as "Zing" and "Ocean Drive." Chow graduated from the University of Miami with a Bachelor of Arts in philosophy. She also received a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the California Institute of the Arts.