We spent a long time thinking about grammar while we were working on our 16 new grammar songs, including our Prefixes song above. It quickly became clear that for some, grammar is a dirty word, conjuring antiquated scenarios of sentence diagramming and homonym horrors. But for others, grammar wasn’t scary…it was fun and wacky and not-so-hard.
We did our best to associate with that latter camp. And we wanted to create a forum for teachers to share pain-free, fun and creative ways to teach grammar. So on Monday, May 14 at 7pm, we’ll be hosting #engchat for the second time around to discuss this very topic. (If you’re wondering, “What’s #engchat??” see below).
The Topic: How do you teach grammar?
Here are questions we’ll use to guide the discussion.
- Why do you think that teaching grammar has so many negative associations? How can we overcome these associations?
- How can teachers cover grammar while also considering and respecting the modern ways that students speak? (Slang, texting, etc.)
- Do you think that teachers should directly or indirectly teach grammar concepts?
- What are your favorite strategies for directly teaching grammar concepts?
- What are your favorite strategies for indirectly teaching grammar concepts?
- How can non-English teachers integrate grammar instruction into their curricula?
- What are your most unconventional ideas for teaching grammar?
So, what’s #engchat?
Each Monday night from 7-8pm, engaged and creative English educators connect on Twitter to discuss a pertinent topic and share lesson ideas. It’s called English Chat, or in character-constrained Twitter-speak, #engchat. On Monday, May 14, we’re excited and honored to moderate the discussion. Learn more about #engchat here. Or just reach out on Twitter by using the #engchat tag. Even though the chat is on Mondays, educators share ideas more casually at all hours, every day.
If you’re new to Twitter, or have never experienced a Twitter chat, learn more about why every teacher should join twitter. To follow the conversation, set a filter for #engchat and add your comments by adding “#engchat” to your tweets. If you’ve never Twitter chatted before, you’ll be pleasantly surprised by how quickly you can develop a strong PLN, or personal learning network.
And you can connect with Flocabulary on twitter by following us here. See you on Monday!
