Grammar Workshop Feedback
Teaching Objectives
• Clarify form (structure) and function (when/how to use).
• Give students opportunities to practice using target grammar.
Method
1. Presentation.
Set the context, and clarify form, pronunciation, and function of
target grammar.
a. Direct students’ attention to the Look and Learn (WW1-2) or
Grammar (WW3-5) section in their Pupil’s Books.
b. [Form] Present the target grammar in context with a few
example sentences—preferably from the Look and Learn
section dialogue (WW1-2 only) or reading passage. Highlight
the sentences’ key form elements. (For WW3-5, you may ask
students to identify the key form elements before you highlight
them.)
c. [Function] For WW1-2, have students read the Look and Learn
section dialogue. For WW3-5, introduce the grammar topic by
name and give a brief explanation of its function (e.g., “Let’s
look at today’s first grammar topic: the Present Simple. We can
use it to talk about habits or things that are always true.”).
Clarify the function with CCQs.
2. Practice.
a. Lead students through controlled practice (e.g., gap-fills,
sentence building, model dialogues, etc.).
b. Ask students to complete the related grammar tasks in their
Pupil’s Books and check answers as a group. When checking
answers, be sure to ask CCQs and follow-up questions when
appropriate.
3. Production.
a. Lead students through a communicative activity, encouraging
creative use of the target grammar (e.g., role-plays,
discussion, etc.).
b. If the Student’s Book “Say” or “(Draw and) Write” (WW1-2), or
“Speaking” or “Writing” (WW3-5) tasks feature the target
grammar, they can be used.
When teaching a WW1-WW2 class, your use of language and speaking
pace are very important. These are very sensitive levels, so such things
must be considered. WW3A is a bit of a tricky level because most students
would have just completed a WW2B class. The content is a bit advanced
and there is more stress in remembering the grammar rules and structure.
With WW4, the grammar is more intense and a build-up to WW5. WW5 is
basically a revision of WW3 and WW4. The speaking pace and use of
language may advance depending on the level of the students
Questions to ask yourself when preparing for a grammar
lesson:
- What type of learning background do the learners have?
- What learning materials and resources are available?
- What kind of learning style does each student have?
These will help you broaden how you can teach one grammar point in many
different ways.
Tips to use when breaking down your WW1-2 grammar
on the board:
• Use spaces between words
• Write from left-to-right, top-to-bottom
• Consistently use question marks or exclamation points to end
sentences
• Capitalize the first word in a sentence
• Capitalize the pronoun “I” and names of familiar people (i.e., friends’
names)
• Speak and write in complete sentences
• Understand and use question words (who, what, where, when, why,
how) orally
• Use common nouns to name people, places, and things — orally and
in writing
• Use describing words to give detail — orally (adjectives, but don’t
require WW1-2 to know the word “adjective”)
• Use specific action words — orally (verbs, but don’t require WW1 to
know the word “verbs,” though you may use it yourself)
• Use simple pronouns correctly — orally and in writing
• Use plural nouns with -s and -es — orally (should also attempt in
writing but may not spell them correctly, especially the -es ending)
• Expand simple sentences by adding more details — orally, with
prompting
WW1B – U10 Lesson 1
Introduce The Concept Of Singular VS Plural
• Ask about the differences between the terms. They’ll pick out the S,
and you may explain how, in many words, adding an ‘s’ to the end
makes it signify more than one. Inform them that this is referred to as
plural. When there are multiples of something, it is referred to as
plural.
• You could introduce the concept by saying something ridiculous and
allowing them to correct you, for example, telling the class that you
have “seven cat” instead of seven cats and allowing them to
respond with the correct plural form of the word.
• You can ask them to identify some plural words in the article or
comic .’These exercises will build the knowledge foundation they
need when introducing more complex plurals.
Introduce Complex Plural Rules
• Now that the class understands the difference between singular and
plural explain that you may add -es to a word to signify more than
one thing.
• Starting with foxes and buses is a good idea because those are
possible things they can spell, and they can see the “es” at the end.
Break “es” into a short e sound + s so they can easily hear the suffix
“es.” Make your examples ridiculous; WW1 students will be more open
to learning if they have fun with the lesson.
• You may introduce exceptions to rules and weird words once every
student has adequately mastered and understood the more
complex rules. You may repeat this process for all standard plural
rules. Do not yet bring in complex examples of exceptions to the rules
you teach them. Focus on one concept at a time.
Explain Irregular Plural Nouns To The Class
• They only have to remember irregular plural words. You can bring
them up as you come across them in talks.
• I would recommend putting back the “Single” and “Plural” headings
and instructing them to place the singular and plural versions of the
noun side by side, as they did when you first added -s, -es, and -ies.
This will allow the class to familiarize themselves with the spelling
and pronunciation of words.
Practice The Taught Concepts With The Students
• Now that all of your students understand the basic and complex
concepts of plurals, start organizing fun activities to help them
develop and solidify the idea in their minds.
Anticipated challenges:
Shalom is struggling to understand how to form irregular plurals. ''Why,''
Shalom says, ''aren't all plural forms made by simply adding -s to the
singular form?!''. How can we help Shalom to understand some of the rules
behind forming irregular plurals by correcting her mistakes below and
explaining how the plural should be formed.
• Boxes
• Childs
If a singular (one) noun ends with s, ss, ch, sh, x, or z, we need to add es to
the end of the noun.
• You can then ask Shalom which letter box ends with and tell her that
to make it more than one, we will have to +es: boxes
• Since child has an irregular plural form or you could say that child is
a special word and must be changed to : children.
WW2B – U10 Lesson 1
Anticipated challenges:
Solutions:
The image above has got to be every teachers nightmare after drilling the
grammar to the core . It isn’t always about highlighting subject pronouns ,
time expressions etc but emphasising on the words in the red block.
Spending an extra 2-3 mins and having them underline the last letter to
the words will help them make a connection to the grammar you just went
over with them.
After that, spend an extra 3-4 mins going over each sentence, ensuring
they understand what it means. This may seem tedious, but trust me, it
helps. This will also minimise the amount of questions and mistakes.
Why do students keep mixing up the Present Simple
and Present Continuous tenses or any tenses when merged in
an activity?
The answer is in the question.
Teaching the present simple and present continuous in tandem confuses
pupils.
These may be a few reasons:
1. Teachers overload students with exercises on the present simple and
present continuous.
2. Teachers don’t really stress on rules of the grammar to show the
difference.
3. Teachers aren’t quite familiar with the grammar rules and differences
themselves
4. Teachers not showing a clear build-up of the grammar
5. Teachers don’t fully explain the instructions before the students
complete the exercises
For example:
Using the present simple to talk about:
• things that are always or normally true (the sky is blue; ice
cream melts too fast)
• habits (I play golf every morning)
• permanent situations (I live in Beijing)
Using the present continuous to talk about:
• actions taking place right now (“Those birds are eating all the
seeds we bought!”)
• actions taking place now but not RIGHT NOW (“I’m reading this
great book about dolphins.”)
• temporary situations (“I’m sleeping downstairs at the moment
because it’s too hot in my bedroom.”)
Here’s an example of a clear breakdown when teaching grammar. With WW3, I
always try to use the same sentences when making affirmative and negative
sentences. I sometimes have the students change the affirmative sentences to
ask questions.
I’ve noticed that the students we’re able to see the difference in sentence
structure when changing it into different forms. This also simplified the
breakdown.
This is my failproof method when teaching grammar.
The breakdown of the grammar in WW4 is very important
as it is a build-up to WW5.
Noticing that Conditional sentences can get tricky for
some, a few steps can be followed when explaining.
1.Contextualize the First Conditional
You need to put the first conditional into context. That is to say, you need to
show students when and why they will need to use the first conditional
form. Start by writing an example sentence on the board. For example, “If I
do my homework, the teacher will be happy.”. Explain to students that first
conditional sentences like this are used to talk about future things that
could easily come true.
2. Breakdown The First Conditional Structure
Next, show students how first conditional sentences are made. Explain that
the first conditional is composed of two parts: a condition and a
result. Using the same sentence as before (“If I do my homework, the
teacher will be happy”), ask students to try to identify the result part of the
sentence and the condition part of the sentence. Explain that the result is
the thing that will likely happen if the condition is met.
Next, show that first conditional sentences can be made by stating the
condition part first, followed by the result part, or by stating the result part
first, followed by the condition part. For example;
• “If I do my homework, the teacher will be happy.”
• “The teacher will be happy if I do my homework.
Once students have a grasp of the basic structure of the first conditional
form, using examples, demonstrate to students that the condition part is
stated using “If” + the present simple tense with a comma
(You can also breakdown the present and future simple rules first before
introducing the examples below. This will help freshen up the grammar
rules.)
For example;
• “If it rains,”
• “If I oversleep,”
• “If the train is late,”
And then, show students that the result part is stated as will/won’t + the
base verb. For example;
• “If it rains, I won’t go to the beach.”
• “If I oversleep, I will be late for school.”
• “If the train is late, I will be angry.”
Practice Building Sentences
Now that you’ve explained when to use a first conditional and how it’s
structured, it’s time to let your students practice building these sentences.
A fun way to do this is to draw two lines on the board, one for the condition
part of the sentence, and one for the result part of the sentence. Next, invite
one student up to the board to write the condition part, and then ask
another student to complete the sentence by writing the result part of the
sentence.
Once they have created a first conditional sentence, ask the class to tell
you how to write the sentence in the reverse order (result part then
condition part). This activity is a lot of fun and students usually come up
with some really funny first conditional sentences.
Common Mistakes With The First Conditional Form
As with learning any new grammar, students often make some common
mistakes when first making first conditional sentences. One of the most
common mistakes is that students sometimes place the modal verb
“will/won’t” in the condition part of the sentence, which is incorrect. The
“will/won’t” modal verb belongs in the result part of the first conditional
sentence. Here are some examples you can show your students to
highlight this common mistake:
• INCORRECT: If class *will be cancelled, I will be happy.
• CORRECT: If class is cancelled, I will be happy.
• INCORRECT: You will have fun if you *will talk to more people.
• CORRECT: You will have more fun if you talk to more people.
You can help your students to avoid this common mistake by explaining
that each first conditional sentence or question should only have one
modal verb (will/won’t). This makes it easy for them to check their
sentences; if they can count more than one use of will/won’t, they need to
delete one.
Another common mistake with the first conditional form is the unnecessary
use of a comma in some sentences. We use a comma in first conditional
sentences when the condition precedes the result. If the result comes first,
there is no comma.
How to +s,+es,+ies
These are similar examples I use with the Present Perfect
Simple
I draw the students attention by telling them that I’m about to
tell them a story about two best friends, has and have who
live in two different houses. I then draw the two houses and
write the subject pronouns on the right and ask the students
which house one will go to. Once all the subject pronouns
have made it home, I will then role play as has and have . Has
and have will speak over the phone organising a day out to an
amazing restaurant that sells amazing fish (for the present
perfect simple) and an octopus (for the present perfect
continuous ).
I then emphasise that they’re not ordinary sea creatures but
magical ones for example, the magical fish’s name is Past
Participle and the Octopuses’ name is Been(verb+ing). After
they have grasped everything, I then ask them to make
sentences of their own.
These stories help clarify any confusion and the build-up is
also straight to the point.
I encourage making use of houses, cars etc when breaking
down some of the grammar.
Tips you can use before the students complete the assigned
grammar exercise:
- Thoroughly explain the instruction “Complete the sentences
with the……….” ( image for reference only)
Then go through some keywords to help them best understand
how to change the sentences to the Past Simple and Present
Perfect Simple or any two grammar tenses.
-Have them look out for time expressions , to help them
distinguish the differences. Remember to have them make
notes next to the words or sentences , e.g If the sentence ends
with yet, then the sentence will be ‘P.P.S’ and last night will
be ‘P.S’.
This will help minimise a lot of confusion when the students
complete the exercises.
Got some grammar questions? Click the link below and watch
a few videos.
Link: https://youtu.be/O9S70oJAivI
