Teenagers can be efficient language learners. They have the cognitive ability to understand grammar abstractly, yet they still retain their childlike playfulness. Although they can understand grammar rules, teenagers need more than just grammar-based exercises in order to be able to use grammar to communicate effectively in English. They need to see the grammar used in context, especially contexts that are meaningful, purposeful, and relevant to them!
However, teachers often express that teens are not motivated to learn grammar because it is boring, and they cannot see any relevance to the grammar instruction. How can we make learning grammar fun and relevant for our teen learners? Below are some ideas:
In this post, I’ll explore these ideas in detail and share activities to help you implement them in your classroom.
Teach Grammar While Making Learning Fun!
As your teens will tell you, grammar exercises can be boring. Why not lighten the stress and boredom of grammar by using games? Here are some easy ways to gamify grammar practice.
Gamify Grammar Practice Using Technology
Many teachers use online applications like Kahoot and Quizlet, and they can really motivate teens to get engaged in class and practice the grammar rules while having fun. In fact, just using technology can make grammar exercises a bit less boring. In this brief recording from a webinar I delivered recently, I demonstrate a simple drag and drop grammar practice from Impact, Second Edition on the Spark Platform that students can use for individual practice.
You can watch the full recording of my webinar here.
Games That Don’t Need Technology
To help teachers keep grammar practice fun and interesting, Impact, Second Edition has lots of games for every grammar unit that include the cards, boards, and dice in the back of the Student’s Book for teens to cut out and use. These don’t require any additional technology, but students may need scissors and tape for some of the cut outs. Here are some examples!
Card Games
This card game encourages students to practice communicating using the question form “Can it…?” and the answer forms “Yes, it can” or “No, it can’t.”
Dice Games
Dice can keep things interesting because teens can’t predict what will come up. Here is an example of how to use a dice game to practice count and noncount nouns. Below is how the grammar point is presented in Impact, Second Edition.
After some grammar exercises, students can cut out the dice from the back of the book and glue or tape the cut out into a cube.
Then they are ready to play the grammar game to practice asking and answering about what people from different countries eat.
It is not just fun grammar practice, but also interesting information about food in different countries. Your teens will want to look up the answers and find out how much rice people in Japan eat!
Teach Grammar While Connecting the Language to Teens’ Lives and Identities
It is always a good idea to connect language learning to teens’ lives and identities. After all, teenagers are developing their sense of identity and trying to figure out their place in the world. You can apply some games and projects to motivate teens to use grammar to talk about themselves and others in their world.
Here is an example of an activity in Impact, Second Edition that focuses on identity and ways to describe your personality. It is in a unit called “Who Am I?”
The grammar point is learning to use tag questions. This is connected to content and vocabulary about understanding one’s personality.
Students get a chance to practice using tag questions and vocabulary by communicating about people and topics they are interested in, such as TV shows, athletes, video games, and movies.
Here are two motivating activities that students can do to use the grammar point while talking about themselves.
Secret Adjective Selfie
This is a fun game that allows students to use their smart phones to take a selfie. Who doesn’t like to take selfies? Here are the steps of the game, which includes using the grammar point tag questions:
Step 1: Take a selfie!
- Think of an adjective that describes your personality.
- Don’t tell anyone your adjective!
- Take a selfie that you think shows that adjective or quality.
Step 2: Show your selfie to a partner.
- Introduce yourself to the person sitting next to you (if you don’t know them).
- Show your selfie.
- Your partner guesses your adjective based on your selfie using a tag question.
“You are ___, aren’t you?”
Of course, this game can be adapted to use certain vocabulary or a different grammar point. You could ask your students to take a selfie that represents a certain feeling, a kind of weather, or an animal. You could tell them to use a sentence starter like “I think you are a…” or “You look like a…” You could also ask students to take a video and create a GIF and even say a sentence to give a hint. Be creative and apply this activity to many different lessons!
Identity Collage Presentation
An identity collage can be a poster that a student shows in class, or a digital poster created using an application like Canva or even a Google slide. This is a great project for teens to spark their creativity and give them a chance to express themselves. Here are the steps, which include using tag questions:
Step 1: Create a collage
Students create a collage representing their personality traits (e.g., using magazine cutouts, drawings, or digital tools).
Step 2: Present the collage
Students present their collage using tag questions to engage their audience.
For example, a student named Ana created the collage below. She can present it using tag questions.
“Hi, I’m Ana, and I am from Mexico. I am a fun friend, aren’t I? You can see me taking a selfie with my friend Maria. I am also very studious, aren’t I? Here I show that I am an A student and read lots of books. I am also a nice kid, aren’t I? Here I am helping my grandpa take a walk outside.”
Teach Grammar While Engaging Teens in Authentic, Real-World Communication
Think about your teenagers and the world they live in. Connect the language learning to their world. When developing your activities, encourage them to use grammar as an authentic form of communication. For example, in a unit called “Your Digital Self”, teenagers learn about a young National Geographic Explorer named Qiyun Woo who uses her illustrations to create social media posts that push for change in our world. Students have a chance to read and discuss her messages, which combine illustrations with text.
If the grammar point for the unit is modals, then students could be inspired to create their own memes and social media posts using their own illustrations or images they source online and use modals to create a message that pushes for change.
In fact, if we take a closer look at one of the many posts created by Qiyun Woo, we can see she has used the grammar point to provide some advice in a gentle and loving way. Would your students love to create their own posts that use the grammar point and give a message that can make a difference in our world?
Think of any opportunities to practice the grammar point in a lesson while also encouraging authentic, real-world communication that can make an impact in the world and in their lives.
Teach Grammar by Creating a Safe Space for Learning
Finally, it is so important to create a safe space for learning in your classroom. Using grammar meaningfully and accurately is a challenge and can create some anxiety and fear during the language learning process. It is hard to practice grammar without making mistakes! However, making mistakes is an important part of the language learning process. Please see one of my own recent social media posts that uses modals to give advice to teachers to help students overcome their fear of making mistakes.
Hopefully you now have lots of new ideas for motivating your teens to learn grammar. It is all about creating a safe, fun, and engaging space for learning, using authentic, real-world communication that is meaningful, purposeful, and relevant to your teenagers. Have fun with these fresh ideas for teaching grammar!
Teach grammar while helping teens explore who they are and who they want to be!
