Sixth grade grammar: Are you looking for interesting and engaging grammar activities to add to your sixth grade English classes?
Grammar ideas that are age appropriate and fun are important for middle school. Below, I have provided creative grammar activities for middle schoolers that will get them excited about learning the fundamentals of language mechanics. Many of these ideas will work across middle school, but I wrote these ideas with sixth grade in mind.
Whether you enjoy station work or coloring, there’s something here for every sixth grade ELA class. You can provide important lessons that will help students as they continually approach more difficult language standards.
Teaching grammar to 6th graders can be an exciting and oh-so important part of their language development.
What are the most important lessons for sixth grade grammar students?
Some important grammar rules for sixth grade students to learn include pronoun agreement, proper use of punctuation (commas, apostrophes, etc.), sentence parts, verb tenses, and capitalization. These foundational language skills will help students communicate effectively and write with clarity.
Here are some things to consider and strategies to implement when teaching sixth grade grammar.
Build a foundation: prefixes, verbs, adverbs, prepositions, conjunctions, nouns.
Start by reviewing the basic parts of speech (nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, prepositions, conjunctions, and interjections) and their functions in sentences. Use examples and provide clear definitions to ensure understanding. The standards focus a lot on pronouns (vague, antecedents) in sixth grade so make sure to come back to that particular part of speech again and again.
When reviewing parts of speech with older students, my suggestion is to make sure the content is not babyish. Tweens do not like when adults “baby” them. Sure, sixth graders have encountered the parts of speech before. Still, if they do not understand the domain-specific vocabulary, like “prefixes,” we must review.
To make the parts of speech mature in presentation, I have two suggestions.
One, give your classes power over their notes. When I taught middle school, students enjoyed flipping books. The books could stay on their desks, would be colorful, and would be hands-on. The flipping books were a middle-ground for notes: not boring, not babyish.
Two, connect the parts of speech discussions to other areas of class. Reading a story? Ask students to find a certain number of nouns, verbs, or whatever. Write the words on sticky notes and sort them into different categories.
The beauty of the foundations of English grammar: you can find examples everywhere.
Add mentor sentences with worksheets and interactive notebooks.
Connect grammar lessons to real-life situations and texts that students can relate to. Mentor sentences from picture books and novels are a great way to incorporate this learning.
If you use interactive notebooks, be sure to build connections between direct instruction of grammar and what they read. When we build those connections between concepts, students retain the information.
Sometimes, ELA teachers dread the grammar worksheet, which I understand. Clobbering students with one worksheet after another becomes dreadfully dry. Adding mentor sentences to the mix helps, and I daresay, mentor sentences are not in the same category as worksheets.
An easy way to add these to your lessons is with older material in the public domain. Many of my students have read or seen the movie version of Little Women. I pulled sentences from that book and turned them into mentor sentences.
Engage through ELA activities.
Incorporate hands-on activities and games to make learning grammar interactive and fun. For example, use sentence-building exercises, word sorts, and coloring activities to reinforce understanding. The more students move when learning, the more they remember. We all know what it was like to have the “sit-n-get” grammar instruction when we were kids!
Task cards are nice alternatives to a standard workbook, as are hands-on pieces. Part of sixth grade grammar includes “talking through” whatever concepts to students. Students this age challenge why they learn concepts. Embrace those questions! Encourage students to think to their futures, about when they will use language and command the power of language for their benefit. Those interactive components (IMO, especially task cards), encourage discussion about why and how we learn about our language.
Finally, approach grammar just as you would a reading or writing activity. We ELA teachers don’t take a worksheets-only-approach with other parts of class; why would we with grammar?
Focus on English pronouns and antecedents.
Pronouns and their antecedents are in the sixth grade language standards. Trust me as someone who teaches introductory college classes: those concepts are here to stay.
Luckily for us, we can teach about pronouns and antecedents with pretty much any reading activity. If a sentence has a pronoun, it should have an antecedent. Show the sentence, circle the pronoun, and draw an arrow to the antecedent. You can do that with writing lessons as well as student writing. Do all of their pronouns have antecedents? If a clear antecedent is not present, they should correct the error.
And?? If a writer does not have a clear antecedent, ask students why. Edgar Allan Poe, for example, often uses vague pronouns to build suspense. Other authors might be deceptive. Again, have an important conversation about language with your classes.
Provide direct instruction for commas and other punctuation.
Acknowledge with students that the rules for English grammar and mechanics can be intense. Personally, when I am writing, I consult resources to ensure I am following best practices for my audience. Show compassion for students, and reassure students that you will help them.
First, you can download the list of comma rules for free. Those lists are nice to share with students because they can consult them as they write.
Second, do not shy away from direct instruction and examples. Some readers are able to gauge where commas are needed, but not always. Then, other young writers still need rules. Finally, the rules can be complex, especially as sentence structure in writing becomes more complex. A basis of understanding punctuation rules allows for understanding as rules become more difficult in the coming years.
Third, practice can be fun. Adding pictures to writing prompts makes lessons a bit silly and a lot memorable. Using commas in writing cements understanding.
Create visual aids to increase comprehension.
Utilize visual aids, such as posters or charts, to illustrate and reinforce grammar rules and increase comprehension. Display these visuals in the classroom, so students have a constant reference point. I also like to make sure they create their own visual aids to keep in their binders and/or journals. There are a ton of resources online for grammar visual aids.
And? I realize that we might not chat about “comprehension” regarding grammar lessons. However, first, students must comprehend the actual definitions of grammatical terms. Second, a solid understanding of grammatical features increases reading comprehension. Just as we use visual aids or anchor charts with literature, we can with grammar as well.
Connect grammar in writing.
Emphasize the importance of applying grammar rules in writing. Provide opportunities for students to practice grammar skills through writing exercises, such as creating descriptive paragraphs, writing dialogues, or editing sentences for grammatical errors.
A quick (and basically prep-free) activity that works is a group writing project. Give each group a sheet of blank paper. Either provide a story starter or encourage them to start a fun story. After one sentence, the student should pass the paper to a peer.
To practice rules, display whatever grammatical concept or rule each sentence must implement. Another option is to provide a list of rules, and let students decide which rule to implement.
Of course, any writing assignment will work. As you work on sixth grade grammar standards, reiterate the rules in application to student writing.
Individualize feedback.
Provide specific and constructive feedback on students’ written work to address their grammatical errors. Focus on one or two grammar concepts at a time, gradually building their understanding. When you try to focus on too many concepts at once, everyone just ends up getting frustrated…including YOU!
For example, if students are confusing words, mark two or three examples. Then, ask the writer to see you for help. Assign a set of task cards to sharpen the student’s skills. You could also have the student verbally explain the differences after practice.
Another option is to return the paper, allow the student to review, and then accept corrections. I don’t see this situation as more work for myself. The student must review previously learned materials and make the corrections.
Use technology.
Incorporate educational technology tools such as grammar-checking software or online quizzes to enhance grammar instruction and provide immediate feedback.
For sixth grade grammar, don’t shy away from using “drag and drop” activities. When students separate different components (action and linking verbs, for example), you can advance their thinking skills with well-placed questions. How do they know the difference of verbs? Where is there confusion? What is the purpose of understanding these differences?
Self-grading quizzes are miraculous time-savers. Plus, not every student needs to practice each concept. As you grade, keep a running list of which topic for each student to address. Digitally assign each quiz, and students will not know what everyone is practicing.
Play grammar games and online resources.
Introduce online grammar games, interactive websites, or educational apps that offer engaging grammar practice and reinforcement. Sixth grade grammar lessons are the perfect opportunity for fun.
Grammar sorts are the perfect opportunity for a gaming experience. For instance, if students should review simple and compound sentences in regards to comma use, sort different sentences into a “simple” and “compound” piles. You can have groups race. You can also sort them together on anchor chart paper and then draw conclusions. What do students notice about simple sentences? Where are the compound subject or verbs that still exist in a simple sentence? Then move to compound sentences.
Check Spelling: confusing words and homophones.
They’re confusing, for sure.
Teaching every possible confusing set of words would take time teachers don’t have. My goal is to raise awareness with students, to target the most frequent confusion, and to encourage students to realize when they should check for errors.
Additionally, model dictionary use for how to choose the correct word. “Effect” and “affect” is an appropriate example for modeling. Both words can be used as nouns and verbs, so writers must determine the word’s use and placement in the sentence. As you are modeling, you can use the domain-specific vocabulary you reviewed earlier in the year.
Part of sixth grade grammar lessons should be encouraging students to take ownership of their learning. As they understand resources are available for their to make corrections, the more invested in learning they become.
Share continuous assessment.
Regularly assess students’ understanding of concepts through quizzes, worksheets, or short assignments. Adjust your instruction based on the results to address any knowledge gaps. One quick way to gather data is with exit tickets. To close sixth grade grammar discussions, have each student write a definition or example from the day’s lesson.
Often times, grammar gets a bad rap. It can be as boring or as fun as you and the students make it! If you search around this website, you’ll find many tips for making grammar an enjoyable and fun part of your language arts classroom.
Final engaging tips!
Remember that grammar instruction should be balanced with other aspects of language arts to ensure a well-rounded language development experience. Sixth grade grammar demands many skills while considering the language standards. Middle school students’ grammatical knowledge will be tested and increased in the coming years. Teachers during these years are setting a strong foundation for those future lessons.
With creativity and well-placed tools, you can bring fun grammar to your middle school classroom, learning to your classes, and passion about language to everyone.
