It’s every language arts teacher’s struggle: how to make grammar and punctuation sexy.
Last year, I poured my heart out to my dear friend, Michele, our school’s 7th grade science teacher. I was jealous, pure and simple, of how easy it was for her to get students interested in science. After all, they got to blow things up. Pet wolves. Test things for radioactivity. Drops eggs from the roof. Dissect stuff. What did I have, prepositions? Verb conjugations? Not much sexiness there. Oh, I had my bag of tricks of some clever writing activities or games, but they just never seemed to match up to homemade green goo you can use to gross out your mom.
To help my fellow language arts teachers who likely feel that sting of the eye-roll when they are about to pass out yet another worksheet, I have collected here some of my favorite games that I have developed and adapted over the years. Some have come to me in the middle of the night or on the way to school; some came to me by way of brilliant colleagues and have been adapted slightly to fit my classroom. And because I am a teacher, I did not have time to write them down all at once; check back frequently for more additions!
Feel free to use these to make your language arts classroom even slightly more intriguing.
To Get Them Writing
Fly That Story
Using a picture story prompt on the projector, instruct students to start a story. Give them 60 seconds or so to write, then tell them to fold their paper into an airplane, stand up, and fly that story across the room to the other side. All students must scramble to find a story, open it up, and continue the story. Give them about 60 seconds for each “round.” You’ll find that they need more time as the stories get longer. Guide them to include the elements of plot (setting, rising action, conflict, climax, falling action, resolution) as you go through the rounds. After six or so rounds, stories should be wrapped up. The last person adds a resolution and a title. Fly them one more time to a reader.
Adaptations/Extensions:
- Students can crumple their story into a ball and throw it at each other.
- Students can simply pass the story to the left, right, front or back
- Have a few or many read their story aloud, checking for understanding for plot elements.
- Allow students to take a story home and produce a clean copy for extra credit or a grade.
- Stories can be revised and edited until they are polished; this can be a great opportunity to work on sentence fluency.
To, Two, and Too Much
This is a fun activity that can be used for a variety of concepts. My students love writing stories together in groups; this affords them the opportunity to review and be creative at the same time.
Review the important words, “to, too, two”, “they’re, their, there”, “your, you’re” and “may, can” using the handout. Next, project a story prompt picture on the screen. Allow students to pick partners or use your own grouping system. Instruct students to write a story with their partners based on the writing prompt using the important words each twice in their story. Allow 10-20 minutes, depending on your schedule restraints. When finished, call on some students to read their story, checking for understanding on the proper usage of the words.
Adaptations/Extensions:
- Tell students to give the story to the most responsible person in the group (this is always fun to watch). That student will take the story home, type it in a final draft-including the group’s names and a title-and bring it back to school the next day. Award the typist a few extra credit points for taking on that task.
- Follow up the next day with a quick assessment of the skills practiced after reading a few stories.
To Get Them Remembering
Grammar Basketball
There’s nothing quite like that feeling when a student says, “I think this game really helped me review for that test!” Before your next test, or if you need a break from the worksheets, try this easy, sure-to-please game.
Divide the class into four teams. I like to hand them index cards on their way in with team names on them, like metaphor, simile, onomatopoeia, hyperbole. Instruct them to sit with their team.
Set a trash can in the center of the room; clear enough desks to allow some shooting room. Before class, put tape down on the floor for two, three, and five point shots in various places and distances from the trash can. I put my trash can on a stool; elevating it increases their odds of making the shot.
Call out review questions over concepts in your unit; these can be grammar, literature, vocabulary, or any combination. Students must raise their team cards to be recognized. I allow teams to confer on their answer; this promotes class culture and helps the lower-skilled kids sharpen their knowledge. If they answer correctly, they send someone to the line to shoot the basket with a wadded up piece of paper. To keep things fair, I enforce the rule that every team member must have a turn shooting. They get to choose the two, three, or five pointer shots. They only get points if they make the basket. Winning team can earn bragging rights, a treat, or special privilege.
Adaptations/Extensions:
- Have each team come up with a cheer that has something to do with their literary technique. Hearing your onomatopoeia team moo or quack or your hyperboles exaggerate about their greatness is sure to bring a smile to your face. Pause periodically to allow the teams to demonstrate their cheer.
- As their ticket out the door, students must present their team card to you and an example of what was on the card (metaphor, simile, personification, hyperbole, etc.).
Noodle Wars
After every season, I scour the stores for clearance items I can use in my classroom. One year I lucked out and found a dozen of those foam water toys that look like giant noodles for a dollar each. My students have had great fun coming up with ways to use these in the classroom. One game we created together is Noodle Wars.
Divide your class into two teams. Have each team send forth a champion to the center of the room, where they are faced off with an opponent, each holding a noodle. Call out review questions. The champion of the team that answers correctly gets to whack the opponent once with the noodle, and they earn a point for their team. Certain body parts are illegal hits (chest area, below waist in the front, and the head). Legs and back are great targets. With this game, I allow students to opt out of the whacking going on. Participation in the center is voluntary; group engagement is not.
Adaptations/Extensions:
- If you don’t have foam noodles, Nerf balls work well, too.
- For the warm-up (bell work) the next day, have students write about which concepts they remember from the Noodle Wars game.
