Grammar that Doesn’t Suck

As you might have guessed, I did not get into teaching English because I love to teach grammar.  I was behind the imbedded grammar lessons as they realted to the students’ writing in their papers when I first started teaching.  Then came the realization that standardized tests ask students to be able to name certain elements of grammar, and I wasn’t teaching my students the needed vocabulary to “slam” those tests. The delimma then became apparent: how do I teach grammar in a way that is fun for me and for the young people in my class?  A powerful reply came when I went to the Colorado Language Arts Society  conference a few years back and went to a presentation by a man named Sam Beeson.  He is a teacher in Wyoming and created an amazing game to help young people learn about grammar imbedded in their own writing called Grammar Punk.  All of the teachers in the workshop were giggling and enjoying the game immensly and I managed to convince my department chair to purchase the game (it isn’t too expensive either)!  I tried the game this year and my students were actually begging to play “that punk game” and learning the rules of punctuation and whatever other aspect of grammar we were working on at the time. The best part was that I had at least as much fun as my students!  Just try it!