What is the best way to teach grammar to students who are very poor in vocabulary.?

Question

What is the best way to teach grammar to students who are very poor in vocabulary.?

Answer 1

Speak to them in proper English and enhance their vocabulary by using higher level words.

Answer 2

I used to teach elementary school.

One effective method is to create lists of sentences with a

choice of words in parentheses in the sentence.

Example:

First explain the rule. Eg. to go,

Present tense: I go, you go, he goes, she goes  -

Past  - then future - past perfect etc.

Second, make up a page of examples....let the students work in 2 to complete the page.

Bill (went - gone) to the store.

Ann (will go  shall go to the store tomorrow.

Then go back and review the page....ask someone to give the answer...if a students has the right answer, ask them how they knew that was right.  (If they have the wrong answer, just say 'no' and move on.

At the end ask the students to count up how many they had CORRECT. and have them write that number down someplace.  [again ignore errors]

Next day come back with the same sheet of sentences...ask them to do it alone this time.  

Again, let students give the correct answers...let them add up how many they got right...ask then to record their score in the same place as yesterday. Ask how many improved since

yesterday.

Next day use the same sentences but change the order of them on the page and change some names.

correct as above.

Day 4, 5, 6 - take your next  rule...do as above.  

After that new rule is done, hand out a page with the first rule.

Day 7 hand out pages with examples using the two rules all mixed up.  AND ALWAYS , ALWAYS ask students to explain their answers - do not just take a correct answer.

Always ignore error (Skinner's theory) but praise correct- ness.

As you go along, you will have 1 review sheet every day and 1 sheet of whatever rule they are learning.  Takes 5 - 12 minutes after they get the hang of the process...and their watching their improving scores is a real incentive.

Answer 3

try

http://www.neutralenglish.com

Answer 4

In my opinion grammar and vocabulary are two seperate concepts- while vocabulary is interlinked with grammar- they essentially are two seperate skills. Vocabulary is a part of comprehension- being able to understand what you are reading or hearing. However, they are interlinked. I am not sure what age students you are referring to, so I appologize ahead of time if I don't address your question directly.

First, I feel exposure is key. It is important to be a good example. Use proper grammar, and expose them to new vocabulary words in your speech. If a word might be over their head, explain. For example, if you were talking to your class about a difficult problem solving activity, you might say: "Hey guys, I know this problem is tricky- the important thing is to perservere, the more strategies we try, the closer we are to understanding....what do I mean by persevere? When I say persevere I mean to keep at it, and keep trying- even when you feel like quitting... so we need to persevere til' we can come to a solution"

As far as their grammar, you can teach them specific rules, through writing exercises; however, you can also teach them in context. When someone uses improper grammar, don't point it out directly, rephrase what they are saying. For example, a student says "they be playing in the hallway", you say, "who", they say "joe shmoe and suzy q", you say "oooh ok so you are telling me that Joe shmoe and suzy q are playing in the hallway?"

if your students come from homes where proper grammar is not used, and they feel that the way they talk is appropriate, you may want to explain that there are two ways they need to be able to speak: 1. The casual way at home and with friends 2. the professional way- using proper grammar at school and in the work place. Both are fine to use, as long as when they are at school and at work, they use proper professional grammar.  

Read aloud to them, and make sure they are reading often as well. The more they are exposed to proper grammar, it becomes natural. This also opens up room for vocabulary lessons- helping them understand words in the context of a book. Sometimes I just explain things like, "despair" is just a fancy way of saying "sadness". Then I may make it a point to use the word as often as I can- I may say jokingly, and dramatically, "I was soooo full of despair yesterday- (a fake cry), when you weren't here yesterday"

Make vocabulary fun! If in conversation they use words like, "trippin'", "wack", "stupid", make them come up with a definition and synonyms- and make a poster. Explain, from now on, while you are in this classroom, istead of saying those slang words, they will use professional speech- (explain the importance- communication with jobs, going on an interview, being able to get your message across so that people understand)and use the words they came up with in their definition. I just thought of this, but you could make a synonym board: pick one word out of each of their pieces of writing, and put it on a bulletin board.... One side of the board could be labeled "YOU SAY...","....BUT WE SAY..." (we as in our class) so if  a 5th grader is still using the word big, have them come up with another word for big like "gigantic", on one notecard they write "big", on another notecard they write "gigantic" then they place each card on the appropriate side of the board. Having them buy into this "we" is important part of hte process too- starting that classroom community from the get go is key- We are a supportive classroom- We are going to make it through the year- We are going to be better for it- We are going to make a difference- We are smart- We are the best...thats why they put you in my class- the office and teachers hand picked you to be in here because they knew that this is the best class to be in....so they picked the best students to be assigned to this classroom- we have to hold up our reputation of hard working individuals, and sucessful people. We have to be on top of our game- We have to use the very best words to get our ideas across to other people, because everyone in here has SOMETHING IMPORTANT TO SAY- we need to make sure other people take it seriously- that's why you're in here.

Some skills just have to be taught specificially- nouns, pronouns, adjectives, ect. There are some good books, they are in my classroom so i cant remember them specifically but it was something like.. Punctuation Takes a Vacation, and Nouns, Adjectives, and Verbs Go on Vacation. They are great books to use to illustrate the importance of each part of grammar.

One last activity- Come up with a list of nouns, subjects, predicates,  verbs, times, and adjectives. Type them up, part of speech a different color. Put each type in a seperate cup. Students can pull one strip from each cup, and make silly sentences- while the sentences may not make sense, they will have each part that makes it a complete sentence. The kids really love it, and love illustrating their sentences. Sometimes it is hard to make the cards flow.... but set them ups so the kids plug the cards in order. Depending on what colors you choose to make each sentence part- You would just let them know... first is purple, then black, blue, yellow, green, and then orange. They will get the flow of it. Have a diagram and example- let them practice. There is a book with a good list of each type of sentence part, and funny parts that really entertain the kids- i Just cant remember what it is called. Even if you teach highschool- this would be a great activity to jumpstart the year- they would love it- sometimes even highschool kids need simple activities like this- and they will buy in to the whole process.

I dont' know if any of that is helpful, but good luck. Remember teach the specific skills, but make it fun! They will buy in to it! Integrate it into casual conversations with the kids- guide them, and be a good example!

Answer 5

The best way would depend upon each student's current vocabulary level, as I am sure there are no two alike. I would start with one to two syllable words that are easily recognizable -by them. Have each student make up sentences using their own list of say, ten to start, them check for verb conjugation. Word order; subject verb object, then punctuation and capitalization last. Try using sentence diagrams in fun ways, since students love to draw things and make charts. They will eventually make sense of it all. They'll also need more than the usual processing time so be patient. Finally, use three to four syllable words to challenge them. It doesn't matter what grade level they are in, just their proficiency level matters if they are somewhat behind the eight ball, so to speak. Their own input as to what words they use, will increase their output and their interest and motivation will rise to the point of wanting to learn more.