Have you ever tried to talk to your students about grammar and their eyes glaze over and they give you that blank stare? It just feels so abstract to them. Half the time they don’t even know what “direct objects” are in English, nevertheless in Spanish. So it begs the question, how do we effectively talk about grammar in our classrooms? Blaine Ray first developed the concept of pop up grammar as mentioned in his book Fluency Through TPR Storytelling. I fell in love with the concept but struggled how to adapt it to my school’s curriculum which was tied heavily to a textbook. Curious how I blended the two ideas together? Read on to find out how I teach grammar without the groans.
How to Begin
First, I give my students LOTS of exposure to the grammar in context. I use cultural reading passages, short stories, & task cards. For example, to start, students understand that “tengo” means “I have” without having to know that it is a “yo-go verb” in the present tense. This is a much more natural approach to learning language. Think about how a little child learns Spanish. No adult tells them that tengo is a yo-go verb. They just understand the meaning via context.
Pop Up Grammar
Then, once students have seen the grammar in action over the course of several days, I do a pop up grammar lesson. I give them a 1 page guided notes summary of the topic. We go through it together so there is no confusion. This helps my left brained students that want to see things orghanized and it also bridges the gap if they have teachers in the future that are more grammar based.
The beauty is that since students have already seen the grammar in context, the conjugation charts or labels like “stem changing verbs” aren’t so intimidating.
Curious what my pop up grammar lessons look like? Check them out here! You will find that your students are much more receptive to learning about the grammar once they have already seen it in context.
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