Do your middle schoolers groan when you mention the word “grammar?” As a former middle school English teacher, I know that teaching grammar can be difficult. Many students don’t understand it, and so they find it to be a boring subject. And honestly, sometimes we teachers aren’t much better! We struggle with explaining the concepts in a way that students will understand, and then we never quite find the right resources that make grammar easier, engaging, and fun for students. Well, fear not, because in this post, I will share some of my favorite activities to help teach grammar to middle school students in a way that is both engaging and effective.
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Why Is It So Important For Students To Learn Grammar?
If grammar is so difficult, why must we teach it at all?
Some teachers may be asking this question during their really hard days, but typically this is like a student question. If students don’t understand the concepts, and they don’t see the relevancy for their lives, then grammar seems antiquated.
However, Grammar is the foundation for all language arts skills. Just as learning to read and write are essential for success in school and in life, so too is learning grammar.
Solid grammar skills help students communicate their ideas clearly and effectively, both in speaking and in writing. It also helps them comprehend the things they read. When students have a strong understanding of grammar, they are better equipped to handle the hurdles school and life will hand them. For example, they’ll be more capable of editing their own work and the work of others, being well-researched and well-read, and getting a professional job one day.
So let’s get started with some fun grammar activities for middle school that your students will actually enjoy!
Fun Grammar Activities For Middle School That Students Will Enjoy
Parts of Speech Scavenger Hunt
This is a fun activity that can be done in small groups or as a whole class. Give each student a copy of the scavenger hunt sheet. Students will then have to walk around the room and find examples of each part of speech. Once they find an example, they will write it down on their sheet.
When everyone is finished, go over the answers as a class. Feel free to include a few prizes, such as First Finished and Most Creative Answer.
One reason this scavenger hunt is so effective in the middle school classroom is because it gets students up and moving around. It also allows them to be creative in their responses. And because it’s a competition, they are motivated to find the best examples possible.
Another bonus is that it works well with the Common Core State Standards for language. With my Parts of Speech Scavenger Hunt activity, your students will demonstrate command of grammar’s basic building blocks for conventions of grammar and usage when writing or speaking (CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.7.1).
Grammar Jeopardy
This is a fun activity that can be played in small groups or as a whole class. It’s a fast-paced grammar game that will have students thinking on their feet!
This game works well as a form of assessment:
- Review or summative assessment at the end of a unit
- Formative assessment in the middle
- Even as a pre-assessment at the beginning of a unit, if you wish.
To play, you will need to divide the class into teams. I usually like to have teams of four, but you could do more or less depending on the size of your class. Once students are in their teams, give each team a white board and a dry erase marker. Students will take turns choosing a grammar category and point value. Once they have chosen, they will write their answer on their white board. If they get the answer correct, they get the points. The team with the most points at the end of the game is the winner! And don’t forget to ask in the form of a question!
You can find a whole list of questions and game set-up instructions in my Teachers Pay Teachers store (coming soon!).
One reason that Grammar Jeopardy works well in the classroom is because it is a fun, competitive way for students to review grammar concepts. It also allows you, as the teacher, to quickly assess which students need extra help and which ones understand the concepts fairly well.
Mad Libs
Who doesn’t love a good game of mad libs? I personally don’t feel like we played this enough in school when I was a student.
It’s an engaging activity that can be played in small groups, as a whole class, or even as an individual writing activity. The way it works is that you, as the teacher, will write a story with blank spaces for different parts of speech. Once students have the story in front of them, they will take turns filling in the blanks with words of their choice. Once everyone has had a turn, read the story aloud. It’s guaranteed to be hilarious!
Mad libs are great for review because they allow students to identify and use the grammar concepts they have learned so far. Not only that, but they get to do it in a fun and creative way.
Sentence Structure Board Game
One of my favorite resources I’ve made is the Sentence Structure Board Game.
It’s a great way for students to practice what they’ve learned about sentence structure in an engaging game activity. It also helps students practice with different types of sentences, and the phrases and clauses within a sentence.
The way it works is that students will choose a card and then they will have to build a sentence using that word. They will roll the dice to see how many words they can use in their sentence. If they roll a one, they have to use the word as an adjective. If they roll a two, they have to use the word as a noun, and so on. The goal is to get to the finish line first!
You can find the Sentence Structure Board Game in my Teachers Pay Teachers store.
Illustrated Misplaced Modifiers
Another fun activity that is sure to get a few laughs is illustrating a list of misplaced modifiers.
In case you’re not sure, a modifier is a word or phrase that modifies or describes another word in the sentence. For example, in this sentence, “Answering the phone, Betty sat in her recliner,” the modifier is Answering the phone because it’s explaining Betty’s state as she sat in her chair.
But a misplaced modifier is a word of phrase that seems to be, well, misplaced and/or doesn’t exactly modify the sentence like it should. For example, in the sentence, “Betty wore a beautiful flowing scarf on her neck, which was clearly too big,” we are left slightly confused. Which item was too big–the scarf or the neck? Because the way the sentence is structured, it seems “big” is modifying “neck,” though that really doesn’t make much sense.
In this activity, students read sentence examples of misplaced modifiers and then they will illustrate them. They can either draw a picture or create a comical scene using clay, small toys, or anything else you might think up. This is an enjoyable way to play with language in order to better understand its rules.
**An alternative version of this activity is Illustrating Prepositions, a resource you can find in my Teachers Pay Teachers store.
Conclusion to 5 Fun Grammar Activities for Middle School Students
I hope you enjoyed these fun grammar activities for middle school students! While grammar is a difficult subject to teacher, there are so many interesting ways to do it. I hope this post gives you a small hint of what’s possible in the realm of grammar lessons.
If you’re looking for more great resources to help teach grammar, be sure to check out my Teachers Pay Teachers store. You’ll find a variety of fun and engaging games, worksheets, and activities to help make grammar fun for your students. Thanks for reading! Until next time, Happy Teaching!
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