5 Ways to Make GRAMMAR Engaging for 3rd Graders

Here are 5 ways to make grammar for your 3rd graders engaging!

There are some common developmental traits when it comes to 8 and 9 years olds.

First, 3rd graders tend to love learning but often can tire quickly.

3rd graders are full of ideas and curious to learn, but many can’t sit still for long amounts of time.

These developmental traits can make teaching a traditional grammar lesson difficult, and we need to make sure to take their learning needs into account when brainstorming lessons!

So, how can we teach grammar to hold these 3rd graders’ attention?

I have 5 ways that will make grammar engaging, fun, and get these 3rd graders listening and wanting to learn their grammar!

Keep reading to learn about how to get your students actually enjoying learning their grammar

And don’t forget to scroll to the bottom to get your FREE reading comprehension worksheet!

#1: Keep grammar for 3rd graders short & simple

Remember – teaching grammar to 3rd graders does not need to drag on and on.

In fact… it should be the opposite!

Grammar is definitely a topic that is best learned in chunks.

Making a grammar lesson into something done every day in a small way is going to get kids more used to grammar and how it’s taught.

It’s much less overwhelming to do a little bit of grammar each day than long chunks once a week.

How can we make teaching grammar a daily practice?

15 minutes a day.

Make it morning work.

Make it a literacy station.

Do it at the beginning of writer’s workshop or your reading block.

Find a small chunk of time during the day and make it happen.

I have a digital Grammar for Google Classroom product that is perfect for a daily routine – assign one or two Google Slides to students a day.

Prefer paper?

I have the BEST grammar color-by-number worksheets that are amazing for daily morning work or during a literacy station (check them out HERE!).

#2: Go digital!

Technology is a different way of learning for students that often makes it more enjoyable for students.

Technology often captures a student’s attention very quickly, which let’s be honest, is much needed when it comes to grammar.

Make the grammar learning process more dynamic for students by incorporating technology into your day!

I have a product called Grammar for Google that your students will absolutely love – it’s a bestseller for a reason.

Bye-bye, boring grammar worksheets!

It covers a total of 16 grammar topics and has over 100 activities.

It has SO MANY interactive features to it, such as drag-&-drop features as well as short answers.

Your students will actually enjoy grammar when using this product. 

One teacher said “This is an amazing resource to use to review grammar skills. It’s easy to use and assign to students. An excellent way to get a quick check on how they’re progressing with these standards. ”

Teachers find that student enthusiasm and confidence grew with each new grammar skill practiced.

The interactive features made grammar feel more like a game… and less like schoolwork!

Click HERE to check out Grammar for Google Classroom.

#3: Real-life grammar hunts

Grammar hunts are super fun and can be used literally ANY time during the day.

How do they work?

Pick a part of speech. For example, nouns.

Read a passage or read-aloud, then use post-it notes to label all the nouns that students identify.

Making real-life connections is so valuable in grammar to truly understand the WHY.

Grammar isn’t just an isolated topic – we literally see and use it every single day.

Grammar hunts are fun but also powerful!

You’ll love seeing how excited that students get to find their grammar

#4: Gamify the learning process to make grammar fun for 3rd graders

Gamification is a huge educational trend right now, and it’s easy to see why teachers (and of course students!) are loving it.

Think Jeopardy-style review, quizzes, and games like BINGO!

Heck, take a quiz you already have and put people into teams and turn it into a competition!

Don’t reinvent the wheel, just take something that you already have and put a game “twist” on it.

Incorporating competition and rewards can make something not so fun become a lot more fun!

Charades is also a fun way to review grammar (for example, students have to act out a part of speech or a type of sentence! It’s super silly and funny to see what they come up with!).

#5: Bring in group activities

This age group LOVES collaboration – so bring collaboration into your grammar lessons!

3rd graders love working in groups and being social, so let them be social while learning and reviewing their grammar!

Skits work surprisingly well with grammar.

How about students are put into groups and act out grammar rules? (This one is hilarious what kids come up with).

Do a jigsaw activity where students become an “expert” on a particular grammar topic (such as assigning 1/4 of your class adjectives, 1/4 of your class nouns, 1/4 of your class verbs, and 1/4 of your class adverbs).

Then, put students into groups of 4 where each student is an “expert” on a different part of speech.

They can teach each other their specialty!

Where can I get more 3rd grade grammar products?

You can get tons of grammar products (both digital and paper) at Glitter in Third on TPT!

Click on the links below to check them out:

• Grammar Color By Number Worksheets (paper)
• Grammar Interactive Notebook (paper)
• Grammar for Google Classroom (digital)
• Grammar Pixel Art (digital)

Need more blog posts on GRAMMAR?

I have other blog posts that I think you’ll love when grammar.

Click on the links below to check them out:

• Digital games and activities for subject and predicate
• How to make teaching grammar fun
• How to teach common and proper nouns
• The 4 Rules to live by when teaching singular & plural nouns

Want a reading comprehension freebie?

Are you new to color-by-numbers?

Make sure to download my Reading Passage & Question Color-By-Number FREEBIE!

It’s super fun for students (and doesn’t take an entire class period to complete, like some reading comprehension passages!)

It’s no-prep, fun, and super easy to grade (just peek at the picture!)

Sign up below to get this color-by-number freebie sent directly to your inbox!

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