WALKING
THROUGH THE
CURRICULUM
GRAMMAR
CONTENT & LEARNING STANDARDS
CONTENT STANDARDS
LEARNING STANDARDS
5.1 By the end of the 6- 5.1.1 Able to use nouns correctly and appropriately:
year primary schooling,
(a) common nouns
pupils will be able to use
(b) singular nouns
different
word
classes
(c) plural nouns
correctly
and
(d) countable nouns
appropriately.
(e) uncountable nouns
5.1.2 Able to use pronouns correctly and appropriately:
(a) possessive
(b) interrogative
5.1.3 Able to use verbs correctly and appropriately:
(a) irregular verbs
(b) verbs that do not change form
(c) present continuous tense
(d) past continuous tense
5.1.4 Able to use conjunctions correctly and appropriately:
(a) because
(b) so
5.1.5 Able to use prepositions correctly and appropriately:
(a) above
(b) below
(c) beside
(d) next to
(e) between
(f ) near
CONTENT & LEARNING STANDARDS
CONTENT STANDARDS
5.1 By the end of the 6- 5.1.6 Able to use adjectives correctly and appropriately:
year
primary
(a) comparative
schooling,
pupils
(b) superlative
will be able to use 5.1.7 Able to use articles correctly and appropriately:
different word
(a) the
classes correctly
(b) zero article (-)
and
5.1.8 Able to use adverbs correctly and appropriately:
appropriately.
(a) manner
(b) time
(c) place
5.2 By the end of the 6
– year primary
5.2.1 Able to construct interrogative sentences correctly.
schooling, pupils
will be able to
construct various
sentence types
correctly.
Issues and Challenges in Teaching
Grammar To Young Pupils
1. When to move beyond the implicit teaching-learning
of language to more explicit language awareness
and analysis.
2. How to develop children’s understanding of aspects
of grammar in order for them to begin to use their
knowledge and potentially enrich and extend the
creative ways in which they are able to use
language.
3. Many school of thoughts regarding the teaching of
grammar . Is there a single correct way / method /
approach?
LET’S KEEP IN MIND!
 For pupils to develop all four skills (reading, writing, listening
and speaking) the teaching and learning of grammar and
vocabulary is necessary.
 Young pupils are often not able to think in abstract terms, and are
still developing mental concepts. So, they may not be able to
analyse language through a grammatical perspective. The
teacher should avoid using grammar terms (e.g. passive verb,
subject, object) and focus instead on what grammar can do to
achieve communication.
 Lesson plans should include tasks which use grammar to achieve
a goal. Provide a context for the grammar item that is taught.
 Keep in mind that pupils may learn easily but forget quickly.
Recycle new grammar items frequently to help them remember.

Reference: http://www.englishonline.org.cn/en/teachers/teaching-articles/methodology/teach-grammar
Activity 1- How did I do it?
1. Ask a pupil to volunteer to leave the room.
2. The pupil is asked to think of an adverb of manner.
Example: slowly, quickly, happily, sadly etc
3. The pupil comes back to the room.
4. Other pupils give him instructions. Eg: Walk around
the room. Stand up. Scratch your head etc.
5. The pupil does as he is told according to the
adverb of manner he has chosen. Eg: He
scratches his head slowly, if that was the adverb
that he had chosen earlier.
6. The pupil does this action three times and the other
pupils guess the adverb of manner.
Activity 2 – Guess who am I?
1. Think of a person everyone in the class is likely to
know. This could be a famous person (such as a
celebrity), a book character, or even a pupil in the
class.
2. Provide hints about the person using adjectives.
3. Pupils take turns to try and guess who the person is
based on the clues provided.
For example:
Teacher: His eyes are brown.
Pupil 1: Is it Tom?
Teacher: No, it isn’t. His hair is curly.
Pupil 2: Is it Steven?
Teacher: No, it isn’t. He carries a big, red bag.
Pupil 3: Is it Hamid?
Teacher: Yes, it’s Hamid!
Activity 3 – Form Me a Sentence
1 Write down the name of a person, place, thing or idea on an
index card with a particular colored marker. For example, write
the subject "cat" in blue.
2 Look at the list of words that show action. With a different color
marker, write a verb on another index card that can make
sense with your subject.
3. Express a complete sentence by using the two words in a
noun- verb sequence aloud. Trade "noun" cards with your
friends if you like.
4 Next, write an adjective in a third colour. Include articles a, an
and the, which can be written with the same color as
adjectives.
Eg: The naughty
Activity 3
5. Now, think of an adverb and write down in a fourth colour on
another index card.
Eg: quickly.
6. Finally, string your final sentence together by punching a hole
at each end of your index cards and pulling yarn through the
holes until each word is on the string. Capitalize the first letter
of the first word in your sentence.
7. Presto! You can now display your original complete sentence.
Adapted from:: How to Teach Grammar in Primary School | eHow.com
http://www.ehow.com/how_6633202_teach-grammar-primary-school.html#ixzz2Pqlfy8vZ
Activity 4 –Sentence Boggle
1. Get into groups of 3 or 4 and appoint a group
secretary .
2. You have three minute to make as many sentences
as possible from the words in the box.
3. Every correct sentence gets 10 marks each.
4. The group with the most marks wins.
Activity 4 –Sentence Boggle
cartoons
like
films I
great
watches
or watch detective
often
always
never
you
interesting
science fiction
are
romantic
funny
He
do
sports
does
programmes
Likes
she
How
often
is
and
boring
sometimes
Activity 4 –Sentence Boggle
cookies
tea
enjoy
often
plays
always
friend
do
Hates
he
she
Why
sometimes
favourite
seldom
fun
supermarket
I
are
science fiction
exciting
documentary
careful
never
fun
movies
dangerous
is
and
songs
hot
boring
Some Suggested Ways To Teach Grammar
 Language Games
 Songs
 Grammar songs
 Poems
 Stories.
Using activities to teach grammar
WHY?
 Provides a context for pupil’s learning.
 Fun in learning
 Interactive and hands-on
 Help pupils to grasp grammatical concepts better.
 Aid pupils to remember grammar learnt more efficiently.
 Incidental learning takes place.
Conclusion
At the end of the day, our aim in teaching grammar is to enable
pupils to apply what they have learnt in their speech and writing.
Therefore, let us not make the learning of grammar an end by
itself through meaningless drills and endless memorisation. All
teaching and learning of grammar must be done in a meaningful
way so that pupils are able to grasp grammar rules and apply
them correctly. Do not despair if your pupils find it hard to grasp
grammar or take a long time to do so. Remember , English
grammar rules can be logic defying as the English language has
grammar rules and an almost equal number of exceptions to the
rules!! That is why , sometimes, even adults find it hard to grasp
grammar perfectly! So, what more with our children!!
Thank You
Ewe Choy Choo, English Lang. Unit (Primary),
CDD
ewe.choychoo@moe.gov.my