Tonight, as watching "The Biggest Loser" and writing a review worksheet over types of verbs, I was struck with a bit of an idea. What if I turned grammar exercises into a type of competition?
My students hate grammar. Passionately. But they need it. Desperately. Their use of the English language makes me want to skip the country and move to China or India, where they know how to write and speak English.
I cleverly named named their worksheet their "Last Chance Verb Workout" and gave "Trainers Tips" for each section to help make identifying the type of verb easier. I need some advice, though. How do I turn this into a competition? Do I give points for completion/highest score/or something else entirely? Or all of the above? Do I keep it up for the rest of the trimester with all of our grammar lessons? And what sort of prize do I offer? Bonus points? Maybe a free homework assignment for "weekly winners?" If you were in ninth grade,would you like this, or would you think you're teacher was just an idiot and ignore it. I NEED FEEDBACK!!!! Help me, please!
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2 comments:
Hmmm... I think I was the only person I knew in high school who *liked* grammar... (I know, my informal writing doesn't show it much)
Candy is a good incentive (I know it doesn't fit very well with your theme)... give the "winners" of the day a choice of various fun-sized items so they can pick what's most reinforcing for them. If candy's not allowed or something, you could put it up to a vote. Bonus points might also work, but I doubt a free homework assignment would - that's like making them work twice for the same reward.
You could make it more competitive by doing exercises in class on the board, first person with the right answer gets a point toward winning for the day or whatever.
That's about all I can come up with right now... maybe I'll be more inspired later.
I vote for candy too! It works for all ages!! mom
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