Elementary School Grammar Lesson Plans and Homework Help

What Essentials of Elementary School Grammar Should My Child Know?

Elementary school students learn about different parts of speech, including nouns, pronouns, adjectives, verbs and adverbs. They study comma usage, possessive pronouns, verb tenses, contractions, homophones and sentence types. Other skills include correcting run-on sentences or fragments, as well as checking subject-verb agreement. Your child can use the suggested activities to practice grammar, and you can provide homework help with the tips below.

What Are Some Grammar Activities and Games for Elementary Students?

Action Verbs Memory Game

Cut out images of people or animals performing such actions as sitting, standing, running and jumping, and paste them onto index cards. On separate cards, write the action verbs that go with the pictures. Scramble the cards and lay them face down on a table. To play the game, your child turns over two cards at a time. She keeps the cards if the image and action verb match; otherwise, she puts them back and has to remember where they are as she continues the game.

Parts of Speech Activity

Review parts of speech with your child based on what he is learning in class. Make flash cards by writing several words for each of these parts of speech on index cards. Include the part of speech on the back and shuffle all the cards. Show the cards one-by-one to your child, asking him to guess the part of speech as he looks at each word. Then challenge him to write a sentence using the word.

Sentence Strips

This activity is designed for upper elementary students. Write several sentence fragments and run-on sentences separately on strips of paper and put them in a jar. Ask your child to choose 2-3 strips and identify them as fragments or run-ons. Encourage her to turn fragments into complete sentences and correct run-ons. Do this activity daily until the jar is empty.

How Can I Help My Child with Homework?

In addition to using grammar games and activities to help your child learn, you can also provide homework help. Here are some ideas:

1. Make sure you have a good grasp of grammar before helping your child. You can find grammar refresher resources online that explain basic concepts, such as clauses and fragments, parts of speech, parts of sentences, types of sentences and common errors.
2. Keep a grammar guide on hand or bookmark an online version so you can research any grammar questions. Show your child how to use it so he can look up information on his own.
3. If your child is having difficulty with a grammatical concept as he's doing his homework, find a fun online game for him to play that reinforces the concept. Give him some time to play after he finishes his assignment. Afterwards, ask him to self-check his homework.
4. Review your child's homework with him to make sure he understands everything. Go over any mistakes, explaining and correcting his errors in a simple and respectful way. Be sure to ask if he has any questions.