Kindergarten Syntactic Awareness

If you have been frustrated by your students’ ability to write a solid sentence, you just may find this resource to be perfect for them! According to research, traditional, isolated grammar lessons are infective. 

“RESEARCH FROM A PERIOD OF NEARLY 90 YEARS HAS SHOWN THAT TRADITIONAL GRAMMAR INSTRUCTION (HOURS SPENT DIAGRAMMING SENTENCES AND MEMORIZING PARTS OF SPEECH) HASN’T REALLY HELPED AND IN SOME CASES MAY HAVE EVEN HINDERED STUDENTS’ EFFORTS TO BECOME PROFICIENT WRITERS. “

– Michelle Navarre Cleary

So… what should we do to help students improve their ability to write a well-crafted sentence?

Help your students gain syntactic awareness! 

“SYNTAX REFERS TO SENTENCE STRUCTURE; IT’S THE ORDER OF THE WORDS IN A SENTENCE THAT MAKES IT UNDERSTANDABLE TO NATIVE ENGLISH SPEAKERS. NATIVE ENGLISH SPEAKERS LEARN SYNTAX THROUGH REPETITION BEFORE THEY LEARN THE PARTS OF SPEECH AND RULES OF GRAMMAR.”

-MATTHEW LUBIN, “A SIMPLE GUIDE TO TEACHING YOUNG ESL STUDENTS ABOUT SYNTAX”

Exposure to syntax via repetition gives children what some call a ‘grammar ear. It’s the ability to say if something does/ doesn’t “sound right.” This resource ​​gives students structured, daily opportunities to develop syntactic awareness- in 5-10 mins or less! 

Included: 

-9 1-week syntactic awareness routines

-Pre and Post Assessments

-Video instructions for each routine 

-Slides in picture (PNG) format to be easily inserted into your slide show, screen, etc. 

Simply display the slide and have students complete the task in a notebook, wipe-off board, sticky note, or even verbally. Be sure to dig into the discussions that will come from these routines, as this daily exposure is what will help students gain syntactic awareness.