4 Reasons Grammar Notes Aren’t Evil in a World Language Classroom
“Grammar” isn’t a dirty word when it comes to teaching world languages and using Spanish grammar notes doesn’t make you a bad teacher. Handing out Spanish grammar notes doesn’t mean that your students won’t acquire the language or that all you do is drill and kill and fill in blanks. Here are 4 reasons grammar notes are not Satan’s spawn.
Students need a visual guide to the language
Grammar notes provide scaffolding for students to use when working with the language. When done right, notes serve as easy-to-use, quick reference sheets. When I learned the language, learning the formulas to conjugate verbs and language patterns was like unlocking the door to the language.
Getting back in Spanish mode after breaks
After winter and summer breaks, I like to spend a few days reviewing the basic, core grammar skills students need to know like present tense or preterite tense. I use notes to quickly review grammar skills after long breaks.
Need a quick review of the entire preterite tense for students? Grab my free preterite tense quick reference sheet! It’s one page, front and back, that covers regular and irregular verbs, stem changers, and spelling changes.
Personal world wall
I don’t have a lot of space for a word wall that would be easy-to-see for students. A notes sheet can serve as a personal word wall. My irregular preterite notes include a space for the verb meaning if students are struggling to recall a high frequency word. Other times my notes will include common phrases, sentence starters, or other scaffolds to support student output. I encourage students to use their notes as needed and then transition away from them as they acquire the language.
Review for summative assessments
Notes serve as great review material for tests, quizzes, or other summative assessments. When notes are minimal and impactful, students see the value and can use them to review on their own or even with someone who doesn’t know the target language. I rarely make study guides because all the information they need and examples are spelled out in their notes.
Want notes but don’t want to make them? I’ve got several note presentations and student sheets ready to go for you. You can check them out here.
present tense or preterite tense – has a hyperlink, but the TpT does not take you to the source in order to purchase.
Thanks for your comment! The link actually takes you to my TPT store and the “Note” category so you can see all of the notes available. If you’re looking for something specific and can’t find it, email me at lisa@lamaestramch.com and I’ll see what I can do. 🙂