How to Create Grammar Exercises for Middle School

When you are an English teacher, you want to give the most age appropriate exercises for your class. You want them to be challenged, but you don’t want them to be overwhelmed. Grammar exercises for middle school fall into this category.

Goals for Middle School English Grammar

Middle school are those grade years just above elementary school and just below high school. They encompass Grades 6 to Grade 8.

Some teaching goals you should have for Grades 6 through 8 include:

6th grade: As the school year closes, 6th grade students should be reading non-fiction texts with ease. They should be able to analyzing them more deeply as well. They also should be gaining familiarity with researching and gathering evidence for writing assignments.

7th grade: By the end of this grade level, 7th grade students should be examining texts more closely. They should be able to analyze relationships within text and between multiple texts. They should have a firm handle on the grammar rules needed to create writing that is clear, concise, and well-structured.

How to Structure Exercises That Meet the Above Criteria?

Customize Your Grammar Exercises for Middle School

As a teacher, feel free to borrow and then customize to suit your needs. There are a number of resources that are available online.

Your students may find the exercises too hard or too easy. Because you know them best, you are in a position to adjust accordingly.

Assign Book Reports

Reading the books help your middle schoolers developer their comprehension skills. Asking them pointed questions about what they’ve read helps with their research and evidence gathering skills.

Writing Project Briefs

If you are run out of reading tasks, writing project briefs is a great way to provide targeted practice in other areas. Every student can submit their project brief to the teacher.

Make the Exercises Fun

This goes without saying. Students of all ages learn best when they enjoy learning.

Don’t Forget Formal Instruction

While you want your classes to be fun, sometimes the lessons just have to be “by the book” as well. Use your schema and the available texts to guide you.

Some Grammar Exercises to Create for Middle School

Diagramming Sentences Practice: Adjectives, Adverbs and Articles
Mentor sentences
Creating their own poetry
Types of Sentences – Declarative, Interrogative, Imperative, Exclamatory.
Parts of Speech
Book reports

To Wrap Up

Students at this age should have a large list of vocabulary words. They should also know a number of sentence structures that they can practice at the start of a lesson.

They also need a number of activities that will stretch their creative muscles and build foundational skills such as grammar, spelling and sentence structure.

This process needs to be reinforced with formal instruction and reinforcement by adults during and after the lesson.