5 Engaging Ideas for Teaching Syntax in Secondary ELA

By The Daring English Teacher

Focusing on syntax might be the missing piece to the puzzle when teaching writing in the middle school ELA or high school English classroom. Syntax is the backbone of language; when students have a better grasp of it, they become better, stronger writers.

Teaching syntax in the secondary ELA classroom doesn’t have to be a daunting task. Whether teachers focus on syntax at the beginning of the class period with bell ringers or if they spend dedicated time on syntax-focused lessons, including syntax lessons in your classroom can be very valuable.

How do you teach syntax? You might be asking yourself this question. Luckily, there are many ways to introduce and teach syntax in your classroom - and they don’t all have to be boring.

Here are 5 Ways to Incorporate Syntax in Your ELA Classroom.

1. Sentence Combining

One of the easiest ways to include syntax into your classroom lessons is to incorporate sentence-combining bell ringers into your daily routine.

By adding sentence combining bell ringers into your routine, your students will have daily writing practice where students actively think about syntax and sentence composition every single class period.

I use these Sentence-Combining Bell Ringers regularly in my classroom. Once I teach my students about sentence combining and how to do it, I’ll display one slide a day at the beginning of the class period.

My students will combine the sentences, and then they will share their newly constructed sentences aloud. You can sign up HERE to access a free sentence combining worksheet!

2. Mentor Texts

Another way to help students practice and improve their syntax is by using a variety of sentences from literature and having students annotate those sentences and then draft their own sentences following the same format.

A fun twist for this activity is to have students write sentences related to the time of year, your unit of study, or an upcoming holiday or event. This way, constructing sentences using mentor texts always feels engaging and exciting for the students.

Here is a list of 5 sentences to try this activity with.

"I took a deep breath and listened to the old brag of my heart; I am, I am, I am." - Sylvia Plath, The Bell Jar
“A dream, all a dream, that ends in nothing, and leaves the sleeper where he lay down, but I wish you to know that you inspired it." -Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities
"For poems are like rainbows; they escape you quickly." - Langston Hughes, The Big Sea
"And now that you don't have to be perfect, you can be good." - John Steinbeck, East of Eden
"She was becoming herself and daily casting aside that fictitious self which we assume like a garment with which to appear before the world." - Kate Chopin, "The Awakening"

3. Teaching Sentence Structure and Parts of Speech

If I am completely frank with you, students learn the parts of speech and sentence structure way too early in their academic careers.

As a high school English teacher, I have had so many students come to my class not knowing the parts of speech and various types of sentences. While I know they were taught this information, they didn’t retain it.

That realization is why I created my Sentence Structure and Parts of Speech Units, geared toward secondary ELA students.

Students better understand syntax when we take time to explicitly teach and review the parts of speech and sentence structure.

Here are some units that might interest you:

4. Sentence Expanding Games

Playing sentence-expanding games is another great way to help students focus on syntax and improve their writing. While this can be done individually, it is much more fun in pairs or small groups.

To engage your students in sentence-expanding games, students slowly build a sentence by adding new details to a simple and very basic starter sentence.

For example, you might give your students the introductory sentence, “The puppy played.” Alone, it is a complete thought. You can even point out the subject and verb of this sentence and help students see that even short sentences can be complete sentences.

Once you provide students with the basic sentence, you then give them a series of sentence elements and parts of speech to add.

For example, you might have them add an adjective, and then an adverb, so the students might have “The spunky puppy played energetically.” Then, you can add prepositional phrases, subordinating clauses, and the like to have students slowly build and add detail to their sentences.

5. Teaching Active and Passive Voice

One last way to help students focus on and improve their syntax is to provide students with opportunities to revise, transform, and improve their sentences by teaching active and passive voice.

I like to use this Active and Passive Voice teaching unit which includes instructional slides for direct instruction and multiple worksheets for students to practice this skill.

By teaching students about the different between active and passive voice, their writing will improve and they will gain a stronger sense of syntax.

Additional Resources for Teaching Syntax: