Inductive Grammar: the Eureka effect!

At the last stage of the learning journey, after modelling and lots of practice (from input to output) of our Sentence Builders structures, I teach grammar.  However, I do not do it explicitly to start with but inductively. Once students have had many lessons, (several weeks) when they have been exposed, via modelling, to such structures, have practised and consequently memorised and learned our Sentence Builders well (where verbs in the I form mainly, but also in the third persons have appeared "casually" in a given tense), I show them a text featuring that particular tense or grammatical rule. 

By then, students can fluently talk and write about themselves and another person in the present, past or future about a particular topic, and because I have planted the seed for the use of a particular tense and most sophisticated language: “ojalá mi madre fuera”, understanding grammatical rules at this stage is easy and enjoyable for the students as they infer the rules to manipulate our sentence builders and start building their own content. It is the Eureka effect when grammar is welcome and embraced! 

This is the process I use, for example, to teach the Preterite Tense in Spanish with a Y8 mixed ability class, after a few weeks (between 3-6) carrying out tasks at modelling,  production and fluency stages, so everyone can talk about a past holiday in the I form, providing reasons and using some nice expressions: si tuviera la oportunidad me gustaría/ siempre he querido ir a or puede ser.

1. Students read a text with structures from our Sentence Builder but now including all the verb paradigms in the past for ar/er/ir verbs. (I always teach the verb IR in the past first, using this method the previous week). In this text I colour code the verbs I want them to focus on. With a high ability group this may not be necessary. I put them in context "El año pasado" and what we will be expecting! As they already know the first person well. Questioning here is vital! What tense we will find in the text? why? Which coloured words do you recognise? etc.. 

2. Working in pairs or groups, students try, first, to find out what the different colours mean prompted by me. What do green/blue/red verbs have in common?  Remember students have already been exposed to and know well,  the infinitive form of these verbs (Me gusta + infinitive) and the I/he forms.  Given students thinking time and clues accordingly, independently of their linguistic level, they always induce that red verbs are -ar  and green -er verbs.  Very good groups will also induce that the green verbs include -ir verbs and blue are irregular. This is great metalanguage talk! 

3. Once the reason for different colours has been established and everyone agrees that this is the past tense in Spanish, students are invited to induce in groups/pairs what is the rule.  At this stage, I may revise the endings for the present tense and remind them about endings in Spanish.

4. Students write down in mini white board their rules and the endings they could induce and we have a plenary session where all groups expose their ideas.

5. At this stage, I explicitly present the different endings and I complement their explanation of how the Past Tense is formed. Students are given the verb endings in a handout at this stage, for the first time after weeks of studying how to describe holidays in the past. With the interactive dice in the Notebook (picture below), we practise conjugating verbs they are familiar with, including ones from different topics.  The Notebook software also allows me to move the different endings around, which is ideal for grammatical explanations.  We focus on AR verbs, first (with low abilities this will take the whole lesson) and ER/IR verbs afterwards. We use the interactive dice to conjugate different infinitives and check for understanding. I do this, with low ability groups, via mini whiteboards or orally with high flyers.

6. We drill the endings! How? using Taskmagic! But you could use Flippity, Textivate or The Language Gym. The VerbGrid Mode in TaskMagic is perfect for this. I use the flashcard mode or this particular game to be played in 2 teams (connect 4) , orally:

7. We drill the past tense in full sentences not in isolation, modified from the Sentence Builders students have been learning, but now referring to my parent and I, my friends etc... To drill this, I use, again, the activities explained in my previous post but incorporating all persons. 

This 7 staged sequence does not take place in one lesson!  It would be impossible, but in several, as many as needed! Reading and Listening activities need to be incorporated too in the picture before stage 7 and after, for students really assimilate the grammatical structures.

The use of memory hooks, as Steve Smith call them to remember the different grammatical rules is key too!  For example, ABBA plays mama mÍA for endings in the imperfect, all my friends were called -ARON for the third person plural in the preterite. Similarly, looking at patterns is also extremely useful and a must: the fourth person in Spanish always has a "m" etc.. 

Over the years, I found this approach works!  High ability kids will conjugate verbs nicely and less able students are aware of the concept and can conjugate at least two more forms apart from the first person, which they can reproduce fluently, while recognising the other forms.  However, this will require constant revisiting: interleaving. 

A lexicogrammar approach, then, despite what some people argue, incorporate the teaching of grammar! and the analysis of  metalanguage.  The key is when this takes place and how! Rather than in isolation at the beginning of the teaching sequence it is taught as part of a whole continuum, at the last stage of learning, thoroughly planned and executed, allowing students to manipulate the language and start moving away from the sentence builders. By doing this, students do. It feel overwhelmed by the grammar but embrace it in the EUREKA EFFECT!

This is my Y8 Past tense Sequence on Smartboard Notebook.