Flipping Grammar Class

Flipping the classroom means switching the traditional content of class time and homework.  Lectures that were previously given during classroom time are viewed by students as homework, leaving the class time for clarification, guided practice and demonstration of mastery of the previous night’s content.

I flipped my grammar class, Elementary Grammar and Communication, Fall, 2013.  Instead of lecturing on the many grammar charts every day in class, students watched interactive powerpoints published by grammar guru, Betty Azar (http://azargrammar.com/materials/).  Working at home, students could watch the assigned powerpoint and do the exercises as many times as they needed in order to complete the daily homework assessment accurately.  In class the next day we had time to reinforce what students learned at home by individual and group writing, games and songs.

It was necessary to create the short (five question) homework assessment which students took home with them in order to create individual accountability for doing their homework.  The assessments I developed could not be completed unless the student actually viewed and worked with the Azar powerpoint lessons.

The powerpoints chosen were correlated with the pace and objectives of the CELCIS grammar elementary grammar curriculum, using Grammar and Beyond as the student text.