Grammar instruction is SOOOO important in middle and high school English Language Arts education! I cannot speak for anyone but myself BUT I do feel like grammar is the thing that many teachers leave for last or teach in complete isolation. I know that I did and we cannot do that! 

But how do we teach it, without doing those things? There is so much of it! I wanted to make it easier for you (and myself). So I went to the standards.

Using the Common Core State Standards to align our grammar instruction vertically ensures that students are equipped with the skills necessary to become proficient readers, writers, and communicators. Grammar isn’t just a writing skill. It aids our comprehension of tough texts!

So, below is a list of grade-level appropriate grammar topics that align with the standards for grades 6-12. These are split between topics that should be a review and topics that will likely be new for students. Ideally, these should not be taught in isolation, but, instead, taught and reinforced through reading in context AND with writing instruction. 

Grade 6 Grammar Lessons

Things to Review:

• Parts of speech: nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, conjunctions, interjections, and prepositions (CCSS L.3.1a, reinforced in L.4.1, L.5.1)
• Simple, compound, and complex sentences (CCSS L.5.1a, reinforced in L.6.3a)
• Present, past, and future tense (including progressive forms) (CCSS L.5.1b, reinforced in L.6.1e)
• Capitalization rules (e.g., proper nouns, titles) (CCSS L.3.2a, reinforced in L.6.2a)
• Punctuation: commas, semicolons, colons, apostrophes, quotation marks (CCSS L.5.2a, reinforced in L.6.2)
• Subject-verb agreement (CCSS L.5.1c, reinforced in L.6.1e)

Things to Teach New:

• Identifying and using clauses and phrases (CCSS L.6.1a)
• Avoiding misplaced and dangling modifiers (CCSS L.6.1c)
• Ensuring pronoun-antecedent agreement (CCSS L.6.1d)

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Grade 7 Grammar Lessons

Things to Review:

• Dependent and independent clauses (CCSS L.6.1a, reinforced in L.7.1a)
• Pronoun agreement in number, person, and gender (CCSS L.6.1d, reinforced in L.7.1b)
• Prepositional phrases for adding detail and structure (CCSS L.4.1e, reinforced in L.7.1a)
• Commas in compound and complex sentences (CCSS L.6.2a, reinforced in L.7.2a)

Things to Teach New:

• Subordinating conjunctions and relative pronouns (CCSS L.7.1a)
• Reflexive, relative, and intensive pronouns (CCSS L.7.1b)
• Perfect verb tenses: future perfect and past perfect (CCSS L.7.1c)
• Appositive phrases for additional information (CCSS L.7.1a)
• Semicolons for connecting independent clauses (CCSS L.7.2a)

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Grade 8 Grammar Lessons

Things to Review:

• Modifiers: correcting misplaced and dangling modifiers (CCSS L.6.1c, reinforced in L.8.1)
• Using adverbial and adjectival phrases effectively (CCSS L.7.1a, reinforced in L.8.1)
• Subject-verb agreement in complex sentences (CCSS L.6.1e, reinforced in L.8.1)
• Conjunctions: coordinating, subordinating, and correlative (CCSS L.7.1a, reinforced in L.8.1)

Things to Teach New:

• Compound-complex sentences (CCSS L.8.1a)
• Sentence fragments and run-ons: identifying and correcting (CCSS L.8.1a)
• Parallel structure in writing (CCSS L.8.1b)
• Colons for emphasis and clarification (CCSS L.8.2a)

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Grade 9 Grammar Lessons

 Things to Review:

• Using perfect tenses effectively (CCSS L.7.1c, reinforced in L.9-10.1)
• Adverbial and adjectival phrases (CCSS L.7.1a, reinforced in L.9-10.1)
• Parallelism in lists, comparisons, and paired ideas (CCSS L.8.1b, reinforced in L.9-10.1)

Things to Teach New:

• Using sentence variety for effect (CCSS L.9-10.1a)
• Ensuring verb tense consistency in narratives and essays (CCSS L.9-10.1b)
• Pronoun case: subject, object, and possessive pronouns (CCSS L.9-10.1c)
• Relative pronouns: correct use of who, whom, whose, which, and that (CCSS L.9-10.1d)

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Grade 10 Grammar Lessons

Things to Review:

• Independent, dependent, and relative clauses (CCSS L.7.1a, reinforced in L.9-10.1)
• Semicolons, colons, and dashes for independent clauses (CCSS L.8.2a, reinforced in L.9-10.2)
• Parallelism in writing and speech (CCSS L.8.1b, reinforced in L.9-10.1)

Things to Teach New:

• Subjunctive mood: hypothetical or contrary-to-fact statements (CCSS L.9-10.3a)
• Appositive, participial, and gerund phrases (CCSS L.9-10.1a)
• Advanced sentence structures: combining sentences with conjunctions (CCSS L.9-10.1b)

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Grade 11 Grammar Lessons

Things to Review:

• Pronoun-antecedent agreement (CCSS L.6.1d, reinforced in L.11-12.1)
• Sentence fragments and run-ons (CCSS L.8.1a, reinforced in L.11-12.1)
• Complex sentence structures with subordination and coordination (CCSS L.9-10.1b, reinforced in L.11-12.1)

Things to Teach New:

• Using participial and infinitive phrases effectively (CCSS L.11-12.1a)
• Dangling modifiers – advanced correction (CCSS L.11-12.1b)
• Active vs. passive voice in formal writing (CCSS L.11-12.3a)

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Grade 12 Grammar Lessons

Things to Review:

• Subject-verb agreement in compound and complex sentences (CCSS L.6.1e, reinforced in L.11-12.1)
• Modifiers and parallelism for clarity and precision (CCSS L.8.1b, reinforced in L.11-12.1)

Things to Teach New:

• Rhetorical grammar: using grammar for style, tone, and voice (CCSS L.11-12.3a)
• Advanced syntax: periodic, loose, and balanced sentences (CCSS L.11-12.1b)
• Inversions for emphasis and stylistic effect (CCSS L.11-12.1c)
• Nominalization and word choice refinement (CCSS L.11-12.3b)

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I KNOW that our students come to us without a solid foundation. I have been there… with 8th graders… who say they don’t remember what a noun is… I GET IT! 

BUT when we look at the “Things to Teach New” categories, each of these grade levels should only be responsible for 3-5 new topics. We can ABSOLUTELY make that a priority. And when we make the new materials a priority, the review items WILL BE reviewed! After all, we can’t teach modifiers if we don’t also review the parts of speech. It feels like a never ending battle but we can do this!

Grammar lays the foundation for students’ reading comprehension. It is SOOOO important! By mastering these skills, students will be able to comprehend at a more complex level and they can develop their writing abilities and communicate more effectively.

I have also found that it is helpful to create a little buy-in with students before diving into grammar for the year. Try this free activity with your students and show them how beautiful words can be.

What do you think about this list? Tell me in the comments.