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Grammar Skills – How to Find Good Grammar Worksheets

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There is a huge demand for grammar worksheets on the Internet. Online grammar worksheets are available for every grade level. You can find sheets that have some instructional component in them, but the vast majority of grammar sheets you will find only have examples and questions.

Quality instruction, whether it is grammar, math, or language, is essential for understanding concepts. The function of the worksheet, on the other hand, is to reinforce learned material. What good is it for a student to practice writing verbs in past tense, or learning about noun-pronoun agreement when he hasn’t had the appropriate instruction (at least not recently)?

Grammar worksheets are secondary to the actual lesson and they vary in quality. That is, not all grammar sheets are created equal. For example, when a student is completing a worksheet on a specific skill, did the creator of the worksheet take in account the common misunderstandings of the concept? Does the writer of the grammar worksheet use examples and questions to help the student differentiate between common mistakes and correct grammar? The same goes for the lesson. Does the educator ‘understand’ the part of the lesson that confuses most students?

This is not to say that the grammar sheets you find online are useless. Quite the contrary, most are okay, but where is the instruction? It is possible to find some high quality grammar worksheets online that contain written instruction, examples, and practice questions. These types of worksheets are much better than the ones which contain only questions.

The following is an example of a grammar worksheet at Tutorgiant.com. As with every lesson, this worksheet is accompanied by an instructional video that clearly teaches the student the concepts and takes up the answers after the worksheet is complete.

Junior English: Grammar Lesson: Suffixes/Vowels

A suffix is a group of letters added to the end of a word. It adds meaning or changes a word’s meaning. The word the suffix is added to is called the root, or base word.

When a suffix begins with a vowel, a change to the base word may be needed.

If a word ends with an e, drop the e and add the ending

Bake – e + ing = baking Make –e +ing = making

If the word ends in a consonant y, (that is, if there is a consonant before the y) drop the y and add ied.

Carry – y + ied = carried Marry –y + ied = married

If the word ends in a vowel y, add the ending:

Play + ing = playing Stay + ing = staying

If the word has a short vowel with one consonant, double the consonant and add the ending.

Sun + n + y = sunny Bat + t + ed= batted

Some common suffixes that begin with vowels are:

-ed -ing -able -er -y -est

Junior English: Grammar Lesson: Suffixes/Vowels

Write the base word with the suffix.

1. love + able = _______________

2. happy + ness = _______________

3. stop + ed = _______________

4. cry + ing = _______________

5. fun + y = _______________

6. identify + ing = _______________

7. lovely + est = _______________

8. ride + ing = _______________

9. enjoy + able = ______________

10. friendly + er = ________________

This lesson began with an instructional video that explained the use of suffixes and vowels. The student had the opportunity to watch the video indefinitely. When the student was comfortable with the concepts, he/she was instructed to complete the worksheet. When the worksheet was completed, the student was instructed to play the video again and follow along by taking up the worksheet answers and correcting mistakes.

This article was not intended to be that of self-promotion (although I think I did a good job at it) . Rather, it was an attempt to show you the difference in instruction that is available to your child. Searching for grammar worksheets (especially free ones) will help, no doubt. Searching for grammar worksheets that also come with good instruction and examples is better.

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Learn'Em Good - Grammar by Stuart Ackerman MSc.Ed.,B.A.

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