Determine meaningful grammatical contexts for students. Constance Weaver, an expert on teaching grammar in context, states that one goal of teaching grammar is having students "develop sentence sense through wide reading." Therefore, selecting books that are age-appropriate and interesting to students, or having students select these books themselves, is crucial. If students are frequently reading effective grammar in novels, they are more likely to recognize effective grammar in other novels. Exposure to effective grammar provides a model for students' writing.
Ask students to write their own stories. Using paper and pen, students can create their own resources for practicing grammar. For example, a student might write the following sentences. "Chloe is my sister. She got her license. The car was destroyed." Because the student has written the sentences, she is more likely to be invested in telling her story effectively. Instruct the student to combine the sentences. "When Chloe, my sister, got her license, the car was destroyed." After the student has combined the sentences, tell her that she has just created an "appositive" or a noun that restates the noun preceding it. Discuss reasons why a combined sentence might be more pleasing to the ear than several shorter sentences.
Discuss the power dynamics that exist in writing. The sentence "When Chloe, my sister, got her license, the car was destroyed," masks an important point: someone destroyed the car. Ask the student who destroyed the car and why she chose not to say. Did she not want to place blame on Chloe? Did someone other than Chloe destroy the car in a more complicated story? Generate a discussion about why people mask meaning in language. After this discussion, name the grammar point with the term "passive voice."