One-day course: English Grammar for Teachers

Jan 23, 2017

Overview

The new national curriculum requires school teachers to teach English grammar, starting in primary school.

On this one-day course you’ll learn about grammatical subject knowledge that is required for the national curriculum, and explore ways of teaching it that's engaging and fun for your students.

The course is designed to help primary and secondary school teachers who:

feel uncertain about their knowledge of grammar and want to improve their confidence in teaching it;
want to be able to teach English grammar in a fun and engaging way;
want to refresh their knowledge of English grammar.

The course covers the key concepts of English grammar as laid out for each key stage in the national curriculum.

It’s taught by UCL experts and is brought to you by the team that runs Englicious, a free online learning and teaching resource for English grammar.

You can book here.

What is Englicious?

Englicious is a free online English grammar resource for primary and secondary schools. It includes lesson plans, exercises and projects that you can carry out with your pupils.

It’s based on extensive research into contemporary written and spoken English grammar and includes fun lesson plans that look at traditional English, as well as contemporary sources like Dizzee Rascal.

Englicious is structured around the 2014 UK National Curriculum.

Watch a video about Englicious and how it is used in the classroom.

Course aims and content

This course is completely tailored to the 2014 UK National Curriculum, so you can be confident that you’ll learn about English grammar as specified in the curriculum.

You’ll have access to the latest research and training from leading UCL academic experts in the field of English grammar.

The course aims to help you:

understand the basic concepts of English grammar, as laid out in the national curriculum
develop a stronger command of key English grammar terminology, as used in the national curriculum
develop confidence in using grammatical terminology
improve your ability to analyse the grammar of texts
help you use grammar to improve your pupils’ reading and writing skills
learn how to use the Englicious website

Who this course is for

The course is designed for school teachers teaching at primary or secondary level, with any level of experience.

It’s ideal for those who:

are new to English grammar;
feel uncertain about their knowledge of grammar;
have taught for years, but might need guidance on new or revised terminology and concepts.

How is this course different from the course Teaching English Grammar in Context that you also offer?

The course Teaching English Grammar in context is designed for secondary school teachers at Key Stages 3-5. It applies the knowledge gained in this course by:

exploring ways that grammar can be integrated into analytical and creative teaching activities;
applying grammatical knowledge to a range of literary and non-literary texts;
examining how grammar works as a meaning-making resource;
developing your own knowledge of English grammar and grammatical terminology;
learning how to use the Englicious website.

Run this course as an inset day

If you’re interested in running this course as an inset day, please contact the Survey of English Usage team by email on ucleseu@ucl.ac.uk to discuss.

Benefits of taking this course

For teachers

You’ll build confidence in dealing with grammar in the classroom;
You’ll meet other teachers and discuss ideas and issues;
You’ll study at UCL’s Institute of Education (IOE), a world-class leader in the field of teaching and pedagogy.

For pupils

Pupils will learn about grammar in a fun way;
They’ll learn how grammar can help them understand how authors use language in novels, plays, etc.;
They can use the resources on Englicious to practise what they've learnt and test their knowledge;
They can improve their confidence in grammar;
Englicious will help pupils improve their SPaG tests results in Years 3 and 6, or improve A-level results.

For schools

Your teaching staff will be up-to-date with a reliable, authoritative understanding of English grammar terminology as presented in the new national curriculum
Your staff will be confident in the classroom and able to engage and enthuse pupils in grammar as part of the curriculum
Your school will be in a better position to get higher pass rates at all key stages as a result of high quality and engaging teaching in an essential part of the curriculum
Your school will be meeting the requirements of each key stage in the national curriculum

Read about a teacher’s experience on this course.

Structure, teaching and certification

The course is designed as an interactive seminar. You’ll learn to identify key elements of English grammar using rigorous sets of criteria.

You’ll apply those tools to real examples of language, step by step.

Over the course of the day you’ll move from identifying single, simple grammatical features towards identifying more complex structures and relationships.

This approach, using clear criteria and a consistent toolset, provides you with the means to analyse a wide range of English sentences in the classroom.

You’ll be introduced to the Englicious website and taught how to use it effectively.

A certificate of attendance will be issued on request for those who attend the whole day.

Learning outcomes

By the end of the course you should:

be able to identify the grammatical concepts that students need to know about as set out in the 2014 UK National Curriculum;
be able to distinguish between grammar and meaning, along with the different approaches to language that they represent;
be able to distinguish between grammatical form and grammatical function;
feel confident in the methods used to analyse English grammar, and use that confidence to enthuse your students in the classroom.

Testimonial