Grammar can feel intimidating for kids wondering, 'What's the point?' Even teachers sometimes struggle with a perfect grasp of the material, defaulting to traditional school grammar frameworks with tidy examples and adapted texts. That's where Brigitte Mahillon, an experienced French teacher, and France Tillieu, a school teacher, step in with their book 100 Ideas for Teaching Grammar Differently, published by Tom Pousse.
This practical guide is designed for teachers, speech therapists, and parents supporting children aged 8 to 14 in discovering language. It features 100 classroom-tested sessions that make grammar intuitive and fun.
As someone who struggled with grammar as a child—and still isn't flawless today—I appreciate how French learning overwhelms with endless rules. This book has become my go-to resource, offering modern, straightforward explanations that outshine my old red Bescherelle grammar guide.
Drawing from three decades of research, experimentation, and classroom practice, this book distills proven methods that truly work.
Mahillon and Tillieu guide students to understand grammar, not just memorize it. Through hands-on activities, kids 'manipulate' sentences and texts: cutting, miming, drawing, transforming, permuting, erasing, comparing, building, and deconstructing. They form hypotheses, test them, read, and write 'in the style of' authors.
Each session starts with discovery, followed by synthesis, extensive practice, and finally introducing terminology—ensuring deep comprehension.
Each child picks an action verb, draws it on a sheet, and writes the shortest possible sentence summarizing the sketch on the back, circling the verb. They share drawings; classmates guess the verb. The teacher prompts: 'What did you draw to show the verb?' Kids observe that verbs lack form alone—you need to depict who acts and often what the action targets. This reveals the minimal sentence structure.
Available on Amazon.
