Patty McGee: How to Teach Grammar Without Worksheets, Shame, or Boredom

Grammar doesn’t fail because students can’t learn it.It fails because of how it’s taught.In this episode of the Have a Life Teaching Podcast, I’m joined by literacy expert Patty McGee, co-author of Not Your Granny’s Grammar, to rethink grammar instruction from the ground up.We explore how grammar can be:taught through sentences, play, and inquiryembedded across ELA, science, and social studiesaccessible to multilingual learnersfocused on growth over time, not mastery in a dayPatty shares concrete classroom strategies, including sentence manipulation, low-prep grammar play, and assessment approaches that honor language, culture, and audience.If grammar feels like a compliance task instead of a thinking tool—this conversation shows a better way.Patty McGee Website Not Your Granny's Grammar BookMusic by Aylex