Grammar Unlocked: How to Streamline Lesson Planning with GenAI

Grammar may not always steal the spotlight in ESL teaching, but it's the foundation for clear, precise, and confident communication.

In helping our students achieve their goals, we strive to balance digestible explanations of grammar forms and rules with authentic communication practice that provides learners ample opportunities to overcome L1 interference.

Here’s where GenAI proves to be a game-changer. Building on my previous blog, Leveraging GenAI for Online Lessons: Level Up Your Vocabulary Game, this entry will explore how GenAI can revolutionize planning grammar lessons, making the process easier and more efficient.

Getting Started: Defining Your Grammar Objectives with GenAI

I often use GenAI to streamline lesson planning—and so can you! In less time than traditional methods, you can curate definitions, rules with examples, and targeted practice exercises that align with the dual teaching objectives of fluency and accuracy.

Let’s look at a real-world example. I recently received a custom request from a student wanting to learn modals. Since I initially didn’t know which modals or purposes the student wanted to focus on, I crafted GenAI prompts to guide my lesson plan.

Here are the prompts I used:

• List 8 English auxiliary verbs and provide their conjugations and simple present/past tense changes.


• In 10 words or fewer, explain the purpose of the 8 modals you listed.


• List one elementary-level question and one elementary-level sentence that demonstrate each modal's purpose.


• Which sentences and questions above are considered US English and non-US English? Which are formal?


• What are the 10 most important grammar rules for an elementary ESL student to remember about making sentences and questions with modals?

The results from these prompts gave me an excellent base to start building my lesson plan.

Curating GenAI-Powered Grammar Activities: A Closer Look

Next, I identified effective practice activities for the target grammar point.

To teach modals, I prioritized activities that enhanced understanding through vocabulary practice, critical thinking about syntax, and meaningful interactions. These criteria guided my selection of sentence completion, transformation, and application exercises.

Form-focused tasks designed to transition students into authentic speaking practice foster flexibility in language use. With this in mind, I crafted new GenAI prompts to generate practice activities. Here are the results:

• Sentence completion: You ___ finish your homework before going out with friends. (Fill in the gap with the best modal.)


• Transformation exercise: I’m not sure if she will come to the party. (Replace "I’m not sure" with a modal.)


• Application exercise: You are planning a group trip with a friend. Use modals to discuss what should be done, what can be done, and what might happen.

Foundational activities like these prepare students for communicative role plays and small talk discussions involving modals. This gave me a fantastic base for building a lesson plan centered around my preferred teaching approach.

Conclusion

As language teachers, we know the value of equipping our students with targeted grammar knowledge while keeping them engaged in meaningful communication.

By integrating GenAI tools into lesson planning, we can streamline the process. AI-generated content and exercises help create lessons that balance form-focused practice with authentic language use—not to mention save time.

This leaves you free to focus on encouraging your students to build real-world communication skills through goal-driven instruction.

Now it’s your turn!

Keen to try this out for yourself? Think about which grammar points you might teach more effectively by using GenAI to create custom examples, context-specific explanations, and ready-to-use practice activities. Then, use the steps above to craft your own prompts!

Sources

Larsen-Freeman, D. (2014). "Teaching Grammar." In M. Celce-Murcia, D. Brinton, & M. A. Snow (Eds.), Teaching English as a Second or Foreign Language (4th ed., pp. 256–270). National Geographic Learning/Cengage Learning.

Brown, H. D. (2016). Principles of Language Learning and Teaching (6th ed.). Pearson.

Thornbury, S. (2000). How to Teach Grammar. Pearson Education.

Rylance, C., & Kevech, A. (Eds.). (2016). New Ways in Teaching Grammar (2nd ed.). TESOL Press.

Ur, P. (2009). Grammar Practice Activities: A Practical Guide for Teachers (2nd ed.). Cambridge University Press.

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