Welcome to Ellii's guided grammar courses! These courses were designed to present lessons on the main grammar targets of the English language in a suggested teaching order along with complementary materials (charts, flashcard sets, lessons using the target in context, etc.).
Teachers can have students work through the grammar courses continuously or in conjunction with other leveled courses in Ellii Folders.
Teachers' Notes
To access the grammar courses, log in to Ellii and go to Folders (in the Saved drop-down menu). Click on the Ellii Folders heading. In our folders, you will see various courses arranged by level and/or theme, including the grammar courses.
Levels
The grammar courses are divided into nine folders. There are seven levels in total, but High Beg and Int levels are subdivided into parts A and B due to the volume of content. The following table contains the course name, the complete level name, and corresponding levels in Ellii's lessons.
If you're wondering which level to use with your students, our Grammar Tests can be used for placement. Note that they are also used for assessment throughout the grammar courses, though there are other assessment options available to you (scroll down to the Assessment section below). See more info on Ellii's Grammar Tests.
| Grammar Course Name |
Level Name |
Corresponding Ellii Levels |
|---|---|---|
| Pre Beg | pre-beginner | Pre Beg, Pre Beg – Beg |
| Beg | beginner | Beg |
| High Beg A | high-beginner | Beg – Low Int |
| High Beg B | high-beginner | Beg – Low Int, Low Int |
| Low Int | low-intermediate | Low Int, Low Int – Int |
| Int A | intermediate | Int |
| Int B | intermediate | Int, Int – High Int |
| High Int | high-intermediate | Int – High Int, High Int |
| Adv | advanced | High Int – Adv, Adv |
Course Content
In each level of the grammar courses, you will find a list of various materials in a suggested teaching order. Materials include:
- Lessons (one or more comprehensive lessons on a grammar target)
- Resources (charts or other handy reference materials)
- Flashcards (pre-made flashcard sets to show in class or online)
- Blog Posts (examples and teaching tips on how to present the target)
- Other Lessons (lessons from non-grammar sections that contain the grammar target in context)
Suggested Order
You can adapt the order and content based on your students’ needs and the length of your course. These materials are in a suggested order, but you do not need to follow this order exactly or use all of these lessons.
You may want to ask yourself these questions: What errors do my students make over and over again? What grammar questions come up in class? Could my learners benefit from additional materials on a certain target, or do they have a good grasp of it after the main lesson?
Keep in mind that you can also use some of the supplementary content for homework, review, or assessment.
Digital Tasks
Most of the suggested lessons have digital tasks so that you can teach your students online or assign digital homework. If you need help using the digital platform, visit our Help Docs.
If you are only able to teach online at this time and you want to use a lesson that is currently only available as a PDF, you can download the Student PDF and email it to your student(s) or you can open it on a shared screen while you teach an online lesson.
Course Content Notes
Targets in each level often have a variety of supplementary material to choose from. Look at the Details column within each Grammar Course folder to help you decide which additional content to use. You can choose supplementary materials that are slightly easier or more difficult if your students are struggling or finding a target too easy. For difficult targets, you may decide to use all the supplementary materials.
Some levels of the courses begin with a review of the main verb tense learned in the previous level. If your students are quite comfortable with that target, you can skip it.
Main grammar targets also contain blog posts that precede the lesson in the suggested teaching order. They contain helpful tips on how to best present the grammar target. Note that the blog posts were written for you, the teacher (though you can choose to share them directly with your students by screensharing or printing them out, if you wish).
Some resources, such as the verb tense resources, are charts that are also included in the grammar notes of the main lesson. You may choose to include them as a handy reference for your students, or you can skip them.
Lower levels often have two comprehensive lessons on a target to choose from. Lessons from our Grammar Practice Worksheets are geared toward teens and adults, while our Fun Grammar Lessons are geared toward young learners. However, you can also choose to do both lessons, especially if your students need more practice with a particular target (and adult learners can always benefit from more illustrations too).
Lower levels also benefit from flashcards in the Flashcard Library. We've included some ready-made sets for you in the folders. You can also create and broadcast your own digital flashcard sets using our Flashcard Player.
Learning Objectives
Here is a brief overview of the grammar targets covered in each level of the grammar courses. (For another overview of the suggested teaching order of grammar targets, click Teaching Order in the drop-down menu of the Select Sort Method filter on our Grammar Practice Worksheets landing page.)
| Level | Grammar Targets |
|---|---|
| Pre Beg | be, have, simple present, nouns, adjectives, yes/no questions, can |
| Beg | be, nouns, articles, there is/there are, subject & object pronouns, simple present, imperative verbs, modals of ability |
| High Beg A | present progressive, adverbs of frequency, adjectives, prepositions of time, prepositions of place |
| High Beg B | parts of speech, prefixes, suffixes, simple past, used to, there is/there are, yes/no questions, wh- questions |
| Low Int | modals of ability (past), non-count nouns, quantifiers, possessive nouns, adverbs of manner, prepositions of direction, simple future |
| Int A | collocations, subject–verb agreement, reflexive & intensive pronouns, gerunds & infinitives, modals of advice, modals of possibility, first conditional, comparative & superlative adjectives, comparative & superlative adverbs |
| Int B | present perfect, present perfect progressive, modals of necessity & obligation, second conditional, complete sentences, conjunctions, tag questions, past progressive, future progressive |
| High Int | phrasal verbs, passive voice, causative verbs, third conditional, past modals, adjective clauses, adjectives phrases, adverb clauses, transition words |
| Adv | passive causative, reported speech, embedded questions, past perfect, past perfect progressive, subjunctive, future perfect, future perfect progressive |
Assessment
There are several ways to assess your students' progress in the grammar courses, both within each level and cumulatively throughout the courses. You may choose to use some of the assessment tools listed below as review and others as assessment.
- Quizzes on each of the main grammar targets within most lessons (Grammar Practice Worksheets and Fun Grammar Lessons) in each level
- Exit Tests that provide a comprehensive assessment for each level of the course
- Verb Tense Reviews that demonstrate students' understanding of the six simple and six perfect tenses, including mixed-tense exercises
- Find Verb Tense Review 1 at the end of Int B
- Find Verb Tense Review 2 at the end of Adv
- Grammar Tests that provide a cumulative assessment of students' progress throughout the courses
- Find Grammar Test 1 at the end of High Beg B
- Find Grammar Test 2 at the end of Low Int
- Find Grammar Test 3 at the end of Int B
- Find Grammar Test 4 at the end of Adv
More Grammar Content
Ellii has many materials that cover grammar targets in a variety of ways. You can search for a grammar target by clicking on the magnifying glass icon in the top right corner of our site, or you can look through the targets on each main lesson section page (links below). Levels that lessons are offered in are listed beside each lesson section. This list also includes some resources that apply to all levels.
- Grammar Practice Worksheets (Beg – Adv)
- Fun Grammar Lessons (Beg – High Int)
- Super Simple Grammar (Pre Beg – Beg)
- Grammar Stories (Beg – Int)
- True Grammar Stories (Beg – Low Int)
- Basic Grammar Sentences (Beg – Int)
- Simple Sentences (Beg – Low Int)
- Grammar & Usage Resources (Beg – Adv)
- Grammar & Usage Blog Posts (Beg – Adv)
- Grammar Videos (Beg – Int with more added every month; find various targets in related Grammar Practice Worksheets lesson or on our YouTube channel)
- Grammar Placement/Exit Tests (Beg, Low Int, Int, High Int – Adv)
- That's News to Me (Low Int – Adv; find authentic news articles for finding grammar in context)
- Verb Conjugations
- Verb Conjugations – Condensed
- Verb Tense Review
We hope you and your students enjoy our guided grammar courses! Stay tuned for more grammar courses in the future, such as grammar in context, grammar for young learners, etc.
If there's a grammar course (or lesson) you'd like to see, please leave us a comment below or get in touch. We'd love to hear from you!
