Teaching Grammar with Taylor Swift: A Year-Long Curriculum for Middle and High School

Introduction

Teaching grammar can often feel like an uphill battle—endless rules, disengaged students, and the question, Why does this matter? But what if we could turn those grammar lessons into something students actually look forward to? Enter Taylor Swift.

Using Swift’s lyrics as a foundation for grammar instruction not only makes learning relevant but also transforms traditionally dry lessons into engaging, real-world applications. Whether analyzing verb moods in The Man or perfecting punctuation with All Too Well, students will strengthen their grammar skills while exploring one of the most influential lyricists of our time.

I’ve designed two year-long grammar curricula—one for middle school (7th-8th grade) and one for high school—both aligned with core grammar standards while incorporating the magic of Swift’s songwriting.

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Middle School Grammar Curriculum: Building a Strong Foundation

Why Taylor Swift for Middle School?

Middle schoolers are developing their writing style and mastering the fundamentals of grammar. Swift’s lyrics provide clear, relatable examples of parts of speech, sentence structure, punctuation, and figurative language.

Quarterly Overview

• Quarter 1: Parts of Speech & Sentence Structure

• Identifying nouns and pronouns (You Belong with Me)

• Verb tenses (I Knew You Were Trouble)

• Adjectives & adverbs (Red)

• Simple, compound, and complex sentences (The Archer)

• Quarter 2: Punctuation & Mechanics

• Commas and apostrophes (Dear John)

• Quotation marks and dialogue (Speak Now)

• Colons, semicolons, and dashes (The Story of Us)

• Quarter 3: Sentence Fluency & Syntax

• Parallel structure (Out of the Woods)

• Subject-verb agreement (This Love)

• Active vs. passive voice (Bad Blood)

• Word choice and concision (Tolerate It)

• Quarter 4: Grammar in Writing

• Figurative language (Blank Space)

• Sentence variety (You’re On Your Own, Kid)

• Narrative grammar in storytelling (Marjorie)

• Songwriting and grammar (Lover)

Sample Middle School Activities

✅ Punctuation Challenge: Students add missing commas and semicolons to The Story of Us.

✅ Sentence Structure Remix: Rewrite a lyric from The Man in different sentence structures.

✅ Parallelism Workshop: Analyze Out of the Woods and rewrite a stanza with stronger parallelism.

By the end of the year, middle schoolers will have a solid grammatical foundation while honing their analytical skills through Swift’s lyrics.

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High School Grammar Curriculum: Mastering Style & Syntax

Why Taylor Swift for High School?

High school students need to refine their syntax, punctuation, rhetorical analysis, and stylistic precision. Swift’s storytelling offers nuanced sentence structures, parallelism, wordplay, and intentional punctuation choices that serve as models for advanced writing.

Quarterly Overview

• Quarter 1: Advanced Parts of Speech & Syntax

• Pronoun ambiguity (The Man)

• Verb moods (The Archer)

• Concision and word choice (Tolerate It)

• Parallel structure (All Too Well (10-Minute Version))

• Quarter 2: Punctuation & Style

• Semicolons and colons (The Story of Us)

• Em dashes and parentheses (Anti-Hero)

• Quotation marks and dialogue (You’re Losing Me)

• Punctuation’s effect on meaning (The Lakes)

• Quarter 3: Style, Rhetoric & Precision

• Rhetorical devices (Blank Space, New Romantics)

• Active vs. passive voice (This Love)

• Sentence fluency (August)

• Grammar in songwriting (Cornelia Street)

• Quarter 4: Writing & Application

• Grammar in persuasive writing (The Man)

• Narrative grammar (Seven, Marjorie)

• Syntax & pacing in storytelling (Champagne Problems)

• Final project: students write original songs using advanced grammar structures

Sample High School Activities

✅ Rhetorical Analysis: Identify rhetorical strategies in Blank Space and write an argumentative paragraph in Swift’s style.

✅ Grammar for Style: Compare Swift’s use of commas and dashes in The Lakes and experiment with different punctuation styles in their own writing.

✅ Parallel Structure & Diction: Edit and revise lyrics to strengthen their grammatical clarity and rhythm.

By year’s end, high school students will have mastered grammar as a tool for effective writing while engaging with complex, real-world texts.

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Why This Works

✨ Engaging & Relevant: Students are more likely to retain grammar concepts when they analyze texts they care about.

✨ Builds Critical Thinking: Instead of memorizing rules, students apply grammar in analysis and writing.

✨ Supports All Learners: Whether students love pop music or literary analysis, this approach meets them where they are.

Grammar doesn’t have to be boring—especially when it’s set to the soundtrack of our story.

Would you try teaching grammar with Taylor Swift? 🔗 Click the link to access the curriculum!

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1eRYH_gN4wGHohGWCoxgesDkmGKQ5__GX