How to Identify Personal Pronouns Lesson
Students Learn to Sort Subject, Object and Possessive Pronouns
Nov 29, 2008
Pronouns are one of the eight parts of speech. The "job" of the pronoun is to replace a noun. Personal pronouns refer to things or specific people and change in form to show person, number, gender and case.
However, personal pronouns are sometimes confused with conjunctions and verbs of being because of the small size of the words.
Preparation of Pronoun Identification Lesson
To assess whether students can identify pronouns, verbs of being and conjunctions, make 40 Post-its. Make 20 one color and 20 another color. On the Post-its, write a variety of pronouns, verbs of being and conjunctions.
For example write one of the following words on each Post-it:
- Color one: he, for, her, its, we, are, am, is, and, or, has, me, yet, them, it, or, yours, his, its, my
- Color two: you, she, nor, us, had, were, are, but, they, him, been, his, was, had, hers, so, mine, their, I, be
Place three large sized pieces of paper, such as paper from an easel pad on the front board or on a wall. Label the poster size papers: pronoun, conjunction and verb of being.
Create three more large posters labeled subject, object and possessive. Set aside until after the first sort activity.
Sorting Pronouns, Conjunctions and Verbs of Being
Step 1 – Ask for two volunteers. Give each student a different color stack of Post-its. Announce that the first person who sorts the words correctly will win a small prize, such as a piece of candy.
Step 2 – Students will "post" each word on a different sheet of paper on the board or wall. If a student finishes and some are in the wrong place, tell the student which paper has the wrong Post-its. If both of the students have many in the wrong place, they can ask for a "shout out" from the crowd or a helper.
Step 3 – After the winner is given his or her treat, ask both students to sit down. Show the class where the Post-its on the wrong poster should be placed. If neither one of the students sorts the Post-its correctly, send the students back their seats and have the class work together and tell the teacher where to place each Post-it.
Sorting Personal Pronouns
Step 4 – Tell the students that there are many types of pronouns. However, today students will focus on the three types of personal pronouns. Subjective pronouns are ones that act as the subject of a sentence. Objective pronouns act as the object of a verb, a preposition or an infinitive phrase. Possessive pronouns show possession or indicate who owns an object or person. Discuss a few examples of each with the class.
Step 5 – Take down the three posters and place the three prepared posters on the wall labeled subject, object and possessive. Place all of the pronoun Post-its from the previous sort in two-colored piles. Ask two new volunteers to sort the pronouns onto the three posters on the board. Again, offer a prize for the first one who completes the sort correctly.
Step 6 – If students are able to sort the words with little trouble, a short review of pronouns will be needed for the entire class. If students are unable to do the sort correctly, additional lessons will be needed to help students to be able to identify and to use personal pronouns correctly.
This is a fun way to find out what students know about pronouns. Most students will agree that this lesson is much more interesting than a work sheet on pronouns.
Other relevant articles: Eight Parts of Speech Lesson and How to Teach Prepositions
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