Students learn the various personal pronouns and practice this/that and these/those along with ‘Whose’
GENERAL AIMS
- To introduce the various personal pronouns (I, me, my, mine & myself)
- To introduce the 4 demonstrative pronouns (this, that, these & those)
- To have the Ss be able to use the pronouns (especially my & mine) effectively
RECOMMENDED LEVELS
Elementary / Pre-Intermediate
ACTIVITY TIME
40 minutes
Personal Pronouns — class plan
Lesson plan where students learn personal and demonstrative pronouns
and practice them in their speaking while using ‘whose’
Personal Pronouns — handout for students
Worksheet which serves as a reference for students
and provides some quick exercises for them to apply what they’re learning
Personal Pronouns — picture prompts for activity #4
Reference pictures which could be used for the optional activity #4
FINAL WORDS:
The time needed for this can vary widely, depending much on what your students already know. In Part A of the worksheet there was an honorable mention to the reflexive pronouns but they could be cut out if you have limited time. Activity #4 could also be eliminated, perhaps saved for another class if desired.
There is a short dedication to going over the 3 ways ’s is used. This is highly recommended as is pointing out This is Charlie’s hat. = This is Charlie’s. Questions and doubts concerning these issues typically pop up in the classes and if they are addressed early on, it’s much easier to refer to them and have the students making progress with more confidence.
While the pronouns introduced in Part A appear to be simple, many lower level students get confused about a few of the items (like her vs hers or its vs it’s, even they vs their vs them). It’s good to pay attention to where they might be stumbling and help them by pointing out when which form is more appropriate or having them practice more (maybe more sentence gap-fills as suggested in the worksheet, or simply writing or saying one column of forms associated with one idea like object pronouns. This could be done in pair-work, where Ss take turns quizzing each other.)
Another way to have students do further practice is to refer to Part E in the worksheet and have students make more questions and the variety of possible answers as suggested in the examples. Note: there are many other ways of making the answers (such as These are Oscar’s pens. Or These pens are Oscar’s.) There is no need to go through all the possible variations but it is helpful for the students to know a few basic ways.
If at all possible, try to do Activity #5 once the students have a reasonable idea on how to get on with it. It helps focus on what is necessary, but in a more interesting and fresher way than looking only at papers or what is written on the board. You can repeat it in future classes as review, but with different objects.