Back to the lesson plan builder
Lesson length30 min45 min60 min
Questions🔀 New questions

Print the plan for yourself; the student sheet prints on its own page after it.

English lesson plan · 4th grade (Year 5 in England) · 45 minutes

Pronoun or noun? Make it clear who is meant

Grammar

CCSS L.4.3.ACCSS L.6.1.DEngland: Y4 GPS (choosing nouns or pronouns for clarity and cohesion)

Objective and success criteria

Students will: Pronoun or noun? Make it clear who is meant.

  • I can answer questions on today's skill on my own, without help.
  • I can explain each step and say why it works.
  • I can check my answer and spot a mistake.

Before and after

Needs first: Who or what does the pronoun point back to?

Leads to: I or me? Sam and I, Sam and me

Materials: Sentence strips, Highlighters, Mini whiteboards, Mini whiteboards, A short model text on the board, Printed student sheet (below).

Warm-up · 5 min

  • Quick retrieval from earlier learning (Who or what does the pronoun point back to?). Students answer on mini whiteboards.
  • Show answers together and note who needs support in the main task.
  1. The tablet will not turn on because its battery is flat. What does "its" refer to? (the tablet / the charger / the battery / the screen) → the tabletPrompt: Find the pronoun, then look back earlier in the sentence.
  2. Choose the pronoun that matches the noun it refers to. The book has a dragon on ___ cover. (it's / their / its / them) → itsPrompt: Who or what owns the thing? Is it one or more than one?
  3. The bees flew back to their hive when they saw the dark clouds. Who or what does "they" refer to? (the bees / the flowers / the clouds / the hive) → the beesPrompt: Find the pronoun, then look back earlier in the sentence.

Hook · 5 min

  • Show a sentence with the grammar point used wrongly and ask what sounds odd.
  • Share the objective: Pronoun or noun? Make it clear who is meant. Read the success criteria together.

I do: model it · 10 min

  • Work through the example out loud, saying why you do each step, not just what you do.
  • Example: Grandpa and Dad fixed the shed, and then he made tea. Why is this sentence unclear?
  • Step 1: A pronoun is unclear when it could refer to more than one noun. Use the noun instead.
  • Step 2: So the answer is: We can't tell who made the tea.
  • Answer: We can't tell who made the tea.
  • Pause after each step and ask a student to say what comes next.

We do: guided practice · 10 min

  • Do these together. Students try each step on whiteboards before you reveal it.
  • Use the hints as prompts rather than giving the answer.
  1. Sam told Leo that he had won the prize. Why is this sentence unclear? (It uses too many nouns. / It should be a question. / It has no verb. / We can't tell whether 'he' means Sam or Leo.) → We can't tell whether 'he' means Sam or Leo.Prompt: Find each pronoun (he, she, it, her, they).
  2. Which version is clearest and reads best? (Gran baked a pie. She cut it into eight slices for us. / Gran baked a pie. It cut her into eight slices for us. / Gran baked a pie. Gran cut the pie into eight slices for us. / She baked it. She cut it into eight slices for us.) → Gran baked a pie. She cut it into eight slices for us.Prompt: Repeating the same noun again and again sounds clumsy.

You do: independent practice · 10 min

  • Students work on the student sheet. Circulate and check the first two answers of every student early.
  • Students who finish: write a question of their own for a partner, with the answer.

The 8 questions are on the student sheet below, with answers in the key.

Exit ticket · 5 min

  • Two questions on their own. Sort answers into got it / nearly / not yet to plan the next lesson.
  1. Priya showed Zara a photo of her cat. Why is this sentence unclear? (It needs a comma. / Photos can't show cats. / It is a fragment. / We can't tell whose cat it is.) → We can't tell whose cat it is.Prompt: Find each pronoun (he, she, it, her, they).
  2. Rewrite the sentence so it matches the meaning in brackets. Which is best? When the dog chased the cat, it ran up a tree. (The cat ran up the tree.) (When the dog chased the cat, it ran up a tree. / When it chased it, it ran up a tree. / When the dog chased the cat, the cat ran up a tree. / When the dog chased the cat, the dog ran up a tree.) → When the dog chased the cat, the cat ran up a tree.Prompt: Read the meaning in brackets carefully.

Watch out for

  • Naming the feature but not using it in their own sentences.
  • Thinking a sentence is right because it sounds right when spoken casually.

Support and stretch

Support

  • Review first: Who or what does the pronoun point back to?.
  • Use concrete materials: sentence strips.
  • Give the first step of each question, or a partly worked example to finish.
  • Pair with a confident partner for the guided practice.

Stretch

  • Move on to: I or me? Sam and I, Sam and me.
  • Explain a common mistake in writing and how to fix it.
  • Write a word problem that uses today's skill, then solve a partner's.

Homework and more practice

Free online practice with hints and printable worksheets for this skill: eurekami.com/english/grade-4.

Free lesson plan from eurekami.com/lesson-plan-builder

eurekami

Pronoun or noun? Make it clear who is meant

Name

Date

Score/ 8

  1. Question 1

    Which version is clearest and reads best?

    • A. Mia found a shell. It washed her and put her on its shelf.
    • B. She found it. She washed it and put it on her shelf.
    • C. Mia found a shell. Mia washed the shell and Mia put the shell on Mia's shelf.
    • D. Mia found a shell. She washed it and put it on her shelf.

  2. Question 2

    Rewrite the sentence so it matches the meaning in brackets. Which is best? When the dog chased the cat, it ran up a tree. (The cat ran up the tree.)

    • A. When the dog chased the cat, the cat ran up a tree.
    • B. When the dog chased the cat, it ran up a tree.
    • C. When the dog chased the cat, the dog ran up a tree.
    • D. When it chased it, it ran up a tree.

  3. Question 3

    Sam told Leo that he had won the prize. Why is this sentence unclear?

    • A. It should be a question.
    • B. We can't tell whether 'he' means Sam or Leo.
    • C. It uses too many nouns.
    • D. It has no verb.

  4. Question 4

    Rewrite the sentence so it matches the meaning in brackets. Which is best? Sam told Leo that he had won the prize. (Leo won.)

    • A. He told him that he had won the prize.
    • B. Sam told Leo that he had won the prize.
    • C. Sam told Leo that Sam had won the prize.
    • D. Sam told Leo that Leo had won the prize.

  5. Question 5

    When the dog chased the cat, it ran up a tree. Why is this sentence unclear?

    • A. Dogs cannot chase cats.
    • B. It is in the wrong tense.
    • C. 'It' could be the dog or the cat.
    • D. It needs a full stop in the middle.

  6. Question 6

    Grandpa and Dad fixed the shed, and then he made tea. Why is this sentence unclear?

    • A. It has two verbs.
    • B. It should say 'shed's'.
    • C. It needs more adjectives.
    • D. We can't tell who made the tea.

  7. Question 7

    Rewrite the sentence so it matches the meaning in brackets. Which is best? Priya showed Zara a photo of her cat. (The cat is Priya's.)

    • A. She showed her a photo of her cat.
    • B. Priya showed Zara a photo of Zara's cat.
    • C. Priya showed Zara a photo of Priya's cat.
    • D. Priya showed Zara a photo of her cat.

  8. Question 8

    Priya showed Zara a photo of her cat. Why is this sentence unclear?

    • A. We can't tell whose cat it is.
    • B. Photos can't show cats.
    • C. It is a fragment.
    • D. It needs a comma.

Free from eurekami.com

for the adult only

Answer key: Pronoun or noun? Make it clear who is meant

  1. 1. D. Mia found a shell. She washed it and put it on her shelf.

  2. 2. A. When the dog chased the cat, the cat ran up a tree.

  3. 3. B. We can't tell whether 'he' means Sam or Leo.

  4. 4. D. Sam told Leo that Leo had won the prize.

  5. 5. C. 'It' could be the dog or the cat.

  6. 6. D. We can't tell who made the tea.

  7. 7. C. Priya showed Zara a photo of Priya's cat.

  8. 8. A. We can't tell whose cat it is.