• 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. Max asked his sisters if they wanted to play tag. Who does "they" refer to? (Max / Max and his parents / his sisters / the other team) → his sistersPrompt: Find the pronoun, then look back earlier in the sentence.
2. Choose the pronoun that matches the noun it refers to. The cat licked ___ paws. (its / their / it's / them) → itsPrompt: Who or what owns the thing? Is it one or more than one?
3. Dad found the map and folded it carefully. What does "it" refer to? (Dad / the map / the table / the car) → the mapPrompt: Find the pronoun, then look back earlier in the sentence.

• 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.

• 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.

• Do these together. Students try each step on whiteboards before you reveal it.
• Use the hints as prompts rather than giving the answer.

1. Priya showed Zara a photo of her cat. Why is this sentence unclear? (We can't tell whose cat it is. / Photos can't show cats. / It needs a comma. / It is a fragment.) → We can't tell whose cat it is.Prompt: Find each pronoun (he, she, it, her, they).
2. Which version is clearest and reads best? (They built it. They tested it on it, and it floated! / Leo and Omar built a raft. He tested them on the pond, and they floated! / Leo and Omar built a raft. They tested it on the pond, and it floated! / Leo and Omar built a raft. Leo and Omar tested the raft on the pond, and the raft floated!) → Leo and Omar built a raft. They tested it on the pond, and it floated!Prompt: Repeating the same noun again and again sounds clumsy.

• 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.

• Two questions on their own. Sort answers into got it / nearly / not yet to plan the next lesson.

1. 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, the dog ran up a tree. / When the dog chased the cat, the cat ran up a 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.Prompt: Read the meaning in brackets carefully.
2. Sam told Leo that he had won the prize. Why is this sentence unclear? (It should be a question. / It uses too many nouns. / We can't tell whether 'he' means Sam or Leo. / It has no verb.) → We can't tell whether 'he' means Sam or Leo.Prompt: Find each pronoun (he, she, it, her, they).

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