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Games for Teaching Pronouns

Pronouns are vital to proper use of English, but for younger children it's a topic that is often both difficult and boring. Pronouns are simply the generic replacement for nouns or noun phrases, such as "she" instead of "Sheila." You can gain students' interest and also encourage learning by identifying the ways they learn and find games that appeal to their natural ways of learning.
  1. Considerations

    • Children learn in many different ways. While some prefer and excel at gaining information through reading, many learn by hearing others speak during activities. You can appeal to everyone in your class, whether they learn best by visual, aural or kinetic activities, by introducing games to your teaching methods. This is particularly true with lessons involving knowledge that is too often taught by rote, including pronouns.

    Quiz Games

    • Introduce an element of competition into learning pronouns. Divide the class into teams and have the teams compete to complete worksheets, write paragraphs using a list of pronouns correctly, answer "Jeopardy"-style questions aloud to gain and lose points, or correct sentences on the blackboard. Another game might involve attaching a fabric fastener to the back of flash cards and having kids attach the correct answer to questions on a fabric-covered board. Have the champions compete with each other to become class champions for the day.

    Active Games

    • Some kids need to be active to learn; they're called kinetic learners. Introduce some physical activity to learning by having team members race to the blackboard to write the correct pronoun to sentences such as "Jean was proud of ____ report card." Have the teams line up on opposite sides of the room and challenge a member of the other team by tossing a foam ball to him, then naming a pronoun and having him use it in a sentence correctly. Use the gym and a basketball to play Horse, but allow team members to shoot only after answering a pronoun question, such as "What is a possessive pronoun," correctly.

    Online Games

    • Kids are naturally fascinated with computers, and many educational sites offer interactive games in all areas of education, including pronouns. Have the kids play a series of games over several days and keep a running leader board, similar to the "high score" function in video games, to encourage everyone to do his best. Most pronoun games online automatically total correct answers so kids can see how they did instantly. Even kids who have problems paying attention will react to an online-gaming environment. If class time or computer access is limited, give kids a time limit to answer questions. You may be surprised at how previously slow learners pick up speed if they look at learning as a game.

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