Pronoun Power

6 Lively Activities for Making Little Words Work Big

Try these activities which get students talking and moving while they put these little words to big use.

Try These 6 Activities for Making Little Words Work Big

1. 1

   Pronoun Dice

   This is a fun activity that gives students practice using subject and object pronouns. You will need two dice (either two different colors or one marked with a red dot on all six sides) for each pair of students to play as well as a “roll guide” you make prior to the activity. On your guide, list the numbers one through six. Assign each number a person such as 1. You 2. Your partner 3. Mary or Steve 4. Steve’s computer 5. You and your partner 6. Mary and Steve. Underneath your list, write this: On the red die, odd numbers are subject pronouns and even numbers are object pronouns. When it’s time for the activity, ask one player to roll both dice. The number they roll on the white die corresponds to the person/people/thing they must make a sentence about using an appropriate pronoun. The number on the red die determines whether that person/people/thing will be replaced by a subject pronoun or an object pronoun in the sentence. So if a person rolled a white 1 and a red 4, they would need to make a sentence using an object pronoun referring to themselves such as the following: My uncle loaned me his car. Students take turns rolling the dice and making sentences until time runs out.

2. 2

   Agreeing to Disagree

   When it’s time to practice using indefinite pronouns (anyone, everyone, no one, everybody, etc.) try this fun partner activity. One person makes a sentence using an indefinite pronoun, but that sentence should be false. A student might say something like the following: Everyone has red hair. Their partner must then make a true statement using that indefinite pronoun or another one. A partner may say something like this: Not everyone has red hair or Some people have red hair. Students take turns coming up with their own sentences and correcting the wrong sentences their partner makes.

3. 3

   Loves and Hates

   Another fun activity for practicing subject and object pronouns gets students talking about what they love and hate. Put students in pairs and write the following categories on your board: movie, song, food, place, book, type of music, animal, television show, type of drink, and type of communication. Have each student work independently and write down at least one item for each category. They should write down something they either love or hate. Students can list multiple items for each category and should try to list at least one thing they love and one they hate for each category. Then have students work with their partner. One person asks their partner’s opinion about something on their partner’s list such as, “How do you feel about country music?” The other person must then answer the question using a pronoun. “I hate it. It’s awful.” Students take turns asking about the items on their partner’s list and answering their partner’s questions.

4. 4

   What You See Is What You Get

   Your classroom is rife with nouns just waiting to be talked about. Have your students work with one or two others for this conversation activity. One person walks to a noun in your classroom. It can be anything including other students. That person then shares two sentences with his group, one using the name of the noun and another using a pronoun. For example, “Our classroom clock is five minutes slow. Someone should fix it.” Student take turns leading their group around the classroom and making sentences about those objects. If you like, have students write their sentences down and collect their papers. Then type them out with the nouns replaced with blanks. Give the sheet to your students and see if they can fill in the blanks with the actual items in the classroom based on the sentences and the pronouns used.

5. 5

   Pronoun Memory

   In this fun activity, students make their own matching game for practicing pronouns. To start, give every student twelve blank index cards (avoid cards that have lines on one side or make your own by cutting up white cardstock). On one card, the student should write a sentence with any proper noun underlined. On a second card, the student should write the pronoun that could replace that noun in the sentences. For example, two cards might read as follows: I want to color my hair purple; it. Student continue writing sentences and pronouns until they have six sets. Then put each person with a partner and have them shuffle all of their twenty-four cards together and lay them out on a desk in grid form. Students take turns turning over two cards at a time looking for a pronoun that can replace a noun in the sentence. If they find a match, they read the sentence using the pronoun, keep the pair of cards, and take another turn. If they are wrong, they turn the two cards back over and the next person takes a turn. Play until all of the cards have been matched. Whoever has the most pairs at the end of the game wins.

6. 6

   Classroom Connections

   This is a fun and engaging activity that gives students practice with gender pronouns. Have students take turns making a statement about someone in class but using a pronoun instead of their name. For example, students might say things like this: He has on red sneakers. I sit behind her. They went on a date last week. I saw a movie with her. After each sentence, other class members try to guess who the speaker is talking about. If they guess right, they earn two points and get to make the next sentence. Encourage students to use as many different pronouns as they can. Also, if anyone can stump the entire class, give them five bonus points toward their score. At the end of the activity, tally up the points and see who the winner is.