The Mother Tongue, Book I: Lessons in Speaking, Reading and Writing English · Secs. 282–285 · Part 2: Part Second
80. Pronouns: words that stand for nouns
Goal: Your child finds pronouns and tells which noun each one stands for.
You'll need
- The book, open to this lesson
- Paper and pencil (a notebook kept just for this book works well)
What's in the book
Section 282 is the rhyme "Advice", about a know-it-all chicken in the farmyard, with italicized words to study. Section 283 shows how awkward it is to repeat the nouns instead and defines the pronoun. Sections 284 and 285 give selections to find pronouns in and to name the noun each stands for.
The lesson, step by step
Read "Advice"
Read the rhyme aloud, with your child reading the chicken and Mrs. Dorking.
You yourself were in an eggshell
Just a little month ago,
Ask: What is the lesson at the end?
Try it without pronouns (Section 283)
Read the book's awkward version: "But the chicken's friends were very few ..." Then try one more stanza aloud replacing every pronoun with "the chicken". Laugh at how clumsy it is.
A word which is used instead of a noun is called a Pronoun.
Find the pronouns (Section 284)
Read the four selections. Your child lists every pronoun they find.
Name the noun (Section 285)
Do four or five selections in Section 285 aloud: find each pronoun and say which noun it stands for.
Write
Your child writes four sentences about a person or animal, using a noun in the first and pronouns after that.
Check it gently
Read the four sentences aloud. Is it always clear who "he" or "she" or "it" is? If not, your child puts the noun back in one place.
What a good result looks like
Example (written for this guide, not from the book):
Grandpa has a garden. He grows beans and squash in it. His tomatoes are the best on our street, and he gives them to the neighbors.
Answers to the book's problems
Section 284: 1. he, it, him, he, it, he, his (all about the spider and his thread). 2. I, that, my, He, which, I, that, he, them (the words "that" and "which" here are pronouns too, standing for squirrel, apples and rabbit; the book teaches them later). 3. You, I. 4. you, my. Section 285: 1. its (the elm tree's). 2. He, his (St. Nicholas, in the Christmas poem). 3. his, him, he (the snail). 4. our (the speakers). 5. Thy, thee (the baby). 6. her (Little Bell). 7. it (the wind), your, You (the person spoken to). 8. their (the trees and hills).
Worked out for this site from the scan. If a number in your copy differs, trust the book.