The Mother Tongue, Book I: Lessons in Speaking, Reading and Writing English · Secs. 308–310 · Part 2: Part Second
88. A, an and the
Goal: Your child uses a before consonant sounds and an before vowel sounds.
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 308 explains the three articles, a, an and the, and when to use a or an. Section 309 gives twenty-one words to use with a, an or the. Section 310 gives nine selections to find the articles in.
The lesson, step by step
Read Section 308
A is used before a word beginning with a consonant sound; an before a word beginning with a vowel sound.
Say the book's pairs aloud: a lemon, an orange; a man, an old man. Hear how "an" makes it easy to say.
By sound, not by letter
Try "an hour" and "a uniform". The rule goes by the sound you hear first, not the letter you see.
Use them (Section 309)
Your child says each word in Section 309 with a or an, then writes six of them in sentences.
Find them (Section 310)
Read the nine selections aloud. Your child lists every article.
Sow an act and you reap a habit.
Check it gently
Read the sentences aloud. If one sounds awkward ("a apple"), your child hears it and fixes it.
What a good result looks like
Example (written for this guide, not from the book):
An owl hooted in an old oak tree.
I ate an orange and a banana.
We waited an hour for the train.
Answers to the book's problems
Section 309: a valley, a picture, a carriage, corn (or the corn), a star, an elephant, an amethyst, a tree, an eagle, a child, an animal, an Indian, a key, a robin, an ox, an apple, a library, a yellow ..., an orange, a kitten, a large .... (Any of them may also take "the".) Section 310: 1. an. 2. a. 3. the, an. 4. an. 5. An, a. 6. an, a. 7. The, an, A, A, the. 8. an. 9. an, a, a, the, the, a, an, the, the, the, the.
Worked out for this site from the scan. If a number in your copy differs, trust the book.