Overhead, Vis À Vis Markers, Notes/Handout Transparency

Overhead, Vis À Vis Markers, Notes/Handout Transparency

Elise Patterson

English I/II

2nd Period

7/1/09

Objectives:

TSW recognize pronoun ambiguity and rewrite sentences to avoid ambiguous pronoun references. (ELA 10 4.a.3, DOK 2)

Materials:

Overhead, vis à vis markers, notes/handout transparency

Butcher paper, markers

Bellringer:

  1. What is a pronoun? Why do we use pronouns?
  2. Replace one of the nouns in the following sentence with a pronoun, and circle the pronoun you used.

Kate gave the book to Jim.

Set:

  1. During the previous lesson, TSW fill out an exit slip answering the question: On the slip of paper on your desk, write one fact about yourself that is 1) classroom-appropriate, 2) something you are willing to share with the class, and 3) something not many people know about you. Write your sentence in the third person: (Your name) is ______. For example, I would say, “Ms. Patterson is from Massachusetts.” TTW place all the slips into a hat during the passing period prior to the start of class.
  2. TTW start set by saying, “Now we are going to play a game with the exit slips you filled out at the end of last class. We are going to pick five slips out of the hat and you will have to raise your hand and guess who it is. The first person to get the right answer wins a ticket.” TTW have students pick slips out of the hat to be read. TTW read the slips, but replace the name with “he” or “she” and take guesses on who it is.
  3. So when I was reading the slips, I replaced your names with a what? (Shout it out.) A pronoun. Now the reason that this game worked—the reason that we actually had to think about who each fact was about—is that we didn’t know who the pronoun is referring to. When we are playing a guessing game, that’s fun. But in our writing, we want to give our readers as much information as possible, so they don’t have to guess what we’re talking about.

Procedures:

  1. Bellringer (5 min)
  2. Set (8 min)
  3. Notes: Pronouns (8 min)
  4. What is a pronoun? Word that replaces a noun
  5. Antecedent—the noun that the pronoun replaces
  6. Identifying pronoun ambiguity
  7. Something is ambiguous if it can be taken to mean more than one thing
  8. Pronoun ambiguity: when you can’t tell what the antecedent is (what/whom is the pronoun talking about?)
  9. Solution is to rewrite the sentence in a way that clarifies the antecedent (even if this means we have to take out the pronoun)
  10. EXAMPLE: Rachel doesn’t like shopping with Jen because she always buys a lot. (ambiguity) (5 min)
  11. “So to see if there is pronoun ambiguity here, we first identify the pronoun. Then we look for the antecedent (what the pronoun is replacing). If we can’t tell (if there is more than one possible answer) then that means that there is pronoun ambiguity.”
  12. Confusion: Who is this "she”? Rachel or Jen? The sentence is ambiguous because we do not know who always buys a lot.
  13. If there is pronoun ambiguity, we need to rewrite. Correct: Rachel doesn’t like playing with Jen because Jen always buys a lot.
  14. Guided Practice (we are going to suspend rule 3, so when I ask a question, you can shout out the answer) (6 min)
  15. EXAMPLE: As I was taking my wallet out of my bag, I dropped it.
  16. Identify the pronoun that is replacing something: “it”
  17. Identify the antecedent: confusion! Is it the wallet or the bag?
  18. We need to rewrite. Correct: I dropped my wallet as I was taking it out of my bag.
  19. EXAMPLE: After John finished the test, he handed it in.
  20. Identify the pronoun that is replacing: “he” and “it”
  21. Identify the antecedent: “he” replaces “John,” “it” replaces “test”  no ambiguity, the sentence is okay as is
  22. Independent Practice: TSW complete a worksheet with questions like the guided practice examples; TSW have to decide whether there is pronoun ambiguity, and if there is, they will have to rewrite the sentence. This will be collected and graded at the end of class. (15 min)

Closure: (3 min)

  1. TTW ask a student to read the objectives.
  2. What is pronoun ambiguity? How do we know if a sentence has pronoun ambiguity in it? What is the best way to get rid of pronoun ambiguity in a sentence?
  3. Next period, we will be looking at irony with Mr. Redfearn. I will be collecting your worksheets; it is your ticket to leave. I will stand at the door and you will hand it to me as you exit.

Assessment:

Informal: TTW ask questions during guided practice and monitor student work during independent practice (M) to evaluate their understanding of pronoun ambiguity (C).

Formal: TTW collect and grade (M) the independent practice worksheet on pronoun ambiguity (C) and enter the grades in the gradebook (D).

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