Teach subject pronouns using our lesson content!

Recently I gained my first true beginner young learner. A 7-year-old German speaker that I was going to teach online. I naturally started with the subject pronouns, before moving to basic sentences using the present simple. Off2Class didn’t yet have any subject pronoun lesson content in its library so I  had to develop some. I’ve since used the Subject Pronouns content several times and the lessons have been very successful.

Teaching subject pronouns in English can be challenging. One obvious challenge is that unlike most languages we use the same subject pronoun for the second person singular and plural. The pronoun it (and its use for things vs people) can also create challenges, especially when referring to animals and pets, weather, time and temperature (she/he/it?). And, once we introduce object pronouns, there is often confusion between subject and object pronouns with a similar form.

Our approach to Subject Pronouns!

Our subject pronoun (N1.1-Subject-Pronouns) lesson plan can be found here. If you don’t already have an account for Off2Class, you can set one up here.
We begin our lesson with discovery slides where the teacher guides the student through each subject pronoun:
subject-pronouns subject-pronouns
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
After learning each subject pronoun individually, we offer a summary, especially designed for students encountering the pronouns as a review exercise:

Slide21 Slide20

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Due to the necessity of learning of subject pronouns early in ESL, we offer the student plenty of opportunity to practice the pronouns in example sentences:
subject-pronouns subject-pronouns subject-pronouns
Next we move into freer practice, where the student selects the appropriate subject pronouns for sentences. We also emphasize it and the distinction between singular vs. plural pronouns and pronouns used for people vs. things.
subject-pronouns subject-pronouns
I hope you enjoy our subject pronoun lesson plan. So far I’ve had a lot of success using it with my young learners, and I hope you will as well. As always, let us know how it goes!


7 Comments

  • John says:

    August 5, 2014 at 2:52 pm

    As I am an American ESL teacher in Germany I can understand the need for lessons like this.
    Your site is a very valuable resource. I am considering online teaching because business is slow for me at the moment.
    Are you planning on making any lessons about sentence structure?
    Also lessons about using -ly words would be great.
    Thank you again for such a wonderful site!

    • James Heywood (Off2Class) says:

      August 5, 2014 at 5:44 pm

      Hi John,
      Thanks for your comment.
      First, to your question about -ly words. I have almost finished writing the series of lessons plans for adverbs and adjectives, so you will see these appear on the site before the end of August 2014. I will look forward to hearing your feedback about these.
      Secondly, we are also working on lessons for sentence structure. Probably the most important things for students it to have a knowledge of clauses, to help them to use who, what, which etc., to create longer and richer sentences as soon as possible. These will come once I’ve finished the series on verb tenses.
      Finally, if you ever need it, I’m always happy to have a one-to-one videoconference to share ideas and tricks for teaching online.You can let me know if his appeals to you.
      Best wishes,
      James

      • John Brewer says:

        August 5, 2014 at 7:40 pm

        Hello James,
        It’s good to hear that those lessons will be available soon.
        Yes, a one-to-one video conference would be great.
        You can send me an email and we can arrange it.
        I appreciate it 🙂
        John

  • Stephanie B Edgren says:

    January 18, 2021 at 8:50 pm

    I was excited to find your site today! I’m an experienced, certified elementary and middle school teacher of 26 years. I live in the US and have recently started teaching a friend’s 40 year old daughter in Lithuania English online. I’ve been creating my own lessons using a variety of resources. Today I was looking for ideas for teaching subject pronouns! This will be GREAT! I was wondering if you had assessment/placement tools on the site, and if you have a recommended scope and sequence of skills? Thank you!

    • Kris Jagasia says:

      January 18, 2021 at 9:50 pm

      Thanks so much for stopping by Stephanie! Absolutely, we have a placement test as well as progress tests on the site. Please go ahead and set up a Free Account to see them in action. One of our product specialists can also recommend a scope and sequence for you based on your students. Would you mind if we reach out by email?

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