Pronouns Pronouns A pronoun stands in place of a noun, noun group or name. Pronouns generally need to have clear reference, referring to something that has been identified or named elsewhere in the text. Pronouns generally refer back to words mentioned earlier in the text, however sometimes a pronoun can be used and referenced to a word forward in the text. For example: Correct pronoun use Lucy may seem shy but she loves making friends. (refers back) Although it was late, the train finally arrived. (refers forwards) Incorrect pronoun use It was late so Ming was relieved when it finally arrived. (unclear reference) Pronouns help to give a text cohesion and prevent it from becoming repetitious. Pronouns are only effective if they are not ambiguous (that is, there is a clear line of reference) and if they are not used repetitively. Different types of pronouns include: personal I, we, he, she, you, it, they, me, us, her, him, them possessive mine, ours, yours, hers, his, its, theirs reflexive myself, ourselves, yourself, yourselves, herself, himself, themselves demonstrative this, that, these, those indefinite each, any, some, all, one, none, anybody, anything, nobody, nothing, somebody, something, everybody relative who, whom, whose, which, that interrogative who, which, what, whose, whom This list of pronouns could be displayed on a poster (without using the technical names of the different pronoun types if you think these will confuse students). For student with visual impairment, poster text should be bold, black on white and an appropriate font size. Students using Braille should make their own Braille copy of the poster or alternative paste a Braille copy of the words on the poster using Braille label (see Learning Difficulties Appendix). Reference Reference refers to the way in which information is introduced, maintained and expanded in a text. The use of pronouns is the most common way of maintaining reference without the clumsiness of continual naming. Pronouns are not used indefinitely, even if there is a clear line of reference to the noun or name, as strings of pronouns can make a text flat and uninteresting. Instead, good writers use different ways of identifying nouns in a text to maintain a clear chain of reference but keep a text interesting. For example: I love reading The Wind in the Willows... This wonderful story has... Kenneth Grahame s tale will... This children s classic tells... It is all about... I recommend this book to... Pronouns were assessed in Year 3 Reading Questions 12, 29 and 31, Year 5 Reading Questions 18, 20, 23 and 24. Pronouns are assessed in Writing Task Two Criterion 7, Year 3 Language Question 7 and 15 and Year 5 Language Questions 6 and 21. 32
Identifying pronoun referencing Students need to understand that pronouns provide a text with cohesion and only work if they are not ambiguous and not used too repetitively. Remind students that a pronoun is a word that replaces a noun in a text. Brainstorm examples of pronouns, encouraging students to move beyond personal pronouns (eg he, she) and record these on the board. Display a comprehensive wall chart of pronouns for future reference (see opposite). Teaching Pronouns Teaching PronounsPronouns Teaching Using an enlarged passage from a shared text, identify and highlight the pronouns used and the noun to which the pronoun refers. Model how to read forward or backward to locate the noun, noun group or event to which each pronoun refers. Provide students with a copy of a passage from a book being studied such as the following one, from page 63 of The Battle of the Galah Trees by Christobel Mattingley, and ask the students to circle the pronouns, underline noun groups and events and draw lines from the pronouns to the nouns they are replacing. Janey stroked Lucky s head where he liked it best behind his crest. Then she gave a far more realistic imitation of a galah call than Matt could make. Lucky squawked a reply and fluttered to her shoulder. Janey laughed and Matt realised that he hadn t heard her laugh before either. She ruffled Lucky s feathers and made the galah talk to him. Then she said, Go back to Matt. Lucky flew to Matt s shoulder and Janey slipped suddenly out of the door. Matt called after her but she did not come back. Write the names of characters from a shared text onto cards. Divide the class into groups. Give each group a card with the name of a character on it. Ask each group to write sentences related to their character, beginning each with a pronoun. Encourage students to use a variety of pronouns from the wall chart. These sentences can then be used as a class barrier game, matching descriptions to characters. WS3.10 Learning to Write Skills and Strategies Uses pronoun references accurately Uses relative pronouns correctly RS2.8 Learning about Reading Language Structures WS2.10 Learning to Write Skills and Strategies WS3.14 Learning about Writing Language Structures Uses pointing adjectives correctly Recognises cohesive links in a text eg referring words/pronouns Stages one-two WS1.10 Learning to Write Skills and Strategies Demonstrates the correct use of pronouns and to whom or what they refer 33
Teaching PronounsPronouns Teaching Selecting the appropriate pronoun to refer to a noun Remind students that once the name of something or someone has been introduced into a written text, the word can be referred to again and again by using pronouns, eg he, she, it and they. This saves writers from having to repeat the original noun or noun group. The novel Junk Castle by Robin Klein could be used to contextualise this strategy. (Another text that is helpful for teaching pronoun reference is The Paper Bag Princess by Robert Munsch and Michael Martchenko.) Introduce and orientate students to the novel. Open the cover so that both front and back are visible. Draw the students attention to the characters and the junk castle. Ask students to look carefully at the sorts of objects used to construct the castle. Discuss where they may have found these objects. Modelling the use of pronoun referencing Read the opening two pages from Robin Klein s Junk Castle, or select an appropriate alternative text. Draw students' attention to examples of pronoun referencing. During the reading of the text, check to see if students understand which character/object is being referred to by the pronoun. Copy pages 2 and 3 from Junk Castle on to an overhead transparency. Use highlighters to explicitly demonstrate the way in which pronouns refer back to the noun or noun group previously introduced in the text. Draw arrows to show the links. The hiccups sounded so dramatic and intense that Mandy, Con and Splinter rendered immediate first aid. They sat her down on the bottom step and put a brown paper bag over her head. But Irene went on hiccuping, and it sounded even more alarming with the bag as an amplifier. Mr Felsenthal stuck his head out of his ground floor flat and told Irene to shut up because he was trying to listen to the 3:45 from Moonee Valley race track. So they took Irene into Mandy s flat and gave her a drink of cold tea out of the opposite side of the cup. When that didn t work, they ran her up and down all the stairs between the ground floor and the first floor. Read the remainder of the chapter. Jointly construct a chart that records the characters and their reference pronouns. he 34 she they Mr Acland Irene Mandy, Irene, Con and Splinter Con Mandy Mrs Cooper and her husband Splinter Mrs Cooper Mr Felsenthal Mrs Caranani
Guiding students to use appropriate pronoun reference Play the following barrier game to give students the opportunity to use the pronouns he, she and they. Buddy students if necessary to provide additional support. Give each student a copy of the Junk Castle book cover (see below) and a barrier to place between each pair. Inform the students that in order to guess the circled character/s selected by their partner, they will need to ask questions that eliminate all other possibilities. Begin by demonstrating the game with a willing student in front of the whole class. Questions such as Is there only one person in the circle? to ascertain singular or plural would be appropriate. Then continue with questions such as Are the people in the circle playing? and indicate to students the appropriate response to ensure that the reference pronoun is articulated, eg Yes, they are playing. Continue with the game until all circled characters have been identified. Students may like to use counters to place over each circle once selected. Teaching Pronouns Students may also like to play the game Who am I? using the characters from the Junk Castle novel. This game should be played only after reading enough of the book to have developed a reasonable profile of each character. Write the names of the main characters on cards. Place these in a container. Ask each student to take a card from the container and write three statements about that particular character using the appropriate pronouns. Ensure that a model is provided for the students before the game is played in groups. Select a character and construct three sentences to read to the students, eg He is young. He has the hiccups. His mother works at the hospital canteen. Students guess the character using the pronoun and character descriptions as clues. WS3.10 Learning to Write Skills and Strategies Uses pronoun references accurately Uses relative pronouns correctly RS2.8 Learning about Reading Language Structures WS3.14 Learning about Writing Language Structures Recognises cohesive links in a text eg referring words/pronouns Demonstrates the correct use of pronouns and to whom or what they refer Stage two WS1.10 Learning to Write Skills and Strategies WS2.10 Learning to Write Skills and Strategies Uses pointing adjectives correctly 35
Teaching PronounsPronouns Teaching Using personal pronoun reference accurately Write personal subject pronouns on a chart. Highlight the masculine, feminine and neutral pronouns. Model sentences that use the pronouns as subjects and then as objects, eg I was given a book. The book belongs to me. Assist students to identify the objective form. Explain that the words my, your, his, her, its, our, your and their, are possessive adjectives when used with a noun, because they are describing who owns or possesses the noun, eg It is her book. Classify pronouns into masculine, feminine and neutral groups. Write pronouns on flashcards. Ask students to choose one card at a time and place it under the correct heading. An explanation of when to use reflexive pronouns is complex and could be better dealt with in a separate lesson. Model how to write a sentence using a reflexive pronoun, eg He washed himself, then use arrows and explain that a reflexive pronoun is used when a pronoun refers back to the subject of the verb, when the action of the verb is performed on the subject. Add two singular and two plural reflexive pronouns to the table and then assist students to recognise the pattern and complete the rest of the table. Pronoun as subject Pronoun as object Possessive pronoun Reflexive pronoun I me mine myself you you yours yourself he him his himself she her hers herself it it its itself we us ours ourselves you you yours yourselves they them theirs themselves Pronoun reference chain Using a text on an overhead transparency, show how the texts are tied together cohesively using pronoun references, eg explain and show with arrows how all the personal pronouns refer to back to Lulu. Discuss how to identify a noun or noun group. Use the chart on the previous page to discuss pronoun/noun links eg usually she refers to females; its refers to things. Lulu likes drawing. She attends drawing classes once a week with her brother. Her pictures are colourful and creative. 36 Pronoun reference chain: Lulu She her Her
The following is an example of more complex pronoun referencing. It will help students to prompt them to use their knowledge of a noun or noun group to help them reference even if they are unsure of some vocabulary (eg yacht). Modelling and discussing how effective readers reference when reading more complex texts can help them in comprehending more difficult texts. Luke stood back and looked over the old wooden yacht that his dad had bought. He admired its huge solid mast and ran his Pronoun reference chain: old wooden yacht its its Teaching Pronouns Luke He his fingers over its freshly oiled deck. Discuss how we know the he/his refers to Luke rather than to his dad. Using a familiar text, ask students in pairs to locate the nouns and their linking pronouns and then identify a pronoun reference chain. This is especially useful for students whose writing includes confusing pronoun referencing. Ask students to identify a pronoun reference chain in their own writing by circling the subject and highlighting the pronouns. Have students edit their text appropriately, then examine their text for repetitive nouns and replace these with appropriate pronouns. WS3.10 Learning to Write Skills and Strategies Identifies noun pronoun links in written texts Uses relative pronouns correctly WS1.10 Learning to Write Skills and Strategies WS3.14 Learning about Writing Language Structures Uses pronoun references accurately RS2.8 Learning about Reading Language Structures Stage two RS1.6 Learning to Read Skills and Strategies Demonstrates the correct use of pronouns and to whom or what they refer Recognises cohesive links in a text eg referring words/pronouns WS2.10 Learning to Write Skills and Strategies Uses pointing adjectives correctly 37
Teaching PronounsPronouns Teaching Identify the noun to which a pronoun refers Ask students what they know about pronouns. Show students a short text such as Damper an extract from Skating on Sand by Libby Gleeson, and jointly identify the pronouns. 'Ready?' says Mum. She pokes the fire with a stick. Hannah squats beside her. She holds her branch so that the end hovers above the hottest coals. Her face and hands are warm and she watches as the pale mixture turns toast-coloured. By the time Lena and Sue join them, Hannah is eating her third helping hot tubes of damper, dripping with butter and golden syrup. 'When you go camping,' says Dad as he finishes his third cup of coffee, 'parents never wash up. It's a rule.' 'Who says?' says Lena. 'The parents.' Mum grins and stretches back on the grass. 'You can go to the beach when you've finished.' She watches as Lena and Sue roll their eyes but then pick up the buckets and head for the shower block. Record these pronouns and others on a chart. Construct a definition of pronouns, eg a pronoun is a word that is used in place of a noun. Display a poem, such as Vegetarian by Steven Herrick, on an overhead transparency. Model how to circle/underline/box, the nouns and pronouns in the text according to who they refer to or the cohesive link created. Model reading forward or backward to identify the noun or noun group to which the pronoun is referring. Either colour the noun or noun group and the pronoun to which it is referring the same colour, or use other identifiers such as underlines, rings and boxes, to show how pronouns are used for cohesion across a text. My sister is a vegetarian And she doesn t let me eat in peace. When I go to eat some chicken She says Bye little chicken, bye Charlie chicken, Bye, bye. Then at breakfast When I m eating my bacon, she says, That s Babe s brother you re putting in your mouth you know. 38
Guide students in identifying pronouns in poems such as The Ball by Lydia Pender, The Clever Rabbit by D. H. Souter and High Explosive by A. B. Paterson. If appropriate use more complex examples of pronoun reference such as the poem A blind girl celebrates Holi by Theresa Heine from the BST 2001 Stimulus Magazine (Year 3). Discuss with students what the pronouns are referring to. Introduce students to a chart with the headings Personal pronoun, Demonstrative pronoun and Relative pronoun. Tell students that personal pronouns are used to refer to the person who is speaking, the person being spoken to or the person or thing being spoken about. Tell students that demonstrative pronouns are words such as that, this, these and those and these words are used to take the place of something that is being indicated or pointed out (if these words occur with a noun they are acting as demonstrative adjectives, eg this book). Teaching Pronouns Write sentences containing the relative pronouns, who, whom, whose, that and which, and explain how they are used to refer to people and things while introducing adjectival clauses about those people or things. Provide students with examples of who, whom, whose and which used as interrogative pronouns, so they can distinguish the different functions that these words can perform in different contexts. Personal pronouns Demonstrative pronouns Relative pronouns Using the pronouns identified in the poems categorise them under the headings. Discuss what types of pronouns often occur and why. Guide students in understanding that the personal pronouns often refer to people or things within the poem (eg he, she, it) while often other personal pronouns (eg I and you) refer to the author and the audience or reader. In guided reading groups ask students to identify pronouns used in texts that they read, then discuss to whom or what the pronouns are referring. Provide students with a variety of texts. Published readers can use pronoun referencing that is obvious. Authentic texts often provide more difficult referencing to examine with students. Ask them to identify pronouns. Ask them what types of texts are more likely to use personal pronouns such as you and I and what effect this has on the reader. Ask students to identify relative pronouns at the beginning of adjectival clauses and discuss why a clause has been used instead of a simple adjective and why this might be an effective way to describe something or someone. WS3.10 Learning to Write Skills and Strategies Uses pronoun references accurately Uses relative pronouns correctly RS2.8 Learning about Reading Language Structures WS3.14 Learning about Writing Language Structures Recognises cohesive links in a text eg referring words/pronouns Demonstrates the correct use of pronouns and to whom or what they refer Stages two-three WS1.10 Learning to Write Skills and Strategies WS2.10 Learning to Write Skills and Strategies Uses pointing adjectives correctly RS3.8 Learning about Reading Language Structures Recognises relative pronouns and the role they play in descriptive clauses in texts) 39