Pronouns

Scripture: Deuteronomy 31

Learning Objectives:

  • Students will review how God designated Joshua as Israel’s leader after Moses.
  • Students will learn basic pronouns that take the place of nouns in English: he, she, they, we, it, I.

Guiding Question: How are pronouns used in English?

Materials: paper plates, thin markers/sharpies, clothespins

Procedure: Review how God chose Joshua to lead Israel after Moses. Explain that these were two very different men, but they had a lot in common based on how they needed to trust God to lead Israel. In English, they are both represented by the same pronoun “he” because they are both male. Pronouns are shorter versions of a noun. Students will play a relay race game to review pronoun vocabulary. Write a different pronoun on each paper plate. Place these in a line opposite from where the students will stand for the relay. Write a different noun on each clothespin. There should be the same number of pins for each team as there are team members.

Each team should have the nouns written in different colors so that they can keep up with which ones belong to their team. Place the color-coded clothespins in a cup/bowl in front of each team. Students of each team line up behind their pins. When it is their turn, each student grabs a pin from their cup/bowl and runs to clip it on the appropriate paper plate. When they return to their team’s line, the next person in line goes. The team to clip all of their pins on the plates first wins. A check will need to be done to see that they are correct.

For example: A student might pull a clip that says “Moses” and clip it to the paper plate that says “he.” After the race, review the words on the plates to see how many words can be easily substituted by single pronoun. Correct any that were misplaced.

Additional Questions:

  • How do pronouns make a language easier?
  • How are English pronouns similar to pronouns in your language? How are they different?

Supplemental Activity:
Have students look through the story in Deuteronomy 31 and find pronouns. Then have them identify the person that is being represented by the pronoun.

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