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Syntax and Sentence Structure
All About Me: Telling My Story with Pronouns!

Summary

In this literacy centre, designed for grades 1 to 3, students will rewrite a story about themselves using personal pronouns like I, he, she, they, we, and you to replace common nouns. They will learn to use pronouns correctly to make their story sound natural and personal.

Learning Outcomes

By the end of this centre, students will be able to:
  • Understand how to use the personal pronoun I to talk about themselves;
  • Use other personal pronouns (he, she, they, we, and you) to replace common nouns in a story;
  • Write a story using personal pronouns in place of proper nouns.

Material to Prepare

  • Appendix A: Short Stories
  • Appendix B: Pronoun Chart for reference
  • Writing sheets
  • Pencils, erasers, and coloured pencils

Procedure

Part 1: Read the Short Story
Step 1: Read the Story
  • Start by reading a story about a child (the story is written using common nouns, like the child’s name and other people’s names).
  • Example: “Sasha went to the park. Sasha played with Sasha’s friends and had a lot of fun.”
Step 2: Identify the Common Nouns

As you read, underline the common nouns (e.g., “Sasha,” “Sasha’s friends”).

Part 2: Replace Nouns with Pronouns
Step 1: Replace Nouns with Pronouns
  • Use the Pronoun Chart (Appendix B) to help replace the underlined nouns with the correct pronouns.
  • Example: Replace “Sasha” with “she” and “Sasha’s friends” with “they.”
Step 2: Rewrite the Story
  • Rewrite the entire story, replacing the names and common nouns with personal pronouns.
  • Example Rewritten Sentence: “She went to the park. She played with her friends and had a lot of fun.”
Step 3: Write Your Own Story

Now it’s your turn! Write a short story about yourself using the pronoun I to talk about yourself and other pronouns to talk about your friends or family.

Part 3: Illustrate Your Story
Step 1: Illustrate Your Story

Draw a picture that shows you and the people in your story. Label the characters using pronouns (e.g., I, we, they).

Checklist for Independent Work:

  • Did you underline all the common nouns in the story?
  • Did you replace the common nouns with the correct pronouns?
  • Did you write your story using I and other personal pronouns?
  • Did you draw and label your illustration with pronouns?

DIFFERENTIATION: Observing and providing support during analysis.

Possible Observation Intervention Strategies
Students continue to use their name instead of I when rewriting the story.
  • Remind students that when writing about themselves, they use I. Demonstrate the process of replacing a name with I through a think-aloud, such as, “If Emma is writing about herself, she would say, ‘I went to the park,’ instead of ‘Emma went to the park.’”
  • Provide sentence starters like “I went to the…” or “I played with…” to encourage them to use I naturally in their writing.
Students confuse which pronoun to use when replacing nouns referring to people (e.g., using he for a girl or they for one person).
  • Review the Pronoun Chart (Appendix B) with students using familiar examples. Clarify that he is for boys, she is for girls, and they is for more than one person.
  • Play a quick pronoun-matching game where students must choose the correct pronoun for a character in a sentence (e.g., “This is Emma. What pronoun should we use instead of Emma?”).
Students may not fully understand how to replace a noun with a pronoun in a sentence, leaving the noun and the pronoun together (e.g., “Emma she went to the park”).
  • Show students how to replace the noun with the pronoun fully. Walk through examples where the noun and the pronoun appear together, then explain why the noun needs to be removed (e.g., “Emma, she” → “she”).
  • Work with students on gradually replacing nouns with pronouns, ensuring that the noun is fully removed. Ask guiding questions like, “Which pronoun can replace Emma?”
Students might use they or them for individuals instead of groups, misunderstanding the difference between singular and plural pronouns.
  • Review that they and them refer to more than one person, while he and she are for one person. Reinforce this with visual aids, showing groups of people and individuals.
  • Use illustrations of a group and a single person, asking students to identify which pronoun to use for each.

Appendixes

Download the Appendixes document

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