Lesson Plan of Articles (Determiners) English Grade VIII

Lesson Plan of Articles (Determiners)

English Grade VIII

Students’ Learning Outcomes

·         Recall and apply rules for use of “a” and “an” in speech and writing.

·         Demonstrate use of Definite Articles “the” when noun is particularized.

·         Apply rules for use of “a”, “an” and “the’ wherever applicable in speech and writing.

Information for Teacher

·         “A” denotes a single unit which is less specific and is known as the indefinite article.

·         “A” denotes a singular noun beginning with a consonant and is known as the indefinite article.

For example:

     A ball

    A pencil

   A computer

·         “An” is used when the following word begins with a vowel.

·         “An” is used when the word begins with a vowel.

For example:

An umbrella

An owl

An optician

An octopus

An ant

·         “The” is used when we refer to a specific object (noun). It is called the definite article.

For example:

The books in the library

The road in front of my house

·         An indefinite article will be changed into a definite article when we refer again to something that has been mentioned earlier.

For example:

I saw a cat.

The cat was sitting under a tree.

A dog saw the cat.

The dog chased the cat.

The cat climbed up a tree.

·         “The” is used when a name stands for a family.

For example:

We are having lunch with the Morgan’s tomorrow.

Exception to rule for using indefinite articles:

·         Indefinite articles “a” and “an” are used on the basis of the phonic sound of the following word.

·         If a vowel is pronounced as a consonant, we will use “a” before it.

·         If a consonant is pronounced as a vowel, we will use “a” before it.

For example:

  Ali is an honest boy.

 There is a university near my house>

There are no articles with the following:

·         With names of countries (if singular) such as:

·         Germany is an important economic power.

·         He’s just returned from Iran.

·         “The” is used with the names of countries that stand for a group, for example, the United States, The West Indies, The Philippines, etc.

                                                     (I’m visiting the United States next weak) 

·         With names of languages:

                                                    (French is spoken in Ireland)

                                                   (English uses many words of Latin origin)

                                                   (Indonesian is a relatively new language)

·         With names of Meals:

                                                 (Lunch is at midday)

                                                (Dinner is in the evening)

                                               (Breakfast is the first meal of the day)

·         With people’s names (if singular):

                                              (Hassan is coming to the party.)

                                              (Mr. Saied is my uncle.)

·         With titles and names:

                                             (Prince Charles is Queen Elizabeth’s son.)

                                             (President Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas)

·         With professions:

                                          (Engineering is a useful career.)

                                          (He’ll probably go into medicine.)

·         With years:

                                           (1947 was a wonderful year)

                                           (Do you remember 1965?)

·         With uncountable nouns:

                                          (Rice is the main food in Asia).

                                         (Milk is often added to tea in England)

                                        (War is destructive).

·         With the names of individual mountains, lakes and islands:

                                         (She lives near Lake Winder mere).

                                         Have you visited Long Island?)

·         In some fixed expressions.

                   (1. by car,

          2. by train,

          3. by air,

         4. on foot,

        5. on holiday,

        6. on air (in broadcasting)

               7. at school,

               8. at work,

              10. in church,

              11. in prison,

               12. in bed)

Concept Map

Material / Resources

Routine classroom resources, worksheets, marker/chalk, duster, board, textbook

Worm up activity

·         Explain the rules to use definite and indefinite articles with the help of information given in the information for the teacher.

·         Ask the following from the students:

o   When do we use articles?

o   What is the difference between definite and indefinite articles?

o   When will an indefinite article change to a definite article?

·         Revise the rules for using definite and indefinite articles.

·         Elicitation about use of definite and indefinite articles.

·         Note the responses of the students on the board.

·         Correct the students where required,

·         Explain the concept with the help of examples taken from any English grammar or textbook.

Development

Activity 1

·         Fill each blank with the proper article. If no article is required, put a cross in the blank space:

(Assam was __ (1) ____ active boy.one day he didn’t find milk in __ (2) ____ refrigerator. Assam decided to go to ___ (3) __ supermarket to buy some milk. It took him __(4)___ long time to go there because there was ___(5)____ lot of traffic on _(6)_____ way. As he go to ___ (7)__ supermarket, he realized that he had left his wallet at _(8)___ home. So, he goes back in __ (9) __ car and drove home. Once he goes home, he decided that he was too tired to go out again. “I don’t feel like driving all __ (10) __ way to the supermarket”, he thought. “Too bad there isn’t ___ (11) __ convenience store around there”.

(Answer key: an, 2. the, 3. the, 4. A, 5. a, 6. the, 7. the, 8. X, 9. the, 10.The, 11. A)

Activity 2

·         Explain the use of indefinite articles with certain exceptions on the basis of phonic sounds with the help of the following examples:

        A unicorn (U is pronounced as y)

       A one-armed robber (O is pronounced as w)

          An X-Ray (X is pronounced as AXE)

         An honest person (H is silent)

·         Ask the students to separate the given words that begin with vowel sounds from the words which begin with the consonant sounds and then supply correct indefinite articles according to the sound of the initial letter of the word.

(University, Unicycle, M A, Honest person, hour, X-Ray, European country)

Activity 3

·         Select any passage from the textbook having definite, indefinite articles and having some exception to the rule of use of indefinite articles.

·         Divide the class in three groups.

·         Ask one group to pick out the definite articles, the second group to pick out the indefinite articles and the third group to pick out the exceptions to the rule.

·         Award one point to the group with each correct answer.

Activity 4

·         Give students a paragraph, omit all the articles used and then ask them to supply the correct articles in the given spaces. This is a solved paragraph for the help of the teacher.(any other paragraph can be taken from the textbook for reinforcement)

·          (Once there lived some rabbits in a jungle. One day, a terrible wolf came in the jungle. When he saw so many rabbits at one place, he became very happy. The rabbits were playing some games in a circle. The wolf entered the circle silently. No one took notice of him. When the rabbits saw the horrible wolf, they were frightened. All of them tried to run to save their lives. However the wolf caught a rabbit and ate it up)

Sum up / Conclusion

·         Conclude the lesson by repeating all the main points of the lesson

Assessment

·         Ask the students:

o   What is the difference between the indefinite and definite articles?

o   Write at least five sentences using articles “a” and “an”

o   When will an indefinite article be changed to definite article?

·         For each blank space, choose the proper article (a, an, the or no article):

1.       They usually spend their holidays in _____ Mountains.

2.       Loss angles has ______ ideal climate.

3.       This is _______ best Mexican restaurant in the country.

4.       I can’t live on ________ 500 dollars a month.

5.       Someone called ____ policeman!

6.       She gave _________ interesting answer>

7.       He is _________ real American hero.

8.       I don’t like _____ dogs, but I like my brother’s dog.

9.       I haven’t seen him _____ five year.

10.   Kobe Bryant is ________ basketball player.

(Answer key: 1. the, 2. an, 3. The 4. No article, 5. A, 6. An, 7. An,   8. No article, 9. No article, 10. A) 

·         Give the students the following sentences. Ask them to read them carefully and see if the use of article “the” is correct or incorrect. In case of incorrect use of article instruct them to correct it.

1.       He has just returned from the United States.

2.       Sarah knows how to speak Spanish.

3.       The dinner isn’t ready so I have to go out to buy something to eat.

4.       Many people don’t like the teaching.

5.       The rice is the main food in the Bangladesh

Follow up

·          Give the class five sets of words (pair of nouns) and instruct them to make sentence.

1.       Boy cycle, 2. Cat ball, 3. Girl doll, 4. Home car, 5. cat tree