Before you teach — read this first
Grade 4 · Lesson 11 — Noun
U1 · Level One — Parts of Speech · Noun (—) · 10–15 minutes · 14 slides ·
Launch → I do → We do → You do → Closure
The grammar behind this lesson — read this before you teach it.NounWhat it is. A noun names something — a person, place, thing, or idea. It is the only kind of word that can be the thing a sentence is about.
Why our test works. 'Can I put the in front of it?' works because the is a determiner, and determiners in English attach to nouns and to nothing else. *The table* is fine; the ran, the quickly, the and are not. So the test is not a trick — it is asking whether the word behaves the way only nouns behave.
Leans on. Knowing that a sentence is about something. If a child cannot yet find what the sentence is about, the noun test has nothing to hold on to.
Watch for. It fails on names and on some abstract nouns — we do not say the Sarah or the courage in every sentence. Tell the class the test finds most nouns, and names are nouns too because they name a person.
What this lesson is
A review day. No new concept: today drills subject. Choose the focus from the last assessment rather than from a plan made months ago — the sheet works on whatever you pick. The worked example is built on You need my indefinite little brother., ringing brother.
Why it matters — say this in your own words, about ten seconds.
“We learn the kinds of words so we can say exactly what we mean.”
A different reason every lesson, on purpose. It is not on a slide and it
is not a script — if you have a better reason today, use yours. What should land is the
idea, not a sentence they can recite.
Recall — sixty seconds, before anything new
Retrieve: Subject · Noun + Verb. Ask for it before you introduce anything, take the answers from boards rather than from hands so you see all thirty, and do not re-teach — note who has lost it and carry on. This is the middle of the launch: context, then this, then why it matters. Only what today leans on — a minute spent retrieving something unrelated costs the same and buys nothing, and the child who cannot recall the prerequisite is the one you will lose in the I-do.
How it goes
- Ten seconds on why it matters — “We learn the kinds of words so we can say exactly what we mean.” Your words, not those; it is a different reason every lesson so what lands is the idea rather than a sentence they can recite.
- Then you do one yourself, on screen, one click per move: You need my indefinite little brother. · the question · ring brother · name it a subject. Do it exactly the way you want it done — this is the task they are about to do on their boards, not an easier one.
- You build the same thing on the board and leave it up for subject. The four steps are identical in every lesson of this unit — sentence, question, test, answer — so the children read the method rather than the layout, and today's board shows You need my indefinite little brother. still marked when they start work.
- The We-do runs 1 items on whiteboards — Now, start again, everyone, from the top, from when Poodle begins to speak.Who or what is this about?. You are scanning for who applies the question and who is guessing from meaning; those look identical on a right answer and completely different on a wrong one.
- Exit directions in full, standing still, before anyone moves — Sheet and pencil · Read the question above each one BEFORE you answer it · Find the subject. Then they work alone, with the same worked example printed at the head of their sheet.
- Close on Now, start again, everyone, from the top, from when Poodle begins to speak. — an item they have not met, so it measures rather than reminds — then the line they leave with: “The subject is who or what it is about.”
- Watch for: Marks the first word rather than the subject — The subject usually starts the sentence, so position works often enough to hide. If you see it: “Who or what is it ABOUT? Say the whole naming part.” (Remedial sheet 19.)