Mini Lesson & Unit Plan
Mini lessons are important to incorporate into your classroom so that specific strategies and topics can be either introduced or reinforced. The following is an example of a mini lesson that I created to demonstrate my understanding of this teaching strategy.
Topic: Using there, their, and they’re
Introduce topic:
Today, we are going to do a mini-lesson to help you learn and know the correct way to use there, their, and they’re. Do we remember what these words are called; words that sound the same, but have different spellings and meanings? (Answer: homophones) That is right, there, their, and they’re are homophones and it can be confusing to know which one to use when we are writing. So how do we know?
Explain:
- Their is a possessive pronoun, it is used to show possession or that a particular thing belongs to them/someone (it replaces a noun in a sentence) – answers the question, ‘Who does it belong to?’
- They’re is a contraction of they and are (ask if students remember what a contraction is if they look puzzled or answer ‘no’ then quickly remind them).
- There is used when talking about a place or position and has the word here in it – answers the question ‘Where is it?’
Offer Examples: (write these sentences on the board, read them out loud, and use the explanations of the various forms of there/their/they’re from above to verify that I have used the correct homophone in the sentence. For example, I would ask questions like: “Can this form of the homophone be replaced with they are/ his or her? Does it answer the question where is it or indicate a place or position? Does it answer the question of who it belongs to?” This will help students hear, see, and understand the differences between each homophone)
- Using their:
- That is their car.
- What is their address?
- Using they’re:
- They’re going to be here soon.
- I think they’re from Canada.
- Using there:
- We are going there after school.
- Ask that lady over there for directions.
Mention/Hints:
Ask yourself, “Can I replace it with here?” or “Does it answer where?” – then use there.
“Does it make sense with the words his or her?” – then use their.
“Does it make sense if I use they are?” – then use they’re.
Guided Practice: (write sentences on the board and have students fill in the blank with you, remember to use our hints to reinforce the differences and correct use of each homophone. Here I would also use a few of the examples to demonstrate how the incorrect homophone does not work by going over our hints and asking the questions to reinforce that only one is correct and to model the process of elimination with students so they have a strategy to use when needed/unsure)
That is _____ ball. (their)
I like that house over _____. (there)
_____ still using the computers. (They’re)
_____ dog is always barking. (Their)
I think _____ going to be late for class. (they’re)
I was wondering what was in _____. (there)
_____ are so many cars at the mall today. (There)
I heard _____ opening the new park soon. (they’re)
Did you see the monkeys when you were _____? (there)
Do you remember _____ cat’s name? (their)
Skipping gym was _____ idea. (their)
I hope _____ coming for Christmas this year. (they’re)
Bonus: It was _____ (their) idea to go to the field over _____(there) because _____ (they’re)
always looking for critters.
Independent Practice:
When you are working on a piece of writing, you can all try to use the correct homophone of there, they’re, and their, along with our strategies to help when you are unsure.
Unit Plan (group work)
follow the link above to see a framework that was co-created by three other colleagues from ELNG 310.