Articles (a, an, the)

General

In this lesson, students will learn about articles and when to use them. They will take part in some short exercises and activities to practice using articles correctly.

Standards

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.1.1.h

Learning objective

Students will be able to identify and use articles.

Introduction

Students will look at a picture of a birthday party scene and point to the objects listed on the screen. They will also review nouns by dragging magnifying glasses to words in a sandbox.

Instruction

Articles are words that come before nouns, like "a," "an," and "the." The article "a" should be used when the next word starts with a consonant sound. Students will match the article and noun with each picture. The article "an" should be used when the next word starts with a vowel sound. Students will write a noun that starts with each vowel. They will review articles "a" and "an" by determining the missing article in front of words, like "astronaut" or "computer." The article "the" should be used when naming a specific person, place, or thing, such as "the castle."

Students will sort each article-noun pair into shopping baskets labeled, "a," "an," and "the." They will read sentences and circles all the articles. They will also look at images and listen to the labels to decide which article is being used.

Quiz

Students will review when to use each article with 10 questions.

Closing

Have students recall the three articles, the type of words that come after articles, and how to know which article to use. To conclude the lesson, students will spot items around the classroom and use articles to name them (e.g., "I see the desk.").

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