Language Unit: NP1 + V + NP2 + prepositional phrase
This unit was written for elementary children, however, if you have younger or older students who need to develop this structure, you can use a similar format with age-appropriate materials and activities.
As you work with students on this sentence structure, use vocabulary and language structures they already know. For this unit you may want to review the verbs give, buy, and sell making sure that the children understand the concepts and know the past tense forms.
Teacher demonstration/modeling
Review the nouns and verbs that you will use in the development of the sentence structure.
- Tell the class: I will do something and then I will tell/show you a new sentence. The sentence will describe what I do. This is the new sentence that you will learn today.
-
Perform an action, for example, give a book
to a student (David).
- Tell the class: I gave a book to David. Write the sentence on the board and have children say/sign it with you.
- David gives the book to another student (Emma).
- Write part of the new sentence on the board: David gave the book to whom? Elicit the response: Emma.
- Change whom to Emma in the sentence on the board.
- Have the students say/sign the new sentence with you.
Tell the children what they will learn and why
Tell them that they will learn this new English sentence. They will be able to use the sentence when they communicate with other people. They will be able to write it, read it, and understand it when they see it in books. They can also use it to communicate with other people.
Guided practice
If your students have some usable hearing, in all guided practice activities, encourage them to notice how the words/sentences look when lipreading and how they sound. If appropriate, present lipreading and auditory discrimination activities using the words and sentences from the unit.
-
Emma gives the book to another student.
- Ask: What did Emma do?
- Elicit the response: Emma gave the book to Mei-Li. Write the sentence on the board and have the students say/sign it with you.
- Repeat steps with other students 3-4 more times. Use similar sentences, for example:
Latasha gave a ball to Ruben.
Ruben gave a pencil to Francesca.
Independent practice
- Put different objects on a table.
-
Tell the other students that Ivan will do
something and they will say/sign and write a
sentence telling what Ivan does.
- Ivan selects an object and gives it to Samuel.
- Ask: What did Ivan do?
- Elicit the response: Ivan gave a cap to Samuel.
- Have the students write the sentence on their papers.
- Write the sentence on the board for the students to check and correct their sentences, if necessary.
- Students say/sign the sentence with you.
- Repeat these steps 3-4 times.
Teacher demonstration/modeling
Reinforce sentence structure using sell and buy.
Set up a store in the classroom and give each child some play money.
-
A student (Latasha) acts as the clerk in the
store.
- Another student (Jesse) buys something.
- Ask: What did Latasha do? Say/sign Latasha sold a cookie to Jesse.
- Write the sentence on the board and have the students say/sign it with you.
- Repeat the steps with Latasha selling things to other children.
Guided practice
If appropriate, include lipreading and auditory discrimination activities in the activities during guided practice.
-
Another student (Ahmed) is the clerk.
Mei-Li goes to the store and buys something.
- After Mei-Li completes her purchase, ask What did Ahmed do?
- Elicit the response from the students: Ahmed sold a banana to Mei-Li.
- Ask a different student to write the sentence on the board. Provide as much help as necessary; the student may also refer to the other sentences on the board.
- Repeat steps several times or until all students have turns being the clerk or the customer.
Teacher demonstration/modeling
- Tell the students to watch carefully because this time they will do something different and the sentence will be different, too.
-
A student (David) is the clerk and Emma buys
something at the store.
- Ask the students: What did Emma do?
- Say/sign the “new” sentence: Emma bought a flower from David.
-
Write the sentences on the board and have
the students compare them:
- Samuel gave a pencil to Jesse.
- Latasha sold a lollipop to Ruben.
- Emma bought a flower from David.
- The students should notice that with the verbs gave and sold, the preposition to is used and with the verb bought, from is used
-
Repeat the action again having Francesca buy
something at the store.
- Model (say/sign) the sentence and write it on the board, emphasizing the use of the word from.
Guided practice
If appropriate, include lipreading and auditory discrimination activities in the activities during guided practice.
Follow the same steps used in the previous guided practice section (sold—to) using the verb bought and the preposition from.
Independent practice
- Put a variety of sentences using the verbs gave, sold, and bought on strips of paper.
- Give one child a sentence strip, tell him/her to read the sentence, and act it out.
- When the action is completed, the other children construct a sentence using the targeted structure.
- Ask one of the students to write the sentence on the board or have each student write the sentence on a paper, a white board, or a computer.
- Independent application
- Use the targeted structure in language experience stories.
- Read stories to the children or have them read stories that include frequent uses of the targeted structure.
- Incorporate the targeted structure into all other activities during the school day and emphasize its use.
Encourage the children to use the targeted structure whenever appropriate throughout the day in speech/sign/writing