What is a noun?

For English Language Learners 6th and above

Authors: Kimberly Lippert, Nick Jackson, Angie Graves

Lesson Overview

Learners

Learning Environment

Objectives

Materials

The purpose of this lesson is to teach English

Language Learners the rules and uses for different
types of nouns. This will be done through the
description of nouns, examples, and uses of nouns in
sentences. Students will get time during class to
discuss nouns and to attempt to write what type of
noun they know on the e-board. At the end of the
lesson, a worksheet to test comprehension will be
assigned.
This lesson is designed for 6th and 7th grade English
Language Learners with an emphasis on 6th grade
English skills. These students may be first time
learners or have little to none English Language
experience. There are twenty students in the class
and their English abilities are low to moderately low.
This schools technology is at moderate
level. Most classrooms will have Internet
access, a projector, or an e-board. The
teacher is a native English speaker who is
also fluent in Spanish.
The goal of this lesson is to have students understand
the basic concepts of nouns and their use in sentences
and verbal communication. By the end of the lesson,
students should be able to recognize different types
of nouns; Proper, Improper, and Pronouns.
Each student will need a pencil, paper,
and a worksheet to properly attempt the
lesson. In addition, the teacher will need
to use the e-board to incorporate the
interactive section of the lesson that
allows the students to write their own
noun on the e-board in the specific colors.

Connection:
We have recently been trying to read a lot of
books with simple sentences in English lately. The
noun is a very important part of the sentences in these
books because it is often the main subject matter and
is essential to the construction of a sentence. All of
you have used sentences that have nouns in them.
Have any of you seen or recognized a noun in your
books?
Attention Grabber:
Some of you may already know a little bit
about nouns. Ask your neighbor if they know what a
noun is or if they know how to use one!
Purpose:

Procedure

We will be learning about how to recognize a

noun, examples of them, and how to construct a
sentence with a noun. Nouns are essential to making
and reading sentences. In addition, we will also talk
about when to use a pronoun instead of a noun.
Lesson:
The teacher will first explain what a noun is
and how to recognize it in a sentence. Secondly,
examples of nouns will be provided, and students
will attempt to provide their own nouns by going up
to the front of the room and will write a noun of their
choice on the e-board. Each different type of noun
will have a different color. Students will pick a red
color if the noun is a person, blue if its a place, green
if its a thing, and purple if its an idea. Nouns will
then be used in simple sentences. Lastly, the use of
simple pronouns will take the place of nouns when
needed.
Engagement:
Raise your hand if you can remember any of the
nouns in the books that we have read.
Learning Listening

Assessment

Standards

The assessment of the students

knowledge of nouns will be based on a
worksheet that is assigned that
demonstrates proper usage of a noun and
examples of when to substitute for a
pronoun. Students will also have to
identify if the noun is a person, place,
thing, or idea.
Exchanging information and ideas with
others Through oral collaborative
discussions on a range of social and
academic topics
SL.6.1,6; L.6.3,
Using nouns and noun phrases
W.6.5;WHST.6.5;SL.6.6;L.6.1,3

References

Borrero, N. E., & Yeh, C. J. (2010). Feature

Articles. Ecological English
Language Learning Among
Ethnic Minority Youth.
Banuelos, G. R., Chu, H., & Koelsch, N.
Tesol Quarterly. Language for
Learning: Supporting English
Language Learners to Meet the
Challenges of New Standards.
Pg. 642-650.

Article Summaries
The article, Ecological English Language Learning Among Ethnic Minority
Youth, by Noah E. Borrero and Christine J. Yeh describes and shows results of how
bilingual students learn English socially can help them academically. In public schools
speaking more than one language is often over looked even though there is an increasing
number of bilingual students in the school systems. Students learn to adapt their language
use according to the environment, situation, and interpersonal dynamics (Hawkins, 2004;
Orellana & Bowman, 2003; Paris, 2010).Some examples include; sports the students
participate in require them to speak English while church events or other events allow
them to speak their own native language. This article also has tables and results of
questions asked to students of how they learn and practice English on their own and in
school situations.

The article, Language for Learning: Supporting English Language Learners to Meet
the Challenges of New Standards, also describes and points out the importance of
bilingual students learning English socially to help them academically. It states different
methods for helping English language learners. One of these is to have the students work
in groups and come up with concepts based on an example given by the teacher. This
article also explains how language for learning can also help in other classes besides
English; for example, math, science, and reading.

Name______________________________

Date______________

Nouns
A noun is a person, place, or thing. You can see or touch nouns.
Examples:boy, girl, tree, school, James, teacher
Directions: Circle the nouns in the sentences. Write if it is a person, place, or thing.
1)

The boy went to school. _______________

2)

Hannah likes math. __________________

3)

The tree is tall. _____________________

4)

Ron like tacos. _______________________

5)

The girls like to watch movies. ______________

Pronouns
A pronoun is a word that takes place of a noun.
Examples: I, he, she, him, her, we
Directions: Circle the pronouns in the sentence.
1)

I like to shovel

2)

He was excited for school.

3)

She goes to Florida every year.

4)

We like to learn.

5)

She was really happy to see the snow.