Lesson Plans:

Reflexive Pronouns:
Learning Objectives
Students will be able to use reflexive pronouns in sentences.
Engage: (5 minutes)
Present students with a riddle: I’m made of glass, this much is true. But when
you look, you won’t see through. Reflect on this, and you’ll have a clue!
Explore:
Give students time to think about their answer.
Allow students to make guesses.
Tell students that the correct answer to the riddle is a mirror.
Prompt students to talk to their shoulder partners about the job of a mirror.
Accept student answers and explain that today’s pronoun lesson is connected
to mirrors because of what a mirror is made to do. A mirror’s job is to reflect
back to you. Today’s lesson covers a type of pronoun that reflects, too.
Explain: (8 minutes)
Introduce reflexive pronouns by giving the definition: a type of pronoun that
refers back to the subject of the sentence.
Remind students that the subject of a sentence is who or what the sentence is
about.
Explain that reflexive pronouns are used when the subject and the object of
the sentences are the same. (Example: The baby saw herself in the mirror.
The subject is the baby, and the object is also referring to the baby.)
Tell students that reflexive pronouns are also used to emphasize the subject.
(Example: The boy will clean up the mess himself. The word “himself”
emphasizes that the boy will do the job on his own.)
Write an example sentence on the board. Circle the reflexive pronoun and
draw an arrow back to the subject to which it refers. (Example: The ladies
made themselves a reservation at a nice restaurant.)
Elaborate: (15 minutes)
Group students into brainstorming teams.
Give each group a T-chart with the left column labeled "Subject Pronouns"
and the right column labeled "Reflexive Pronouns." The left side of the T-chart
should be filled in with the subject pronouns—I, you (singular), he, she, it, you
(plural), we, they.
Challenge students to brainstorm which reflexive pronouns match the subject
pronouns.
Give groups two minutes to complete the chart.
Go over answers so that each group has the correct reflexive pronouns that
go with the subject pronouns.
Instruct students to use their whiteboards to write a sentence with each
reflexive pronoun.
Note that each sentence does not need to have both a subject pronoun and a
reflexive pronoun. Just using a reflexive pronoun will meet the requirements
for this task.
Direct students to circle the reflexive pronoun and draw an arrow to the
subject that the reflexive pronoun refers back to.
Remind students that this is how the reflexive pronoun does the same job as
a mirror.
Evaluate(10 minutes)
Have students complete the 10 questions on the Reflexive Pronouns exercise
as a formative assessment.
Collect the sentences from the independent work time as a check for
understanding.