UNIT OUTLINE

(Content of unit, skills, and teacher’s objectives)

Program: ESP for English Education Graduate Students
(This unit outline forms the basis for two class sessions. The lesson plan for one of the
class sessions which develops writing and reading skills, follows this unit outline. The
other class session would develop the listening and speaking outlined below. )

Topic: Rules Involving Subject Verb Agreement

Content:
Reading Assignment: Reading an informative text lifted from
English Grammar through Stories by Allan
Townend.

Visual Aid: Manila paper, Cartolina, Bond paper,

Pentelpen, Paper, Ballpen
Mini-lecture Topics: Rules Involving Subject-Agreement
Skills Focus:
Reading: Reading a two paragraph text lifted from
English Grammar through Stories by Allan
Townend.

Writing: Writing a short story

Listening: Listening to a mini lecture: Rules Involving
Subject-Agreement
Speaking:
Grammar focus:
Writing: Constructing sentences and identifying the
subjects and verbs
Reading: Identifying subjects and verbs, and
determining what rules in SVA are being used
Objectives:
Reading: Students will be able to write 10 sentences
from the selection they will read.

Students will be able to identify the subjects

and verbs from the sentences.
Writing: Students will be able to construct simple
sentences and a short story.
Listening: Students will be able to determine the rules of
Subject-Verb Agreement used on a sentence
through listening on the mini-lecture.
Speaking:
 LESSON PLAN
(This is the teacher’s lesson plan. Worksheet needed by the students for completion of the
exercises outlined below follow this lesson plan.)

Homework Assignment: Read the two paragraph lift up from English Grammar through
Stories by Allan Townend, and choose at least 15 sentences on the said selection. With the
chosen sentences, they must identify the subjects and verbs. The subjects must be underlined and
the verbs must be encircled.

(The reading assignment will be given before introducing the topic. This will be a great help for
the students for it will prepare them in grasping the content of the lesson. Thus, this will able
students to figure out the relationship between subjects and verbs, and eventually, will prepare
them in the classroom exercises. See figure 1 and Student Worksheet 1: Reading Comprehension
Exercise: Identifying Subjects and Verbs.)

Class Activities:
A. Prior Knowledge Checking Exercise. (5-10 minutes)
Instruct the students to construct at least three sentences about their favourite sports. Afterwards,
students will have to read it in class.
(Note: Examples are provided)

Examples:

1. My favourite sports are basketball and volleyball.

2. Basketball is a court game where two opposing teams with usually 5 players. Each
team will score by tossing an inflated ball through the opponent’s goal, an
elevated horizontal hoop and net called, basket.
3. Volleyball is a game played by two opposing teams of six players and are separated
by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on others team’s
court under organized rules.

(The teacher and the students will work on together to identify the verbs and subjects on the
constructed sample sentences)
B. Writing Exercise (10 minutes)
See writing exercise on student worksheet 2. Let the students write their own short story
about their past experiences. The constructed short stories will be shared after the mini
lecture, and the other students have to listen attentively for they will be writing down at
least 10 sentences from the short story they listened to. From that 5 sentences, students
 will have to individually identify the subjects and verbs, and also to determine what rules
are being used on those.

C. Listening Exercise: Mini Lecture (15-30 minutes)

Students will listen to the mini-lecture (see the teacher’s script below), and after that, they have
to accomplished the cloze exercise (see worksheet 3).

D.

Teacher’s Script for Mini-Lecture

Mini-Lecture: Rules Involving Subject-Verb Agreement
What is Subject-Verb Agreement?
Subject-Verb Agreement means your subject and verb must match, or agree, in number. This
means that both need to be singular or both need to be plural?

Why do we need to know Subject-Verb Agreement? What do you think is the significance of
knowing this?
It is important to ensure that subjects and verbs always agree with each other. The relationship
between subjects and verbs lie at the heart of grammatically correct English writing. Thus, SVA
unifies a sentence and makes it easier to understand.
Indeed, SVA is very important because without it, we readers or listeners can be easily confused.

So, there are rules we need to be aware of to achieve a grammatically correct sentences. Here are
10 rules in SVA:
Rule #1 (Basic Rule): The subject must agree in number. A singular subject takes a
singular verb.
Examples:
A good medicine taste bitter.
He goes to work by bus.
They visit us every other week.
Rule #2: The subject and verb separated by “with”, “as well as” “together with”, “along
with”. These words or phrases are not part of the subject. The verb agrees with the subject.
 Examples:
The politician, along with the newsmen, is expected shortly.
Rule #3: Subjects joined by “and” are plural.
Examples:
Mary and Jane are quite different.
Ana and Sam are best friends.
Rule #4: Two subjects joined by “or/not”, “either…or/neither…nor”, “not only…but
also” take the verb that agrees with the subject closes to it.
Examples:
Neither my mother nor my father goes to university.
Either my father or brother are coming.
Not only you but also I am planning to go.
Rule #5: With collective nouns, the verb might be singular or plural (UK), depending on
meaning.
Examples:
The audience was clearly enchanted by her performance.
The audience are strangely subdued, clapping politely after each song.
Rule #6: In sentence beginning with “here”, or “there”, the true subject follows the verb.
Example:
There is a bush near the school playground.
Here are the keys.
Rule #7: The verb is singular if the subject is a singular indefinite pronoun such as each,
either, neither, one, no one, every one, someone, anyone, nobody somebody, anybody,
everybody, one, no.
Example:
Nobody gets rich from writing nowadays.
Either of the plans is equally dangerous.

The verb is plural if the subject is plural indefinite pronoun such as several, few, both,
and many.
 Example:
Several villages have been isolated by the heavy snowfall.

And, some indefinite pronouns (some, any, all, and most) may be either singular or plural
depending upon their use in a sentence: with uncountable, use singular; with countable use
plural.
Example:
Some of books are out of place. Please put them in the right order.
(Books are countable.)
Some of the music was weird.
(Music is uncountable)
Rule #8: Use a singular verb for expressions of measurement, time, money and weight
when the amount is considered one unit.
Examples:
Fifty dollars seems a reasonable price.
Three miles is too far to walk.
BUT:
Five dollars were scattered on the ground.
Rule # 9: Plural form subjects with a singular meaning take a singular verb (such as
mumps, home economics, social studies economics, measles, calisthenics, statistics, civics,
physics, gymnastics, phonics, news, acrobatics, aesthetics, thesis, mathematics…)
Examples:
Gymnastics is his favourite sport.
Mathematics is the science of pure quantity.
Rule #10: Titles of single entities 9bookd, organizations, countries, etc.) are always
singular.
Example:
Harry Potter is an interesting novel.

So, that’s it for the 10 rules in Subject-Verb Agreement.

 Remember that I gave you a group activity to write a short story about your past
experiences right?
Now I want you all to read the short story in front of the class. The other groups will
listen attentively for they will have to write at least 5 sentences from the story you are going to
read. The sentences must follow any of the rules in Subject-Agreement.
After choosing the sentences, I am again giving you an individual task to determine what
rules are being used on the sentences.
Figure 1.
Worksheet 1: Reading Activity: Identifying Subjects and Verbs
(Note: Sentences are provided and labelled, and it is place inside the box. It will serve as the
basis of the teacher in checking the assignment of the students.)
Reading: Read the two paragraph lifted from English Grammar through Stories by Allan
Townend.
Assignment: List down at least 15 sentences from the provided paragraph and identify the
subjects and verbs. Underline the subject and highlighted the verbs.

Labelled Sentences:
1. Andrew Smodley is a natural worrier.
2. Andrew worried about the weather.
3. He has inherited from his father.
4. There are those who are never happy.
5. They have a problem to solve.
6. Andrew wasn’t worrying enough.
7. Something happened to him exactly two years ago.
8. Prepares herself for renewal.
9. People often fall in love.
10. He never looks up to the leaves starting to grow.
11. He simply thinks to himself.
12. People make a lot of noise all the time.
13. I apologize for this simplicity of this statement.
14. Sally is entirely different kettle of fish.
15. Andrew and Sally lives in cottage.
Worksheet 2: Listening Comprehension Exercise
Topic: Rules Involving Subject-Agreement

WRITING EXCCERCISE

(The teacher will group the class into 5)

Directions: In your group, you are task to make a short story about your past experiences. The
story will be shared on the class. As the story is being shared, the other groups will have to listen

attentively for they have to at least write down 5 sentences for each of the story that follows any
of the rules in Subject-Agreement.

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MINI LECTURE: Rules Involving Subject-Agreement
(Individual Task)
Direction: Listen to the mini lecture and determine what rules are used on the sentences that your
group wrote from the short stories.

Worksheet 3:
(Answers are provided and are placed on the parenthesis. This is done for the basis of the teacher
in checking. )
 MINI LECTURE: Rules Involving Subject-Agreement
Direction: Identify the subject (by underling) and the verb (by encircling) on the following
sentences. After identifying the subjects and verbs, determine what rules are applied on each
sentences. Write the rules in CAPITAL letters, and place it before the number.
1.
2.
3.
4.

Worksheet 4: