How to Teach Pronouns In A Fun Way

Teaching pronouns is something distinct in the English language. It is interesting to know that some languages do not have these gender or group-based elements, so if you’re bilingual like our family, you understand this predicament. In some instances, teaching pronouns can be confusing because they involve an understanding of who the subject (or object) is, and what are the right pronouns to use. It can even be a boring and exhausting topic to tackle, and this is probably the reason why you want to know how to teach pronouns in a fun way.

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How to teach pronouns for beginners: My experience

Although my son is not in the level of teaching pronouns as an element of language formally, I began introducing him to concepts such as my, mine, I, and you as a part of functional communication. He is using these pronouns relatively well and in-context based on how I taught him.

This is usually how you begin teaching pronouns at a young age, you model how they are used, and children begin to pick it up later on. However, as I recall my experience teaching pronouns for older children, especially in teaching pronouns Autism and special needs students, the approach is quite different. In this post, I will share some ways on how you can teach pronouns in a fun way.

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How to teach pronouns in a fun way: 4 great suggestions

Start with favorite characters

For older children, what really worked well for me on how to teach about pronouns is to use their favorite characters. For example, characters in Sesame Street in books really worked well for children who are interested in them. I used Elmo to refer as “he” and Abby for “she”, and other characters who are gender-specific.

You can also use pairs such as Ernie and Bert to refer to “them”. If you can find some interesting materials that your child is interested in, you can start on teaching pronouns during play. Some strategies you can include are:

Replacing: Elmo is eating, or I can say “He” is eating.
Asking: What is the pronoun for “Abby”?
Filling in the blanks: _______ are going for a baseball game.

Using these strategies but incorporating favorite characters are key to hold interest.

Use engaging workbooks

Another strategy that really worked for me is using engaging workbooks that promote mastery. The repetition and variety of activities to master a skill found in workbooks are really helpful when children have difficulties learning pronouns.

I find that in teaching pronouns Autism and special needs group, workbooks and flashcards are very useful to increase opportunities for learning. I believe that the same thing goes for other children who have difficulties in mastering this specific subject.

I recommend this “Pronouns Speech Therapy Workbook” both for children with special needs or those who have a challenging time mastering pronouns. This is a great method to teach pronouns in a fun way without much preparation. It has games, filling in the blanks, or similar fun activities that children can engage in while learning. The workbook is also reproducible especially if you have a group to teach, or if you want to use the same workbook for multiple students. Find in Amazon.

Ask questions about familiar people

Aside from favorite characters, one way on how to teach pronouns for beginners is by using familiar people and characters as subjects and objects. Looking at family photos, pointing to pets, or using what is in the immediate environment helps in better recall since the subject (or object) is already familiar.

If you are working with a group, you can also ask children to role play or play games using themselves as subjects and objects for creating pronouns. Familiarity is one puzzle towards mastery and using such methods have been effective for me as well.

Model and highlight in conversation

When you are talking to your child, it is also essential to model and highlight it in conversation. If you are using pronouns in your own conversations, remember to highlight it by increasing your stress and volume on that pronoun to help them recall when they use it on their own.

Modeling is one of the simplest yet effective ways to help children understand how to use pronouns in daily conversation. You can increase their awareness by doing this strategy when you are in a period of teaching the lesson of pronouns.

Some example conversations include:

“Look what ‘I’ made! ‘I’ made a star. Look what ‘You’ made. ‘You’ made a heart.”

“Auntie Anne is going with you today. Yes, ‘She’ is taking you out for a walk.”

Highlighting the pronouns in your daily conversations gives extra bombardment of how they can use these appropriately in a daily context.

I hope these strategies on how to teach pronouns in a fun way help you out! As always, don’t forget to check out the special resource I mentioned above, called the “Pronouns Speech Therapy Workbook”:

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