Did you know the English language is one of the most difficult to master?! Take their, there & they’re, for example – kinda tricky, right? I’ve been helping our son, who’s in 4th grade, learn the definition of each word. You can find excellent learning tools on Education.com.
There, Their, and They’re are often confused by writers of any age. Help your 4th grade student learn each distinctive definition with this fun activity combining writing and movement.
What You’ll Need:
- Notebook paper
- Pen or pencil
What You’ll Do:
1. The parent writes “their” on a sheet of paper, and tells the child this means a connection or ownership. Show your child how to cross their arms. Your child should cross his arms together across his chest to show a connection.
2. Next, write the word “there.” This time, have your child point to indicate a direction in which something is located.
3. Finally, write the word “they’re.” Ask your child to spread his arms wide apart to represent more than one person, because “they’re” is they are.
4. Next, the parent writes a sentence, leaving a blank space for one of the three (there, their, they’re) words. The parent and child read the sentence together. (See the sentence suggestions below.)
5. When you get to the blank space in the sentence, your child physically demonstrates the correct arm movement that represents the correct word. Continue to write sentences that require the child to show the correct arm movement.
You can make this activity more difficult by writing sentences that use more than one of the three words.
Suggested Sentences:
Annie and Taylor can’t make up __________ minds.
_______ are lots of cars on the highway.
_______ going to the market this afternoon.
They painted _______ house yellow.
______ are no sodas in the refrigerator.
_______ is nothing for dinner.
Tomorrow _______ working in the yard.
With a little practice, your 4th grader will be using all three words correctly. Let’s hear it for 4th grade!
