Determiners · B4 English Language

Lesson notes

Learning Objectives

Indicator: B4.3.2.1.1

By the end of the lesson, learners can:

Identify the definite article “the” and the indefinite articles “a” and “an” in given sentences.
State the rule for choosing between “a” and “an” based on the sound that follows.
Use “a” and “an” correctly before singular countable nouns that refer to a person, animal, event, time or object in general.
Use “the” to refer to a specific person, animal, event, time or object that both the speaker and listener already know.
Recognise that some nouns, such as “music”, “soup” and “soap”, do not need an article at all.

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Curriculum details

Strand: Grammar Usage at Word and Phrase Levels (Strand 3)
Sub-strand: Determiners (3.2)
Content standard: B4.3.2.1 - Apply knowledge of different types of determiners in communication
Indicator: B4.3.2.1.1 - Identify and use the definite and indefinite articles "a" and "an" to refer to a person, animal, event, time or objects in general
Suggested placement: Term 2, Week 8 (Week 20 of the year)
Our suggestion, laid out in curriculum order across three terms of twelve weeks. NaCCA does not fix the week, so follow your school's scheme of learning.
Source document note: The official curriculum document has a fault in this entry, so the curriculum text above is transcribed exactly as printed:

exemplars - p.36
Curriculum reference: English Language Curriculum (Basic 4-6), 2019, p. 36
Transcribed from the official NaCCA publication. Check this page against the source.

Exemplars (from the NaCCA curriculum)

Note: Teacher should use level-appropriate vocabulary to teach the articles
- Have learners read sentences containing articles.
- Indefinite articles: e.g. I bought an orange. a car, a sheep, a tree, an apple, an orange, an egg, etc.
- Definite article: I put the book on the table.
- Use several examples to explain the use of the definite and indefinite articles.
- Nouns such as music, soup, soap, do not require any determiners. Thus show further that it is possible to say: i. I love music. ii. I enjoy soup.
- Put learners into small groups to form sentences with a, an, the. The document sets the "Note:" line above at the indicator's own left margin rather than indented with the exemplars, so it reads as part of the indicator on the page; it is an instruction to the teacher and is transcribed as the first exemplar.