IXL Helps Me with Pronouns!

Pronouns are very important in speaking and writing English.  I could bet you a million dollars that every day on which you have spoken at least one word, you have used pronouns.  And I would win that bet!!!

What are pronouns? They're words that stand in for nouns. Here are some: I, you, he, she, it, we, they, me, him, her, us, them, my, your, his, her, its, our, their.

We use these every single day of our lives. On some days we use them a hundred times or more.

But here's the thing.  We don't always use them properly.  Remember when you were just a baby and said things like, "Me wanna cookie!"  You don't remember that?  Well, your parents do.

Remember last weekend when you said, "Mom, me and Caitlyn wanna go to the mall"?  In both of those cases, you were not using pronouns properly.

Here's another example: "Mr. Stephens gave a bad grade to Justin and I."  (Would you say, "Mr. Stephens gave a bad grade to I"?)  And here's one more that I hear a lot, "I'm not telling. That's between she and I."  (Properly, it should be "That's between her and me," which doesn't sound proper. But it is.)

Here's another thing.  Sometimes we don't use pronouns when we should, and as a result our writing (or speaking) sounds boring. Look at the sentences on the left in which there are no pronouns. They sound ridiculous, don't they?  Now see how much better the sentences on the right sound when we replace the maddening repetition of "Mr. Stephens" with pronouns.

So today, we will begin work on pronouns using IXL. Here's what you need to do. As usual, go to Hoover Schools sign-on link for IXL. (Remember to write click on the link and use the "OPEN LINK IN NEW TAB" option so that you can easily go back and forth between the blog and IXL):

https://www.ixl.com/signin/hoovercs

Once you're signed in. GO TO FIFTH GRADE.  I'm going to repeat that because last time a few of you went to the wrong grade and did the WRONG assignments.  GO TO FIFTH GRADE FIFTH GRADE FIFTH GRADE FIFTH GRADE FIFTH GRADE FIFTH GRADE FIFTH GRADE FIFTH GRADE!!!!!!

Once you're in fifth grade, start work on

O.1, O.2, O.3, O.4, O.5 

It looks like this:

You are going to have questions.  And that's what your teacher is here for.  When/if you get answers wrong, FIRST, read the explanation that IXL provides stating why you got it wrong;  SECOND, if you don't understand the explanation, call me to you--or, if you're working at home, e-mail me--and I'll explain.

Remember, you are to get at least 90 percent, but the goal is to master the skill, which means 100 percent.

And, yes, this is a graded assignment.

Good luck.