Let's Talk About Articles

Fifth Grade Reading, Writing, ESL

In this great grammar lesson, your students will read, write, listen, and speak as they practice using articles.

Learning Objectives

Students will be able to identify and use the articles "a," "an," and "the" correctly in the context of a sentence.

Materials and preparation Key terms

Class set of Awesome Articles article

One copy of Adjectives - Article/Determiner a
Six sticky notes an
Personal whiteboards for students (or scratch the
paper)
One index card per student (or scratch paper)
Class set of "A" and "An" (optional)

Attachments

Awesome Articles (PDF)

Using Articles (PDF)
"A" and "An" (PDF)

Introduction (3 minutes)

Ask students to explain what an adjective is (i.e., adjectives are words that describe nouns).
Write the words "a," "an," and "the" on the board.
Tell students that these three words are special adjectives called articles.
Explain that they are different than other adjectives because they tell whether a noun is a specific object
or an undefined object.

Explicit Instruction/Teacher modeling (10 minutes)

Explain that if you want to refer to something specific you use the, as in "I want the book." In this
sentence the noun "book" is specific.
Tell students that if you want to say that any book will do, you would say, "I want a book," because it
doesn’t matter which book. It is undefined. However, if the word following the article starts with a vowel
sound, you would use an instead of "a," as in, "I want an apple."
On the board, make a chart with three columns, labled "a," an," and "the."
Write several examples in each column (i.e., a ball, an echo, a good book, the best ball, the echo, the
book).
Explain that a vowel sound does not always mean that a word starts with an actual vowel. Some
consonants have a vowel sound, like M&M (sounds like "em and em"). In other cases, a word may start
with a vowel but have a consonant sound, like unicorn (sounds like "you-ni-corn"). The article "an" should
always be used if the word that follows begins with a vowel sound.
Add additional examples to the chart on the board to illustrate vowel sounds (i.e., a unicorn, an orange
unicorn, an umbrella, a house, an herb, an enormous house, an M&M, a mouse).
Use a word from the chart to write a sentence (i.e., "My brother has a ball.").

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 Circle the article and underline the noun it describes (i.e., a/ball)
Write another example sentence (i.e., "My brother has the best ball in the neighborhood.").
Circle the article and underline the noun (i.e., the/ball)
Point out that other adjectives may separate the article from the noun (i.e., the best ball), but the article
still describes the noun that follows (i.e., ball).
Write several more example sentences and invite students to come to the board to circle the article and
underline the noun it describes in each sentence.

Guided Practice (10 minutes)

Label six sticky notes, each with an article, so that there are two sticky notes for each article. Stick the
notes to the board as an interactive word bank.
Write a series of sentences on the board, with blanks where the articles should be.
"You should read ____ book I just finished."
"You should choose ____ book to read."
"Let's share ____ ice cream sundae."
"Let's share ____ sundae."
"I have ____ nicest aunt ever."
"I have ____ aunt who lives in Oregon."
Give students a few minutes to talk with a partner and decide which article would best complete each
sentence.
Invite volunteers up to the board to place a sticky note on each of the blanks. After each student places a
sticky note, have them read their completed sentence aloud.
Offer guidance as needed.

Independent working time (10 minutes)

Hand out the Awesome Articles worksheet.

Read the instructions aloud to students and tell them to complete the worksheet independently.
Circulate and offer support as needed.

Differentiation

Support:

Give students additional practice differentiating between vowel sounds and when to use "a" versus "an."
See optional matierals for a practice activity.
For native Spanish speakers, make a connection to indefinite and definite articles in Spanish (el, la, los,
las, un, una, unos, unas).

Enrichment:

Have students revisit a piece of their own writing and highlight all the articles they used.
Play a "jump the line" game. Lay down a piece of tape on the floor and designate one side as the "definite
article" side (the), and the other as the "indefinite article" side (a/an). Have your students line up nearby
and say a noun or noun phrase out loud (e.g., "best book we read in class"). Tell students to stand on the
side that shows which article would go with the noun or noun phrase. If students stand on the indefinite
article side, ask them to shout out which article they would use, "a" or "an."

Assessment (5 minutes)

Display the Adjectives - Article/Determiner worksheet and cover the sentences so that only the example
is showing.
Tell students that they will be correcting sentences that have missing articles, like the one in the
example. Read the example aloud.
Show students the next sentence on the paper, making sure to keep the rest of the sentences covered.
Instruct students to read the sentence to themselves and then rewrite it on their personal whiteboard
with an article added in the correct place. Tell students to circle the article they've added.
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 Have students hold up their whiteboard and scan their answers to gauge understanding.
Repeat with several sentences.

Review and closing (2 minutes)

Hand out a blank index card (or piece of scratch paper) to each student.
Have them write three sentences on their card, one for each article.
Remind students to circle the article in each sentence.
Collect the sentences as exit cards.

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Name: Date:

Awesome Articles
Articles are the words a, an, and the. They are a type of adjective because they tell whether
the noun that comes after it is a specific object or an undefined one. If you want to refer to
something specific you use the, as in “I want the book.” If you want to say that any book will
do, you say, “I want a book,” because it doesn’t matter which book. If the noun afterward
starts with a vowel sound, rather than using a, use the article an.

When referring to a specific noun: When referring to a noun that is not specific:

The game A game

The ball A ball
The apple An apple (the noun starts with a vowel sound)
The teacher A teacher
The invitation An invitation (the noun starts with a vowel sound)

Now, examine the quotes from the Newbery Medal winning book Bud, Not Buddy by
Christopher Paul Curtis. In each one, circle the articles (a, an, the) and underline the
noun that they are describing. The first one is done for you.

“There comes a time when you're losing a fight that it just doesn't make sense to keep on
fighting. It's not that you're being a quitter, it's just that you've got the sense to know when
enough is enough.”

“A bud is a flower-to-be. A flower in waiting. Waiting for just the right warmth and care to
open up. It's a little fist of love waiting to unfold and be seen by the world. And that's you.”

“As soon as I got into the library I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. I got a whiff of the
leather on all the old books, a smell that got real strong if you picked one of them up and
stuck your nose real close to it when you turned the pages. Then there was the smell of
the cloth that covered the brand-new books, books that made a splitting sound when you
opened them. Then I could sniff the the paper, that soft, powdery, drowsy smell that comes
off the page in little puffs when you're reading something or looking at some pictures, kind
of hypnotizing smell.”

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 Adjectives - Article/Determiner
An article (or determiner) is a special kind of adjective. It tells if the
noun is a general thing – an orange – or if it is a specific thing – the
orange. The three articles are: a, an, the

Circle the articles/determiners in the sentence below.

The girl dreamt that she saw an elephant driving a bus.
Missing articles/determiners are a common mistake, or typo, even for
experienced writers! That’s why all writers need an editor. Read the sentences
below and edit them by marking the missing articles with an arrow. See the example.
an
I had soccer practice hour ago.

Mom stopped by store on her way home.

Thomas watched ant walk over his shoe.

I want to be astronaut when I grow up.

Pot roast tasted gross.

Hanna grabbed apple on her way to school.

We drove over old bridge.

I heard great song today.

Dad threw baseball over my head.

Jaime loves comic book store.

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 “A” and “An”
A is used before words that begin with a consonant. An is used before words that begin with vowels.

However, A can sometimes be used when a vowel at the beginning of a word sounds like a consonant.
For example: a u that sounds like “you” (a utopia), or an o that sounds like a “w” (a one-eyed cat).
Fill in the blanks below with “a” or “an”.

1. _________ elephant danced on __________ stage with _________ umbrella.

2. “I would like _________ scrambled egg and __________ apple for breakfast”, he declared.

3. She was always _________ honest person.

4. My dad bought me _________ used car for my sixteenth birthday.

5. We saw __________ bear, _______ owl, _________monkey, and ________

armadillo at the zoo yesterday.

6. ________ blank stare came across his face when _________ unicorn pranced across the road.

7. They built _________ igloo to provide ________ form of shelter .

8. We will take _________ field trip to _________ aquarium to see _______ octopus.

9. We must wait _________ hour before the show starts.

10. There is ________ one-man band who performs at the park everyday.

11. ________ union of employees gathered outside the building.

12. She is ________ exceptional student and ________ fast learner.

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