pronouns

Has it really been that long?

This past Monday and Tuesday, I was subbing in a third grade classroom. I was introducing object and subject pronouns. For whatever reason, the kids were just not getting it. We talked about pronouns in general at first..how they take the place of nouns. What is a noun? What is a pronoun? Then when we replace the noun with a pronoun and it was originally the subject of the sentence, it is the subject pronoun. The object pronouns were more complicated. If it comes after an action verb or is the object of a preposition, it is an object pronoun. We dissected sentences, I made up sentences that were not on the ditto, etc, to try to get across how to know the difference.

Finally, one girl says, "My light bulb just went on!" I cheered and had the warm and fuzzy feeling that comes with teaching. A few minutes later, another student says to me, "Miss L, my light bulb is only flickering. Can you explain it again, please?"