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4th Grade Lesson Plans

Lesson Plan

Definite Article: 'The' with Geographical Nouns

The English language has some tricky rules on when to use the definite article "the" and when not to use it. This lesson teaches your students some of the rules for when to use the definite article "the" with geographical nouns.
Grade:
Fourth Grade
View aligned standards
L.4.1

Learning Objectives

Students will be able to distinguish when to use the definite article "the" with certain geographical nouns.

Introduction

(5 minutes)
  • Ask students to define nouns and name a few examples.
  • Write the following nouns on the board and ask students to use them in a sentence. Record student responses next to the word.
    • "England"
    • "McGuire road"
    • "moon"
    • "Mississippi River"
    • "United States"
    • "Empire State Building"
  • Notice if students placed the definite article "the" in front of the last four nouns, but not in front of the first two. Ask them to consider how they knew when to place "the" in front of the nouns or not. (Note: some may say that it sounds weird with or without "the.")
  • Explain to students that for many non-native English speakers, when to use "the" or not can be confusing. Tell them that today we are going to discover some of the rules for the use of the definite article "the."