Essential This and These Demonstrative Pronouns Worksheet

Mastering demonstrative pronouns is a cornerstone of early grammar proficiency, allowing students to specify objects relative to their position and quantity. This comprehensive four-page worksheet packet provides structured practice for students to identify, trace, and utilize "this," "that," "these," and "those" in complete sentences. Students will move from foundational tracing to independent sentence construction.

At a Glance

• Grade: 2–3 · Subject: ELA Grammar
• Standard: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.2.1 — Use demonstrative pronouns to specify objects based on number and distance
• Skill Focus: Demonstrative Pronouns (This, That, These, Those)
• Format: 4 pages · 17 tasks · Answer key included · PDF
• Best For: Independent practice and grammar reinforcement
• Time: 25–35 minutes

What's Inside

This printable packet includes four distinct pages designed to build confidence in using demonstratives. It features two pages of tracing practice for singular and plural forms, a fill-in-the-blank section, a multiple-choice assessment, and a challenge section for original sentence writing. The layout is clean and spacious, providing ample room for young writers, and a full answer key is included for rapid grading.

Skill Progression

• Guided Practice: 4 initial tracing tasks help students internalize the sentence structures for near and far objects in both singular and plural forms.
• Supported Practice: 10 problems across the fill-in-the-blank and multiple-choice sections require students to apply their knowledge of distance and quantity cues.
• Independent Practice: 3 higher-order challenge tasks where students generate original questions and answers based on specific picture descriptions.

This "I Do, We Do, You Do" approach ensures that students are never left without scaffolding as the difficulty of the tasks increases.

Standards Alignment

This resource is directly aligned to `CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.2.1`, which requires students to demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar. Specifically, it targets the correct usage of demonstrative pronouns to clarify the relationship between the speaker and the subject. This standard code can be copied directly into lesson plans, IEP goals, or district curriculum mapping tools.

How to Use It

Use this packet as a mid-lesson practice activity after introducing the concept of near versus far and singular versus plural. It is also an ideal choice for a homework assignment or a substitute teacher's lesson plan. During the challenge section, observe whether students correctly match the plurality of the subject with the appropriate demonstrative pronoun to gauge mastery before moving to more complex pronoun types.

Who It's For

This resource is tailored for second and third-grade students who are refining their mechanics and parts of speech knowledge. It is particularly effective for English Language Learners (ELLs) who benefit from the visual cues and repetitive tracing models. This worksheet pairs naturally with a demonstrative pronouns anchor chart or a direct instruction lesson on spatial language.

The effective teaching of demonstrative pronouns requires a move from mechanical repetition to functional application in varied contexts. Research from RAND AIRS 2024 emphasizes that grammar instruction is most impactful when students transition from structured modeling to independent generative tasks. This worksheet aligns with those findings by beginning with tracing exercises that define the relationship between distance and word choice, followed by fill-in-the-blank items that demand contextual analysis. The final section, which requires students to write their own questions and answers, serves as an essential formative assessment of their ability to use CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.2.1 in original communication. By providing 17 distinct opportunities to practice these specific pronouns across 4 pages, this resource ensures that students develop the necessary linguistic precision to identify objects accurately, a skill fundamental to both reading comprehension and clear narrative writing.