Students will learn the following during this unit: 
- Learn about indefinite pronouns and their usage. 
- Recognize singular indefinite pronouns. 
- Recognize and employ the appropriate subject-verb agreement when using singular indefinite pronouns.

- How do linguistic conventions and grammar affect written and spoken communication? 
- What makes writing clear and effective?

- Indefinite Pronoun: A pronoun that refers to one or more unspecified people, objects, or places. 
- Noun: The name of a person, place, object (thing), idea, quality, or activity. 
- Pronoun: A word used in place of a noun. 
- Subject: A word, phrase, or clause that names the person, place, or thing about which something is said. 
- Subject-Verb Agreement: When the subject and verb in a sentence agree in number (singular/plural). 
- Verb: A word that shows action or a state of being.

- Ruth Heller. (1999). Mine, All Mine: A Book About Pronouns. Putnam Juvenile.
- Indefinite Pronouns List (LW-4-1-1_Indefinite Pronouns List and Key) for the class to view
- Indefinite Pronouns by Type and Number handout (LW-4-1-1_Indefinite Pronouns by Type and Number) Optional
- Singular Indefinite Pronouns handout (LW-4-1-1_Singular Indefinite Pronouns) for each student and for the class to view
- Singular Indefinite Pronoun Chart handout and key (LW-4-1-1_Singular Indefinite Pronoun Chart and LW-4-1-1_Singular Indefinite Pronoun Chart KEY) for each student and for the class to view

- Evaluate which students may still require extra assistance or a review of indefinite pronouns by observing their participation in class discussions and their performance on the writing assignment. 
- Assess the sentence-writing exercise and offer suggestions for improvement.

Explicit instruction, modeling, scaffolding, and active engagement
W: Explain indefinite pronouns to the class and work with them to come up with a memory aid that helps them maintain the singular form of each. 
H: Get students interested in pronouns by reading a picture book, and then focus the lesson on indefinite pronouns. 
E: Students divide the indefinite pronouns into groups based on their similarities and differences to identify which are always singular through a whole-class exercise. 
R: Students use what they've learned about singular indefinite pronouns in shared writing to inform their partner's writing assignment. 
E: Assess students' comprehension of the use of indefinite pronouns through written assignments and class participation. 
T: Using large-group instruction and discussion, partner interaction, and individual application of the concepts, assist students of all levels in identifying similarities and differences and applying their knowledge of singular indefinite pronouns. 
O: Subject-verb agreement and pronouns are two concepts that this lesson aims to strengthen and expand on. 

Main question: What do singular indefinite pronouns mean?

Inform students that the topic of this unit is indefinite pronouns, which are one of the more difficult aspects of grammar. Tell them that many of the indefinite pronouns they will study in the next three lessons will be used in a variety of whole-group exercises to prepare them for writing the ending to a short story.

Part 1

This exercise will be conducted in the classroom's gathering space. Explain to the students that while the story you will read is about pronouns, the lesson will focus on an indefinite pronoun. Take a look at Ruth Heller's picture book, Mine, All Mine: A Book About Pronouns. (Students should use the material in this book as a review.) Ask students to define and provide examples of a few of the pronouns used in the story after they have finished reading the book. Find out if they can define an indefinite pronoun. If not, ask them to read the pages on indefinite pronouns again.

"Like other pronouns, an indefinite pronoun replaces a noun; however, unlike me, him, her, or I, it lacks specificity. These pronouns don't precisely identify what or who we are speaking about; for example, when I say, "Someone put it on my desk last night," I'm not saying that I know who exactly did it, just that it was someone. Although we frequently read and use these kinds of pronouns, it can occasionally be difficult to use them correctly in writing."

Go through the subject-verb agreement rule again: subjects and verbs must agree on the number (singular or plural) of each other. A verb must be plural if the subject is plural and singular if the subject is singular. Ask students to provide some instances of single-word sentences that contain a single subject and verb. Next, request instances of sentences that use plural verbs and subjects. Make a note of the class's examples. After students have determined which verb and which subject each sentence contains, have them indicate which sentences agree in number.
Write "The girl sleeps" and "The boy sleeps" so the class can see them. Examine student's understanding of the sentences. (no) "How come they don't make sense? What could make them better?" Allow students to make suggestions for modifications that produce a subject-verb agreement. For the class, rewrite the revised versions. "Subject-verb agreement ensures that these corrected sentences make sense. This means that the subject and verb agree in number. The number indicates whether a verb or subject is singular or plural." Please highlight the subject-verb number agreement in the corrected sentences. (Note: Some students may become confused by the "s" when using the singular forms (he, she, it). If there is any ambiguity, use its forms with each type of noun to conjugate the verb and demonstrate to the students that these are the correct forms.

Write, "Dad runs every morning before work." "When I substitute he for Dad, does this sentence still make sense?" Replace Dad with he, or rewrite the sentence and highlight the verb runs. "Is the number of the verb runs in agreement with the sentence's subject?" (Alright) If students are perplexed, go over the sentence with them, asking, "Is the subject singular or plural?" (singular) and "Is the verb plural or singular?" (singular) Keep an eye out for a typical error made by students: figuring out a verb's form just by looking for a "s" in it.

Write, "The students turn in their homework to the teacher." "What would happen to the sentence if I put She in place of The students?" (Students should respond by changing the verb to gives and the pronoun their to her.) For the class, write the proper sentence: "She gives her homework to the teacher." Before continuing with the lesson, make sure you understand the concept of number agreement.

"Wow, when we convert a plural subject to a singular subject, there are a lot of changes to be made. Do you recall how difficult it can be to use indefinite pronouns? Because some pronouns can be both singular and plural, it is not always clear whether they are. Is the word "each" referring to a single person or a group of people?" Allow students to reply and share their ideas. "What about the word everyone?" Get the opinions of the students. "These two pronouns are singular. We're going to learn a technique today to help you avoid being duped ever again with indefinite pronouns."

Part 2

Open LW-4-1-1_Indefinite Pronouns List and Key to view the class's list of indefinite pronouns. After discussing the words "each" and "everyone" earlier in the lesson, read the instructions to the students and show them how to finish the list. Ask students to estimate the number of the singular or plural forms of each pronoun and to justify their guesses. For use in class, note their answers. You should not correct students about their guesses just yet; that will happen in the next activity. This exercise should help students start thinking about pronoun numbers and making reasonable guesses.

Ask students to count how many pronouns they believe to be plural. Then state, "On the list, only five pronouns are always plural: both, few, many, others, and several." Indefinite pronouns are challenging because this could open many students' eyes. "Knowing which indefinite pronouns are always singular makes more sense than knowing which are always plural, so let's try to devise a method for remembering which of the latter. Is there a way to divide them into smaller groups or categories?"

Ask students to come up with suggestions for grouping techniques. Tell them that one way to group the words could be by their similarities, or what is similar about some of the words, if they don't suggest finding similarities and differences. Some words may belong to a different group and not share any similarities with other words.

Alternatively, you can utilize the handout LW-4-1-1_Indefinite Pronouns by Type and Number, which you can use now or at a later point in the lesson. If it's for a class reference, you might also want to make it poster-size.

Ask students to find similarities in the list of words. Note down their answers; they ought to come up with four terms: one, body, thing, and other. "Does body refer to one body or multiple bodies?" (a single body) "What about this thing? "Does it mean one thing or many things?" (A single thing) "How are you aware of this?" Although the answers might differ, they should all show that the words are not plural. " Okay, so any indefinite pronoun that ends in one of these four words—body, thing, other, and one—is always singular. And so is any other indefinite pronoun. Could you please provide me with an example of an indefinite pronoun that ends with one of these words? Once students have provided a few examples, have a discussion about which examples are words that they believed to be plural based on their "guessing" list. You are exposing widespread myths in this way."

Discuss the Singular Indefinite Pronouns handout (LW-4-1-1_Singular Indefinite Pronouns) with the students after that. If you could make it into a poster size for the students to refer to after this lesson, that would also be beneficial. Ask students to list some potential word combinations they could think of by combining one word from each column. Distribute the LW-4-1-1_Singular Indefinite Pronoun Chart, the singular indefinite pronoun chart, to students after they have shown that they understand how to use it. Assign pairs of students to complete the Singular Indefinite Pronoun Chart by creating word combinations from the two-word columns on the handout (LW-4-1-1_Singular Indefinite Pronouns). Inform them that the list of singular indefinite pronouns now includes the terms neither, either, and each. 

After they're finished, have them list all of the singular indefinite pronouns they created, and then record them for the class. Refer to the LW-4-1-1_Singular Indefinite Pronoun Chart KEY if necessary. While not exhaustive, this list covers the majority of frequently used singular indefinite pronouns and is a great place to start. As they come across more singular indefinite pronouns in their assigned readings throughout the year, students are welcome to add to the chart.

Next, in a group writing exercise, construct sentences utilizing each of the chart's indefinite pronouns. Observe how the singular indefinite pronoun and the subject-verb agree. Pay close attention to the pronouns that students initially believed to be plural.

Examples:

Has anyone noticed that the tropical fish in the tank have peculiar colors? (Instead of asking, "Have anyone noticed the unusual colors of the tropical fish in the tank?

Everyone is attending the class picnic. (Note: "Everyone is attending the class picnic.")

Ask students to create sentences using each of the singular indefinite pronouns in pairs. Ask students to present a few of their sentences to the class when they're done. Students are working in pairs, but they should write each sentence out on their own and submit it for your review. Before we start Lesson 2, give detailed feedback on this writing exercise.

Extension:

As students read articles from newspapers or magazines, have them underline the indefinite pronouns and the verbs that go with them. Students should share their sentences, identify the singular or plural pronouns and verbs, and explain how they know.