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While writing sentences, we refer to nouns by using words like ‘the’, ‘a’, or ‘an’. These words are referred to as articles. ‘An’ is used for words that start with vowels. In the English alphabet, a, e, i, o, and u are vowels, and the rest are consonants.
For instance: an elephant, an egg, an ice cream, an umbrella, etc.
Usually, singular nouns are expressed using ‘a' and plural nouns are expressed using ‘the’.
For instance: a tooth, the teeth, a fleet of sheep, the mice, etc.
While it is easier for adults to understand when and how to use articles in sentences, children can easily be confused. By teaching them the basics of the English Language at a young age, you help them get rid of this confusion. Teaching articles to Class 2 children is essential, as they must know how to write sentences using correct grammar. Teachers should encourage young students to learn articles in grammar and use them while speaking and writing.
Read on for insights or ideas that can enable you to teach English Grammar Articles to Class 2 children.
Understanding The Meaning Of Noun
Before teaching English Grammar Articles to Class 2 children, make them understand the meaning of ‘noun’. Using articles to address the things that children use regularly can prove to be beneficial.
For example, if you have a cat in your house, your children might call it by a specific name. You should tell them that each animal is categorised by using a common name, which is referred to as a noun. A cat is a common name for all cats, irrespective of whether their name is Kitty, Billy, or Roby. Similarly, a dog is a common name for all dogs, regardless of whether their name is Tom, Bruno, or Ruby. Once they understand what nouns are, ask them to use the nouns as much as they can while conversing with their friends.
By incorporating the nouns in their day-to-day communication, your children will understand the art of using nouns. After explaining nouns, teaching them the meaning of a proper noun and a common noun will be a lot easier. A proper noun is a specific name given to a noun. Name a bird that regularly visits your house. If the bird is a pigeon whose name is Tweety, your children will understand that a pigeon named Tweety visits your house every day. Once they know the connection and differences between a common and a proper noun, it will be simpler to teach the use of English Grammar Articles to your Class 2 children. You can ask them to refer to proper nouns by ‘the’, and while referring to common nouns, they can use ‘a’ or ‘an’.
Also, teach the children how to use ‘the’ while addressing nouns specifically. Suppose you have a mango tree in your house. While addressing that specific mango tree, your child cannot use ‘a’ if you only have one mango tree in your garden. While addressing a mango tree that is at a specific location in your garden, you can use ‘a’.
At times, teaching articles to Class 2 children can be confusing. However, you don’t have to worry if your child uses them correctly. The English Language is such that the children will grasp how to use articles for the Class 2 syllabus automatically as their knowledge of the language grows. As a parent, your only job is to ensure that your children are on the right path and are learning articles in grammar naturally.
Learning How To Use Articles While Using Adjectives
Adjectives are special qualities or attributes given to a noun. The rules of using articles remain almost the same when you use adjectives to describe nouns. For example, in ‘he is a student’ and ‘he is a bright student’, the use of articles remains the same. Similarly, ‘the’ is used while describing nouns that address a group or multiple objects or people. For example, that group is the smartest group in the whole school. Once the children understand how to use articles in sentences that contain nouns and adjectives, they will be able to express themselves in a better way.
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Test The Students
Once your children understand the use of articles in the English Language, you can test them by using different sentences. Write some sentences with deliberate use of incorrect articles, and ask your children whether the sentence is correct or not. Also, you can ask the children to correct the sentences if the articles are used incorrectly. With this activity, your children will know when the articles are used correctly and when they aren’t. Also, they can remember this activity while writing or speaking in school to avoid the same mistakes.
Words That Start With Vowels Or With The Sound Of Vowels
Words starting with vowels are to be addressed using ‘an’. An exception to the rule is that the words that start with the sound of vowels are also referred to using ‘an’. This is tricky as it defies the logic of grammar. The essence of the English Language can be understood by this fact. For example, words like ‘honourable’ and ‘honest’ seem to start with ‘o’. It is because the ‘h’ is silent. Therefore, you should be using ‘an’ to address these words. For instance, ‘Ram is an honourable person’ is correct, while ‘Ram and Shyam are the most honourable people’ is also correct because we are referring to two people here.
Sometimes, ‘a’ can also be used for words that begin with a vowel. This happens in cases like “unicorn”, “union”, “European”, “URL”, etc., where the words sound like they begin with the consonant “y”. For instance, ‘Seema was gifted a unicorn soft toy for her birthday’ is correct.
Letting your children know such finer details of the English Language will help your children learn articles in grammar seamlessly.
When To Avoid Using Articles?
While it is essential for children to learn when to use articles, they should also know when to avoid them. They don’t have to use articles when addressing languages and nationalities. For instance, there is no need to mention articles before Indian, Pakistani, Russian, Chinese, and other nationalities. Similarly, there is no need to use articles when addressing Persian, Hindi, Urdu, and other languages. Also, avoiding the usage of articles is allowed when you are referring to academic disciplines and sports such as cricket, golf, soccer, etc.
Here are some activities that you can introduce to the children to test whether they have learnt the articles in grammar:
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Circling The Articles:
Give a newspaper, brochure, or any other written material that has sufficiently long paragraphs or pages. Now, ask the children to highlight all the articles they come across while reading these materials. This will enable you to test whether they understood the instances where English grammar articles are used.
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Discussing The Articles:
You can discuss the relevance of articles and how they influence the meaning of a sentence with your children. You can even ask your children to explain the meaning of articles to their friends and siblings. By discussing articles, they will get a deeper understanding, which might help them efficiently use articles in their class 2 syllabus.
FAQs
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How to help children learn articles?
As a parent, you can make them write stories and read newspapers to understand how and when articles are used.
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Does comparing English articles with other languages help?
You can encourage your children to compare the English grammar articles taught in class 2 with the articles of other languages. It can be a native language or any language that your children are familiar with. For example, they can compare the articles of French, Spanish, or any other language with the articles of English. It will give them a deeper insight into the use of articles.
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Can articles be used for geographical features?
Geographical components need not be described using articles, that is, you don’t have to use articles while addressing mountains, lakes, rivers, streets, continents, and other geographical features. However, there might be some exceptions to this. For instance, the Andes, the Matterhorn, the Canary Islands, the USA, and some other names are exceptions to this rule.
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What is a definite article?
In the English Language, there are two types of articles – Definite and Indefinite. Definite articles are the ones that point towards a specific noun. ‘The’ is a definite article.
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What are indefinite articles?
Indefinite articles are the ones that don’t point towards a specific noun. ‘A’ and ‘an’ are examples of indefinite articles. You should explain the difference between definite and indefinite articles to help your children when they are learning articles in English Grammar online.
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