Noun Lesson for Specific Learning Disabilities

This lesson plan can be used for a variety of grade levels when introducing the concept of nouns to students. This lesson is particularly beneficial for students with specific learning disabilities, as it is tailored to their individual and specific needs.

Each student will need to have:

• their own individual whiteboard and marker
• a sheet of paper and a pen or pencil in order to take a few notes on the lesson.

The teacher will also need a timer.

Write the word “noun” on the board for the students to see. Then tell the students to write their own definition of the word "noun" on their white boards. Read some of the students’ responses. Then write on the board, “A noun is a person, place, or thing.” Have the students copy the definition on their sheet of paper. In this way, the paper becomes the permanent record of the lesson (notes) and the white board provides a chance to practice with information and materials without having to waste actual paper doing so.

After all students have copied the definition tell the students that now on their whiteboards they are to write down as many nouns as they can think of in 60 seconds. Set your timer, let the students work for 60 seconds and then check their responses by having them hold up their boards or by looking over their shoulders. Let each student pick 5 nouns from his list and write them on the classroom white board.

After all of the students have written on the board, divide the students up into three groups. Each group is going to be responsible for one category of nouns. Assign one group to person, one to place, and the other group to thing. Then tell the students to find all of the nouns on the board that belong to their group.

Start off by giving an example:

• Point to one of the words on the board, such as "chair."
• Ask the students if it is a person? (No.) Is it a place? (No.) So then it must be a .... (Thing!)
• Instruct the students that only the people in the "things" group would write that word on their group board.

Ask the students if they have any questions, and then allow them no more than 10 minutes to write down all of their nouns. In the meantime, create a three-column table on the board next to the list of nouns. Label each column People, Places and Things.

Have one volunteer from each group write on the classroom board all of the nouns for their category in the appropriate column on the chart.

Have students copy the chart onto their note papers.

As a homework assignment, give each student 20 index cards. Instruct them to write a noun on each index card and bring it in for the next class. Give the students time in class to start the assignment to ensure that they understand the assignment. This also helps students with specific learning disabilities because they frequently forget that they have homework or forget what they are supposed to do. It is important to check to see what the students have learned from the lesson before the time is up.

As a group discussion, go over the definition of a noun again and ask for examples from each student. Ask the students if they have any further questions and instruct them to write their homework assignments in their agenda books so they will be more likely to remember what they need to do. You may even wish to type up instructions on a slip of paper to send home with the index cards so parents will know what the students need to do for homework.