Conjunctions (so and because') - A Lesson plan and activities to teach conjunctions 'so and because' inductively.

Topic: Conjunctions

Lesson: 3R (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle)

Objectives: Students should be able to:     

1. Match sentence parts using the conjunctions 'so' and 'because'.
2. Construct sentences using those conjunctions. 
3. Understand the usage of 'so and because'

                This is an interesting theme-based story to teach 'conjunctions.' Conjunctions is one of the complex topics to the students. Especially understanding and use of 'so and because' while combining two sentences, many students have some difficulty. So here is the story of 'Mr. Rat and Mr. Owl' having a theme of 'Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle.' The cause and effect storylines help them to understand the difference between 'so and because' and construct sentences easily.

Presentation:

Step 1:

                 Share the story with your students. Tell them to read the story and understand the theme, actions, and characters. Ask some interactive questions to make them understand well.

Story:

 One sunny day, Mr. Rat was sitting in a park drinking a can of lemonade. When he finished his drink, he threw the empty can into the bin. However, the bin was full and overflowing with rubbish. Some of it had even spilled out onto the ground. Mr. Rat was in a dilemma.   
            At that moment,  his friend, Mr. Owl appeared and he looked annoyed. Mr. Owl said, “Why is rubbish everywhere? Don’t people know how to reuse and recycle?” Mr. Rat asked, “Hello, my friend, what does reuse and recycle mean?” 
            “Oh, to reuse is to make the most of the things that you have. To recycle is simply to turn used items from rubbish into new things. By reusing and recycling, we can help reduce the amount of rubbish we discard every day,” answered Mr. Owl. 
           Mr. Rat was getting excited about the new idea. He remarked, “That's great, we really need to recycle the rubbish we throw so less rubbish will go to dumpsites. Less rubbish means fewer dumpsites. We can save the earth’s precious resources. I like the idea of recycling.” Mr. Owl said, “Yes, my friend, let’s start a project together.” 

Step 2:

           Recap the story 'Mr. Rat and Mr. Owl' by asking students what Mr. Rat did with his empty can of lemonade, and what happened to it?

Answer: He threw his can into a garbage bin, but it was overflowing with rubbish so the can fell on the ground.

             Show the below PowerPoint slides. Make some discussion at every slide by asking the question given in the slide.

Step 3:

           Tell students to observe the below pictures and explain the cause and effect. Help students see the relationship between cause and effect and construct sentences orally using the conjunctions 'because' and 'so'. 

 Repeat steps 2 and 3 for the next part of the story

In this way explain the story by taking the 'cause and effect' situations and make them understand the concept and use of 'so and because.'

Practice task 1:

1. Display the substitution table pictures. Help students form sentences using conjunctions.
2. Divide students into groups. Each group receives the sentence strips (cut out and jumbled up).
3. Working in their groups, they rearrange the strips to form complete sentences using conjunctions.
4. Reveal the correct sentences. Pupils check their answers.

Task 2:

1. Tell students to complete the below task.
2. After the task, tell students to write individually, one sentence using 'so' and one sentence using 'because' for each pair of phrases provided in the task.
3. Students compare their sentences in pairs. Show students the answers.

Task 3:

1. Share the below sheet with your students.
2. Tell them for each pair of phrases given, write one sentence using 'so' and one sentence using 'because.'
   
   Hope you enjoy the lesson. Thank you.