classroom
table
computer
peg
pencil case
board
poster
picture
drawers
cupboard
CD player
Classroom words for this topic
This topic uses eleven things found in most classrooms. “Computer”, “poster” and “CD player” are easy, because many languages borrow them. Two need explaining: a “peg” is a wall hook for coats and bags, and “drawers” are the boxes that slide out of a cupboard or desk. Say each word with “a”: “a table”, “a peg”. “Drawers” is already plural, so it has no “a”.
- Furniture: table, cupboard, drawers
- On the wall: board, poster, picture, peg
- Things to use: computer, pencil case, CD player
- The whole room: classroom
This and that: one thing, near or far
Use “this” for one thing near you, something you can touch. Use “that” for one thing farther away, often across the room. Point as you speak: a hand on the thing for “this”, an outstretched arm for “that”.
Near and far depend on who is speaking. A pencil case in your child’s hand is “this” for your child but “that” for you across the table, so practise from both sides.
Nia This is our new classroom.
Leo This is a computer beside us.
Nia What is that across the room?
Leo That is a board.
These and those: more than one
For more than one thing, “this” becomes “these” and “that” becomes “those”. The verb changes to “are”, and the noun usually adds “s”: “This is a pencil.” becomes “These are pencils.”, and “That is a peg.” becomes “Those are pegs.”
“This” and “these” are easy to mix up, but the vowel in “these” is longer and the end buzzes like a “z”. A rhyme for each word helps:
- this – kiss
- these – cheese
- that – cat
- those – nose
Nia What are these?
Leo These are pencils.
Nia What are those?
Leo Those are six pegs.
Naming a group or counting it
“Those are pegs.” says what the things are. To say how many, English uses a different pattern: “How many drawers are there?” “There are four drawers.” For one thing, it is “There is a cupboard.” You can also put the number into a pointing sentence: “Those are six pegs.”
- Naming: “These are pencils.” “Those are drawers.”
- Counting: “How many pictures are there?” “There are two pictures.”
- Both: “Those are six pegs.”
A near-and-far game at home
Put a few things near you on a table: a pencil, two crayons, a book. Put a few more across the room: a cushion, three toy cars, a picture on the wall. Your child stands by the table, points and says a sentence for each: “This is a book.” “Those are cars.”
Then swap places and play again from the far side: what was near is now far, so the words change. End with a counting question, “How many cars are there?”, and keep each round to five or six sentences.
Common mistakes and quick fixes
These are normal at this stage. Repeat the sentence back the right way and carry on.
- “This are pencils.”: more than one needs “these” as well as “are”: “These are pencils.”
- “These are pencil.”: the noun needs an “s” too: “These are pencils.”
- “Those is a poster.”: one far thing is “that”: “That is a poster.”
- “That is board.”: one thing needs “a”: “That is a board.”
- “Dis” or “zis”: the “th” is made with the tongue lightly between the teeth. Show it, but don’t insist.
What comes next
When your child picks the right word without stopping to think, describe a room aloud, then write it: “This is my classroom. There are two posters and four pictures. Our teacher is Mrs Brown.” Each sentence starts with a capital letter, and so does each name.
Sticky-note labels help with spelling: write “board” or “poster”, say the letters together and stick each one on the right thing. Later, “Those are my friends.” leads on to talking about groups with “we” and “they”.