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Teacher Guide & Master Solution Key • Lesson IX

Lesson 9: For-Name-Words (Living Pronouns) • First Book in Language

Grade 0 Key

Pedagogical Rationale • Charlotte Mason Organic Grammar

Lesson IX introduces the concept of the pronoun (“for-name-word”) through immediate contrast and necessity. Children easily notice the clumsy repetition of nouns (“The cat saw a rat. The cat ran after the rat”) and experience the natural relief and rhythm of English speech: “She ran after it.” Rather than burdening the young learner with grammatical gender, cases, or antecedent terminology, Charlotte Mason’s method builds intuitive mastery: these words simply stand in place of names.

Part 1.1 • Socratic Discovery Dialogue Script
Textbook Model Teacher Guiding Inquiries (Socratic Dialogue) Ideal Child Discovery
1. The cat saw a rat.
2. She ran after it.		 “What ran after the rat? What word takes the place of cat in line 2? What did she run after? Of what does it take the place?” “The cat. She takes the place of cat. It takes the place of rat.”
3. A dog saw the cat.
4. He ran after her.		 “What word takes the place of dog in the fourth line? Of what word does her take the place? What kind of words are cat, rat, dog? Then what do he, it, she, her stand for?” “He replaces dog. Her replaces cat. Cat, rat, dog are name-words. So these words stand for name-words!”
5. John speaks to his sister.
6. She comes to him.		 “What words do him, she, and his take the place of? What kind of words are they?” “She is sister. Him and his are John. They are called for-name-words!”
Part 2.1 • 6-Sentence Practice Work Solution Key
# Textbook Practice Frame Accepted Model Solution Grammar Focus • Referent
1. The cat saw a rat. [___] ran after [___]. She ran after it. She = cat • it = rat
2. A dog saw the cat. [___] ran after [___]. He ran after her. He = dog • her = cat
3. John speaks to his sister. [___] comes to [___]. She comes to him. She = sister • him = John
4. The boy found a bird’s nest. [___] looked into [___]. He looked into it. He = boy • it = nest
5. Lucy loves her little kitten. [___] gives milk to [___]. She gives milk to it. (or him/her) She = Lucy • it = kitten
6. Father called his good son John. [___] walks with [___]. He walks with him. He = Father • him = John

Charlotte Mason Teaching Strategy

  • The Clumsy Sentence Game: Speak a sentence without pronouns: “Tommy took Tommy’s hat and put Tommy’s hat on Tommy’s head.” Let the child laugh and correct it to “Tommy took his hat and put it on his head.”
  • Physical Replacement: Write “The cat” on an index card and “She” on another. Place “She” physically over “The cat” to demonstrate the concept of taking the place of.
  • Capitalization Rule: Remind the pupil that when She or He begins the new sentence, it must always wear its capital hat.

Assessment Rubric • CCSS L.K.1.B / L.1.1.D

Level 4 Exemplary: Fills all blanks accurately with correct capitalization; explains confidently why each word was chosen.
Level 3 Proficient: Completes sentences accurately; understands which noun each for-name-word replaces with minor prompting.
Level 2 Developing: Confuses subject and object forms (e.g., he for him); needs teacher assistance to trace the original character.
Level 1 Beginning: Struggles to differentiate name-words from for-name-words; benefits from repetitive oral modeling.