Lesson 22: Writing Statements with "Has" or "Have" — Teacher Guide
Core Linguistic Concepts & Pedagogy
• Irregular Plural Recognition: Nouns like men, children, and knives do not follow the standard -s pattern. Students must identify them as plural and pair them with have.
• Proper vs Common Nouns: John is a singular proper noun (requires has and initial capitalization). Common singulars (sled, boy, girl, child) also take has.
• Sentence Construction: Students formulate complete declarative statements with sensible predicates, proper spacing, and end punctuation (.).
| # |
Target Noun |
Verb |
Model Statement (Exemplary Solution) |
Number, Morphology & Syntactic Analysis |
| 1. |
John |
has |
John has a new red sled. |
Singular proper noun; refers to one person. Requires has. Always capitalize "John". |
| 2. |
sled |
has |
The sled has strong steel runners. |
Singular count noun. Requires article ("The/A") and verb has. |
| 3. |
boy |
has |
The boy has a warm winter cap. |
Singular count noun; refers to one. Requires verb has. |
| 4. |
men |
have |
The men have sharp axes in the woods. |
Irregular plural of man; refers to more than one. Requires verb have. |
| 5. |
girl |
has |
The girl has a basket of ripe berries. |
Singular count noun; refers to one. Requires verb has. |
| 6. |
knives |
have |
The knives have bright silver handles. |
Irregular plural of knife (-fe → -ves); refers to more than one. Requires verb have. |
| 7. |
child |
has |
The child has a gentle brown pony. |
Singular irregular noun; refers to one. Requires verb has. |
| 8. |
children |
have |
The children have new books for school. |
Irregular plural of child (-en suffix); refers to more than one. Requires verb have. |
🗣 Irregular Plural Pairs Chant
Conduct rapid call-and-response drills:
"One child has... Many children have!",
"One man has... Many men have!",
"One knife has... Many knives have!" to cement irregular morphology.
✍️ Sled & Winter Culture Context
Explain the word
sled in classic 19th-century literature: wooden hand-sleds were essential for children during winter for travel and recreation on snowy hills.
🔍 The "-fe to -ves" Rule
Highlight the spelling change in item 6:
knife → knives. Compare with
leaf → leaves (from Lesson 20) and
life → lives.
🌟 Open Composition Evaluation
Accept any grammatically accurate statement that pairs the target noun with the correct verb (
has or
have), begins with a capital letter, and concludes with a period.
Pedagogical Standard
Aligned with Classical Trivium Grammar Stage & CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.1.1.C, L.1.1.J, L.1.2.B