If you’re looking for some of the best possessive adjective (my, our, your, his, their, her, and its) and possessive pronoun (my, mine, our, ours, its, his, her, hers, their, theirs, your and yours) activities and games for ESL, then you’re in the right place! Keep on reading for our top ESL possessives activities, along with worksheets, lesson plans and online practice recommendations.
ESL possessive pronoun and adjective activities
Possessive Adjectives ESL Activities and Games
Are you ready to get into the best possessives games and activities for English learners? You can check them out right here.
#1: Is it True?
Make up some cards with possessive adjectives, nouns, and predicates. Then, put students into groups of four and they have to arrange the cards to make as many true sentences as possible about at least one of their group members. At the end of the allotted time, the team with the most true sentences is the winner.
#2: Same or Different
Put students into pairs and give them a topic. For example, hobbies, food or family. Then, instruct them to find out three things that are the same and three things that are different. For example, if you use family as the topic:
Same (1 brother, lives with 4 people, has a cat)
Different (has a dog/no dog, 4 living grandparents/3, loves playing sports/likes watching TV)
Then, each group has to make a short presentation to the rest of the class using as many possessives as possible. For example:
Our families both have 4 people living with us and include 1 brother. Our families also have one cat. His family has a dog, but I don’t have one. My family includes 4 living grandparents, but he only had 3. My family loves playing sports, but his likes to watch TV.
#3: Possessive Videos
One of the ways that I like to spice things up a little bit in my TEFL classes is to use videos. There are just so many good ones! In some cases, instead of explaining to my students about possessive pronouns, I’ll put on a short video that does it even better. Or, I may have students watch a video to pick out all the examples of possessives that they hear.
Whatever the case, just be sure to design some challenging activities to use along with the video. Here are the best ideas for that:
Using ESL/EFL Videos in the Classroom.
#4: Proof-Reading and Editing (Focus on Possessives)
One of the activities I like to do with this grammar point is to have my students do some proof-reading and editing. I prepare a short passage with lots of errors related to possessive pronouns and adjectives. Of course, some cases of this are correct!
Then, students have to go through the passage to find the errors and finally, compare with the error free version. It makes an excellent review activity for the end of class, as a homework assignment, or for review at the beginning of the next class. Learn more about it here:
#5: Flashcard Sentences
In our opinion, flashcards are one of the most versatile English teaching tools, but they’re also under utilized for whatever reason. They certainly are ideal for beginners and there are a ton of activities you can do with them.
In this case, a very simple thing you can do is to show a card to a student and have them make a sentence with a possessive. For example:
- Bag (His bag is blue.)
- T-shirt (Her t-shirt is green).
- Pencil (I have 3 pencils in my pencil case).
#6: Dialogue Substitution
Have you ever noticed that when students read a passage in ESL textbooks, they just kind of do it mindlessly? And of course, it’s not really their fault. It’s just that they don’t really have a reason to read carefully.
Instead, try taking out the possessives so that students will have the challenge of reading, as well as dealing with meaning. It’s a simple trick but it’s kind of a game-changer in terms of learning. Find out more about doing this here:
Dialogue Substitution ESL Reading Activity.
#7: Clothing Activities and Possessives
If you find a unit on possessive adjectives or adjectives in ESL textbooks, it’s often combined with clothing. There are just so many possibilities for sentences students can make. For example:
- Whose shirt is this? It’s mine.
- His pants are green. Hers are blue.
If you want to see some of our top recommendations for activities you can use for this unit, be sure to check out the following:
ESL Clothing Games and Activities.
#8: Dictogloss
#9: Possessive Songs and Chants
I’m all about using fun English songs for kids to teach things like possessive adjectives. There are lots of great options of YouTube so just have a look around.
#10: Give me Something!
Put students into groups of 4 and have them each secretly gather 2 personal things from their bag of pencil case. It could be an eraser, key, etc. Then, put all the items into the centre of the table.
Students can take turns asking each other, “Is this pencil yours?” No, it’s not mine. I think it’s his.” And so on it goes until all the objects’ owners have been identified.
#11: English Grammar Activities
ESL possessives are relatively simple but they do have a few grammar rules that students will need to master in order to become proficient in them. The best way to help our students out with new grammar is to introduce a variety of practice opportunities. After all, it’s only through practicing a language that you become proficient.
For almost 20 fun, engaging and student-centred grammar activities you can use in your TEFL classes, be sure to check out the following:
ESL Grammar Activities and Games.
#12: Error Correction Relay Race
#13: Picture Descriptions
Provide students with a set of pictures depicting various objects or people. In pairs or small groups, students take turns describing the pictures using possessive adjectives. For example, “This is my dog. His name is Max.”
#14: Guess Whose Possession
Prepare a collection of small objects or personal items. Place them in a bag or box and have students take turns pulling an item out without showing it to the others. The student must describe the item using possessive adjectives, and the others have to guess who the item belongs to. For example, “This is her pen. It’s blue.”
#15: Family Tree
Create a family tree diagram on the board or on a handout. Each student describes their family members using possessive adjectives. For example, “This is my father. His name is John.”
#16: Possessive Pronoun Race
Divide the class into teams and give each team a set of possessive adjective cards. Place a set of objects or pictures at one end of the classroom. The teacher calls out a possession prompt, and the first student from each team has to race to the objects and choose the correct possessive adjective card to match the prompt. The first student to choose the correct card earns a point for their team.
#17: Possessive Adjective Fill-in-the-Blanks
Create sentences with missing possessive adjectives and have students fill in the blanks. For example, “This is ____ book. Its cover is red.” Students can write their answers on individual whiteboards or paper.
#18: Possessive Adjective Story Chain
Begin a story by using a possessive adjective to describe an object. For example, “My sister’s car broke down.” The next student continues the story by incorporating another possessive adjective. The chain continues until everyone has added a sentence.
#19: Possessive Adjective Interviews
Pair up students and have them interview each other using possessive adjectives. They can ask questions like, “What’s your favorite possession?” and respond using possessive adjectives. For example, “My favorite possession is my sister’s laptop.”
Possessive Adjective Worksheets
Do your ESL/EFL students need some additional practice opportunities with this grammar point? Here are some of our top worksheet recommendations:
Possessive Pronoun Worksheets
If you want to save yourself a ton of time, then just print off some of these lesson plans and you’ll be good to go. Seriously. It’s just so easy so check out some of our favourite resources right here:
Possessives ESL Lesson Plans
Okay, we know that you’re busy and don’t necessarily want to plan all your lessons from scratch. Are we right there? The good news is that there are a ton of ready made lesson plans that you can just print and go.
Possessive Pronoun Games
Online Practice for Possessive Adjectives
Do you want to give your students some opportunities for more practice with possessive adjectives? Consider recommending some of the following online resources to them:
Online Practice for Possessive Pronouns
Do you want to recommend some extra practice for your students? Here are the best games and practice sessions for possessive pronouns you can find online:
Did you like these Games and Activities for Teaching Possessives?
- Amazon Kindle Edition
- Bolen, Jackie (Author)
- English (Publication Language)
- 87 Pages - 10/24/2019 (Publication Date)
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Or, keep a copy on the bookshelf in your office and use it as a handy reference guide for doing lesson plans. It really is that easy!
Does it sound like exactly what you might need to level up your English grammar teaching game? Then, head over to Amazon to pick up a copy for yourself:
Have your Say about these ESL Possessive Pronouns and Adjectives
What do you think about these ESL games and activities to work on possessives? Did you try out one of them from this list, or do you have another that you’d like to recommend? Leave a comment below and let us know what you think. We’d love to hear from you.
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Last update on 2022-07-17 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
