Teacher notes for this lesson. Two sides of A4, not for pupils.Mild sheetMedium sheetSpicy sheetAnswers
Teacher notes · not for pupils Grammar sequence

Who Does What?

Grammatical terminology: subject and object

Lesson 16 of 17
Year 6 45 min

Objective

Identify the subject and the object of a sentence by finding the verb first, including where the subject is an expanded noun phrase or follows a fronted adverbial.

Board title: Subject and object  ·  Say it: “Today we're finding the subject and the object of any sentence by finding the verb first, then asking who is doing it and what it is done to.”

Curriculum

  • Y6: terminology for pupils, subject, object
  • Y6: the passive voice (next lesson, this one supplies its vocabulary)
  • Y4: fronted adverbials (revisited, the first-word trap)
  • Terminology: subject · object · verb

Success criteria

  • find the verb first, every time
  • ask who or what is DOING it, the subject
  • ask who or what it is done TO, the object
  • find both inside a long noun phrase

Key vocabulary

subject · object · verb · doer · noun phrase · fronted adverbial

Run of the lesson

5 min
Starter: Polpetta cooked the soup, who is the star of that sentence? Most will say Polpetta, some will champion the soup, take both answers seriously and name nothing yet. These are two new names for two old friends, the doer and the done-to, and the passive lesson next needs them.
9 min
Model the routine until it is boring: find the verb, ask who is doing it, ask what it is done to. Run it on Mia carried the tray, The chef burned the toast, Nonna wrote the recipe, then warn them that Mia smiled does nothing to anything, 'no object' is a proud answer. Spring the first-word trap early: in On Monday, Mia baked the bread, On Monday is when, not who.
8 min
Name the Part on the whiteboard, Mild band, two levels of subject-and-object sorting with expanded noun phrases in the second, today's content exactly. The verb gets said aloud every round before the class votes.
5 min
The four vote pairs: ask a child for the verb before each reveal (answers: a-right, b-left, c-left, d-right). Pair c is the trap returning, Every Friday soaks up the subject label unless the verb-first routine is running.
15 min
Worksheet, independent. Circulate on Task 3 and ask each child to point at their verb before you look at any label. The trickiest line is Task 2's long subject, A very hungry customer (and My grandmother in Rome above Mild): the label that looks too long to be right is exactly right, so stop anyone trimming a subject down to one word.
3 min
Plenary: one child says a sentence and the class calls verb, then subject, then object or 'no object'. Then the class quiz: Polpetta labelled On Monday, Mia baked the bread. Subject: On Monday. Find the verb first, who baked?
On screenSPAGhetti → Name the Part → Mild. One screen only; no pupil devices needed. Mild is two levels of subject-and-object sorting, the second with expanded noun phrases, today's content exactly. ~8 items in 10 minutes with discussion.
SPAGhetti · Grammar sequence · Lesson 16 of 17  ·  Teacher notes 1 of 2
Teacher notes · not for pupils Who Does What? · side 2

On the day

If the tech failsSkip the game entirely. Task 1 is the same content on paper, read the four pairs aloud and vote with thumbs. Then three sentences on the board and the verb-first routine out loud. The lesson still works.
If they're on devicesLesson code TERMF (on the worksheet footer) opens the right game, locks the café until 10 items are done, then unlocks it as the reward.

Misconceptions to watch for

The subject is whatever comes first. On Monday, Mia baked the bread, they label On Monday. Position is not the rule; the verb is. Drill the routine until it is boring: find the verb, ask who is doing it.

The subject must be one word. A very hungry customer ordered three puddings. The whole noun phrase is the subject. If they underline just customer, ask what ordered, all five words did.

The object is everything after the verb. Mia baked at dawn, at dawn is not an object; nothing receives the baking. Ask 'done to who or what?' and accept 'no object' as a proud answer.

Object means the important person. In Nonna wrote the recipe some children label Nonna the object because she matters most. Object is a grammar job, not a fame ranking, the recipe receives the writing.

The three sheets

Same four tasks on every sheet, in the same order, with the same look. Only the demand changes. Print the one each child needs; nobody does two.

Mild

Same four tasks as every other sheet, same order, same look, the demand is lower, not the dignity. Shorter passage in Task 2, and in Task 3 a word bank or words to tick, with printed sentence starters. Give it to anyone who needs a way in, and expect them to move up.

Medium

The core sheet. Give this to most of the class. No word bank; in Task 3 pupils choose from a few close options, then use one in a sentence of their own.

Spicy

Same four tasks, more demand, a longer passage with a subtler error, and Task 3 asks for two things at once. Not extra work; harder work. Nobody should be doing Spicy and the Medium sheet.

Adaptive teaching

  • Support: three-word sentences only, doer, verb, done-to. Task 1, then Task 3 orally with a scribe. Game stays on Mild level 1.
  • SEN: gentle mode on; colour-code one worked example, verb red, subject green, object yellow, before they start.
  • Stretch: Task 3 extension, one sentence with no object, and a line explaining how they know it has none.
  • EAL: several first languages order the sentence differently, so position habits mislead twice over. The verb-first routine works in any order, lean on it.

Play it

Lesson code TERMF at playspaghetti.com. The code is printed on the bottom of every pupil sheet with a QR, and Class Quiz in your dashboard opens the plenary quiz for this lesson pre-picked.

SPAGhetti · Grammar sequence · Lesson 16 of 17  ·  Teacher notes, not for pupils 2 of 2  ·  Ludora