5.11.D.vi
The Standard
prepositions and prepositional phrases and their influence on subject-verb agreement
Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills for English Language Arts and Reading · The student uses the writing process recursively to compose multiple texts that are legible and uses appropriate conventions.
Teacher's field guide
What This Standard Means
What Students Need to Do
- Students identify prepositional phrases and find the true subject of each sentence. They choose verbs that agree with that subject, even when another noun appears nearby.
What Mastery Looks Like
- Students can ignore a prepositional phrase when checking agreement. They choose a verb that matches the true subject and explain their correction.
Common Misconceptions
- Students often match the verb to the closest noun instead of the sentence's subject. They may mistake the object of a preposition for the subject.
How to Assess It
- Give this exit ticket: “The basket of apples sit on the counter.” Students bracket the prepositional phrase, underline the subject, and correct the verb.
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Give pairs sentence strips, then have them cover each prepositional phrase and match the remaining subject with the correct verb card.
Ask students to explain why “The pile of books is heavy” uses “is” rather than “are.”
Play Agreement Detective by having teams find and fix subject-verb errors in ten sentences containing prepositional phrases.
Examine classroom signs or announcements, then rewrite three sentences using prepositional phrases while keeping subject-verb agreement correct.
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