Virginia SOL 8.LU.1.B
The Standard
Recognize and use pronoun-antecedent agreement, including indefinite, reflexive, and relative pronouns, when speaking and writing.
Virginia Standards of Learning for English · Grammar
Teacher's field guide
What This Standard Means
What Students Need to Do
- Students identify the word a pronoun points back to and keep number and person consistent. They decide whether words like each, everyone, several, and both are singular or plural before choosing other pronouns.
What Mastery Looks Like
- A student can revise “Each machine lost their label” to “Each machine lost its label” and “The players blamed himself” to “The players blamed themselves.” The student also uses who for people and which or that for things.
Common Misconceptions
- Students may treat every indefinite pronoun as plural or match a pronoun to the nearest noun instead of the main word. They may use myself instead of me, choose the wrong reflexive form, or use who for things.
How to Assess It
- Give this exit ticket: Correct each sentence and underline the antecedent: “Each machine has their own switch.” “The hikers congratulated himself.” “I returned the novel who had torn pages.”
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Give pairs sentence strips with antecedents and pronouns; students match them, build complete sentences, and explain each match aloud.
Ask students to compare “Each robot lost its wheel” and “Both robots lost their wheels,” then write the rule they notice.
Run a pronoun repair relay using cards with one error each; teams correct the pronoun and name its antecedent for a point.
Have students edit a school club announcement for unclear or mismatched pronouns, then read the revised announcement to a partner.
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Printable 8.LU.1.B Worksheet
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Related Standards
- 4.LU.1.E
Use standard subject-verb agreement when speaking and writing.
- 4.LU.1.F
Use standard noun-pronoun agreement when speaking and writing.
- 6.LU.1.B
Use pronoun-antecedent agreement, including indefinite and reflexive pronouns when speaking and writing.
- 7.LU.1.B
The 7th Grade version of this standard.
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