English Language Arts
Grade 3
15 min
Classify logical fallacies
Classify logical fallacies
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1
Introduction & Learning Objectives
Learning Objectives
Identify the seven main possessive pronouns: my, your, his, her, its, our, and their.
Define a 'logical fallacy' as a sentence mistake that creates confusion about ownership.
Classify the 'Contraction Fallacy,' where a contraction (like it's) is used instead of a possessive pronoun (its).
Classify the 'Mismatch Fallacy,' where the possessive pronoun does not match the noun that owns something.
Correct sentences containing possessive pronoun fallacies.
Use possessive pronouns correctly to show clear ownership in their own writing.
Whose lunchbox is it? 🥪 If we say 'He took her lunchbox,' but it really belongs to him, that's a confusing mix-up! Let's become detectives and solve these mix-ups.
Today, w...
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Key Concepts & Vocabulary
TermDefinitionExample
Possessive PronounA special word that takes the place of a noun and shows that something belongs to someone or something.In 'That is her bike,' the word 'her' is a possessive pronoun showing the bike belongs to a girl.
OwnershipThe idea of who something belongs to.My dog has a squeaky toy. I have ownership of the dog, and the dog has ownership of the toy.
Logical Fallacy (Sentence Mistake)For our lesson, this is a mistake in a sentence that makes it confusing or logically wrong, especially about who owns what.Saying 'The robot moved it's arm' is a fallacy because 'it's' means 'it is,' which doesn't make sense.
ContractionA word made by squishing two words together and using an apostrophe (') to sho...
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Key Rules & Conventions
The Matching Rule
The possessive pronoun must match the owner noun.
If the owner is one boy, use 'his'. If the owner is one girl, use 'her'. If the owners are a group, use 'their'. If the owner is a thing or animal, use 'its'.
The No Apostrophe Rule
Possessive pronouns do NOT use apostrophes to show ownership.
Words like 'its', 'yours', 'hers', and 'theirs' show something belongs to someone without needing an apostrophe. Don't get them mixed up with contractions!
The Contraction vs. Possession Rule
Contractions (like you're, it's, they're) tell you 'who is' or 'who are'. Possessive pronouns (your, its, their) tell you 'who owns'.
Always as...
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Challenging
A new fallacy is called the 'Pronoun Pile-up'. It happens when a possessive pronoun is incorrectly combined with an apostrophe-s, like a noun would be. Based on this rule, which sentence contains the 'Pronoun Pile-up' fallacy?
A.Is that car her's?
B.Is that car hers?
C.Is that Jane's car?
D.That car belongs to her.
Challenging
Analyze the following sentence: 'Although the company is large, it's main goal is to help customers, and its a good company.' Where is the 'Apostrophe Mix-up' fallacy located?
A.'Our's is the best team' has a Missing 'S' Fallacy.
B.'Its time for the show to start' has an Apostrophe Mix-up Fallacy.
C.'The girls ate his lunch' has a Subject Swap Fallacy.
D.'That car is their' has a Plural Puzzle Fallacy.
Challenging
A student claims the sentence 'The class gave its teacher a gift' contains a 'Plural Puzzle' fallacy because 'class' refers to many students. Why is the student's claim incorrect?
A.Because 'its' is the wrong pronoun and it should be 'their'.
B.Because the teacher is a single person.
C.Because 'class' is a collective noun that acts as a single unit.
D.Because the gift was from only one student, not the whole class.
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