Here is an idea that will work if your curriculum demands you explicitly teach direct object pronouns: tell an interesting story that requires DOP’s. Here’s the outline of one that will work: Somebody sees something that another person doesn’t and they both get frustrated. It would be even better and funnier to act out in class if the supposed viewer was just making it up as a dodge for something else. This can be compelling input.

A dodge like this actually happened my family when I was a kid:

One summer day when I was a child, we were driving in the mountains of Colorado, and my mom had to go. There were no facilities for miles. So, my dad pulled the car over and told us kids to create a diversion while he served as the lookout. My brothers and I were to act as if we saw some wildlife, like bighorn sheep, on the mountain on the other side of the road, while our mother snuck off in the opposite direction. We were to distract passersby, so that no one would notice mom in the nearby bushes.

 But there was a problem: We were such convincing and enthusiastic actors that cars started pulling over. People began piling out to see the imaginary bighorns on the mountainside. We kept pointing and talking and pretending that the magnificent animals were “right there.” More cars stopped to see the what was going on, and even though they were all looking in the other direction, mom couldn’t get enough privacy, so we all had to get back in the car, leaving the crowd behind gazing at the non-existent wildlife, as we drove off to find a better spot for our long-suffering mother. We were all laughing so hard that she almost had an accident right there in the car.

Download the whole lesson here: Observations and Recommendations.