Identifying basic sentence parts

[jackie_concepcion]

I am having an issue explaining a sentence and why it is correct. A few parents are disputing thatthe "is" in the following sentence given to a child to complete is incorrect. The sentence goes: One of the ______ is small. The choice for the blank space is between dog or dogs. Obviously the answer is dogs, but the parents are all stating the the word is should be are. I am trying to explain to them the the "is" is refering to the word "one". How can I explain to them that the text book is correct...or am I the one who is incorrect? Please help!

Thank you,
Jackie

[birdeen's call]

Hello Jackie,

You're correct. The sentence

One of the dogs is small.

is correct. "One of the dogs" is the subject here and it's singular.

[5jj]

If you are having trouble with the parents (and it sounds as though they should be the ones in your classroom studying), try presenting it as:

One (of the dogs) is ...