Apostrophes for possession (age 7+)

PROCEDURAL

English›Spelling & Word Study|Ages 7—10|ID: mt_HdI1y5KsBl

Use the possessive apostrophe accurately with both regular and irregular plural nouns (e.g., the girls' bags, the children's toys), distinguishing singular from plural possession

Mastery Evidence

Place the apostrophe correctly in plural possessives: 'the dogs' kennel' vs 'the dog's kennel'
Write possessive forms of irregular plurals correctly (e.g. 'children's', 'women's', 'mice's')
Distinguish singular possession (the boy's hat) from plural possession (the boys' hats) in dictated sentences

Assessment Prompt

“When [child] writes about something belonging to a group — like "the children's coats" or "the teachers' cars" — do they put the apostrophe in the right place?”

Curriculum Standards6 alignments

L.3.2dCommon Core State Standards for English Language Arts & Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science, and Technical Subjects

L.3.2d

Form and use possessives.

English Language Arts

L.4.2dCommon Core State Standards for English Language Arts & Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science, and Technical Subjects

L.4.2d

Spell grade-appropriate words correctly, consulting references as needed.

English Language Arts

Eng.App2.Y4.Punc.2The national curriculum in England

Apostrophes for plural possession

Apostrophes to mark plural possession [for example, the girl’s name, the girls’ names]

English · Key Stage 2

Eng_App1_Sp_Y34_16The national curriculum in England

Possessive apostrophe with plural words

English · Key Stage 2

Eng_LKS2_Write_Trans_Spell_4The national curriculum in England

Place the possessive apostrophe

Place the possessive apostrophe accurately in words with regular plurals [for example, girls’, boys’] and in words with irregular plurals [for example, children’s]

English · Key Stage 2

Eng_LKS2_Write_VGP_8The national curriculum in England

Indicate possession

Indicate grammatical and other features by indicating possession by using the possessive apostrophe with plural nouns

English · Key Stage 2

Prerequisites2

Irregular Plural Nouns
hardAges 7—9
Apostrophes for possession
hardAges 6—8

Show full prerequisite tree

Irregular Plural Nouns hard
Plural possessive requires understanding of irregular plural forms
- Regular Plural Nouns hard
  Irregular and collective plurals build on regular plural noun formation
  - Basic Nouns & Verbs soft
    Need noun concept before plural forms
Apostrophes for possession hard
Plural possessive apostrophe builds on singular possessive apostrophe
- Regular Plural Nouns hard
  Must understand plural -s before distinguishing possessive 's
  - Basic Nouns & Verbs soft
    Need noun concept before plural forms
- Spelling Contracted Forms soft
  Understanding apostrophe in contractions helps understand its use in possession
  - Segmenting words into sounds hard
    Basic encoding ability needed to spell contracted forms
    - Phonics Vocabulary hard
      Segmenting words into phonemes and spelling CVC words requires knowing 'phoneme', 'segment', and 'CVC' as defined terms
    - Single Letter Sounds hard
      Need GPC knowledge to encode phonemes
      - Knowing all letters hard
        Must recognise letters before learning their sounds
        
        Understanding print hard
        Must understand print direction before letter identification matters
    - Onsets & Rimes hard
      Need segmenting skill for spelling
      - Rhyming words soft
        Rhyme awareness supports finer phoneme skills
      - Syllables soft
        Syllable awareness builds toward phoneme level
    - Sitting and holding a pencil soft
      Handwriting needed for spelling practice
  - Reading Contractions hard
    Spelling contractions builds on reading contractions
    - Blending Sounds to Read Words hard
      Need blending to read contractions
      - Single Letter Sounds hard
        Need GPC knowledge to blend
        
        Knowing all letters hard
        Must recognise letters before learning their sounds
        
        Understanding print hard
        Must understand print direction before letter identification matters
      - Onsets & Rimes hard
        Phoneme awareness needed for blending
        
        Rhyming words soft
        Rhyme awareness supports finer phoneme skills
        
        Syllables soft
        Syllable awareness builds toward phoneme level
- Basic Nouns & Verbs soft
  Understanding nouns supports identifying what can be possessive

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