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Name: __________________________

Apostrophe Lesson: Contractions and Possessives


Lesson Components
What teacher and student behaviors are planned and expected
Context:
English 7 Honors
20-30 minutes
Around 17 students
Beginning of the Myth/Folk Unit

Comments/Notes/
in Retrospect
Reflections
Took longer than 20-30
minutes. More like 45
minutes

Virginia SOL(s):
7.4) The student will read to determine the meanings and pronunciations of
unfamiliar words and phrases within authentic texts.
e) Use context and sentence structure to determine meanings and differentiate
among multiple meanings of words.
Common Core State Standard(s):
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.7.2
Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English capitalization,
punctuation, and spelling when writing.

Objectives (KUD format):


Understand:
1.) Students will understand that the structure of language affects meaning.
Know:
1.) Students will know how to differentiate between the contracted and possessive
forms of words.
Do:
1.) Students will be able to differentiate between the contracted and possessive
forms of words.

Assessments: Methods for evaluating each of the specific objectives listed above.
Diagnostic: Students will demonstrate what they already know by

Students did do the


formative assessment at

Name: __________________________
1.) Demonstrate what they know about contractions versus possessives by engaging
in class discussion.
Formative: Students will show their progress toward today's objectives by
1.) Display their knowledge of contractions versus possessives by writing out the
sentences that demonstrate their/theyre and its/its. They also write their own
sentences using possessives and contractions and share them with the class.
Summative: Students will ultimately be assessed (today or in a future lesson) on
these standards by...

the end of class and we


went over the answers.
Perhaps next time I
could also have some
way for students to hold
up sheets of paper for
different answers so
that I would have
accurately assessed
everyone.

Procedures:
I.
Welcome/greeting/announcements
[I write up the chart from the graphic organizer on the board]
Hi Everyone, Hope you guys have had a good week so far. Today were going
to have a quick but fun grammar lesson that will help you with your writing.
II. Hook/ bridge/ opening to lesson
[I have the classroom manager pass out papers]
Okay, so today we are going to be looking at contractions and possessives and also at
what the role of apostrophes is in all of this. The reason this is important is because it
is really good for you to be able to structure your sentences well for your reader when
youre writing an essay for class. It is also important so that you are aware of how
words can be converged together or taken apart in order to have the same or
different meanings.
III. Instructional steps
So looking at your chart, can anyone tell me what a possessive is?
Student: Its like showing that you possess something.
Me: Yes, exactly. And what would be an example of a possessive?
Student: Like, your dog.
Me: Great. So your indicates that the object belongs to you. So under the
definition of possessive lets write Ownership. And in this case, the dog would be
the object of the possessive since it is what is being possessed.

Next time: also write


down belonging to as
definition for
possessives

And what is a contraction? Does anyone know?


Student: Its like dont?
Me: Great. So what is it about contractions that makes it different from other words?
Student: It is two words put together. Do and not.
Me: Yes, exactly. So a contraction is basically words squished together (I write
Squished Words under the definition). Why do you guys think we have these
contractions?
Student: Because people talked fast?
Me: Yea, I think so do. Sometimes when you say does not the words kind of come

I pretty much followed


this script during this
part of the lesson. It
seemed to work well: a
simple way of

Name: __________________________
together so that it becomes doesnt right? Okay, and in our definition of
contraction, lets clarify that it has to be two words squished together. Youll see
what I mean soon. [I am referring to the fact that Jimmys house has an apostrophe
but is not a contraction because it is not two words put together.]
Okay, now what I want you to do is take a look at this short text I have given you.
What I want you guys to do is work together with your table to pick out all of the
possessives and contractions in the story excerpt. Lets try the first couple of them
together. [Someone reads the first couple of sentences aloud and we put the first
couple on the chart.]

explaining.
A student pointed out
that some possessions
had apostrophes and
some didnt. I said it was
a good point and for
him to hold onto that
thought for later.

Possible misconceptions:
Jimmys house possession rather than contraction
[Students finish the chart and we go over it as a class. I may add a few of my own to
it.]
Me: Okay now what I have done is given each group a large piece of poster paper
and slips of paper that have all of the possessives and contractions in the story. There
are also additional ones that I have added that arent in the story. What I want you
guys to do is group the terms based on similarities. We already have two groups:
possessives and contractions. Lets first divide possessives and contractions. Then can
you divide these groups into smaller groups based on similarities? Then we are going
to think up rules for each of the groups that you have formed. The groups should be
based on grammatical form. You may want to try making a tree-like diagram with
your slips [I model doing this on the board].
And questions?
Student: So can we categorize them in any way we want to?
Me: You want to focus on how they look grammatically and how that grammar
affects the meaning of the word. So basically you want to focus a bit more on how
the words look on the page.
[5 minutes: Groups work together on categorizing. I rotate the room to help them.]
Me: Alright, so what types of categories do we have under Possessives?
Student: there are possessives with apostrophes and those without apostrophes.
Me: Great. And what do we notice about the possessive with apostrophes? What part
of speech are they? Does anyone know?
Student: Nouns.
Student: Names.
Me: Yea and what about those without apostropheswhat part of speech are those?
Student: Proper nouns?
Me: Not quite. They are pronouns. Can anyone remind us what a pronoun is?
Student: It is a word that refers to another word.
Me: Yes, so we have his and her which are possessives that refer to another noun
and indicate possession. So what type of generalization can we make from this
categorization?
Student: When you have a Noun or Proper Noun that is possessive there should be a
s. When you have a pronoun that is a possessive there is no s.

Note: I may change the


mentor text to add
more challenging
possessives and
contractions.
I did change the text to
an excerpt from Swords
for Hire. I think the
excerpt was too long,
though. Ms. X told me it
was. I could tell they
kind of zoned out during
the reading of it, so Ill
probably shorten it for
next time.
Students were pretty
engaged in finding
possessives and
contractions in the
work. There were not
that many possessives
though. I may add more
next time.

Name: __________________________
Me: Great. [I write this on the board.] Okay, so tell me this, how would we spell its
when we say The cat played with its ball of yarn?
Student: i-t-s!
Me: Yes! And Why is that?
Student: Because it owns the ball of yarn so it is possessive. And it is a pronoun so
there is no apostrophe.
Me: Great! Now lets look at the contractions. What types of categories do we have
here?
Possible Student Answers: We have negative contractions and other contractions.
Me: Yea okay, so what do you notice about these negative contractions? How do we
spell them?
Student: You put the apostrophe between the n and t.
Me: Yea. And what about the rest of the contractions, what do you notice about
them?
Student: The first word itself stays the same while the second word is shortened.
Me: Right. An example would be she will-> shell. What are other examples? What
about Shes? What is that a contraction of ?
Student: She is.
Me: Okay so lets write down the rules for contractions. So for negative contractions,
you would put the apostrophe between the n and t. For other contractions, the first
word stays the same while the second word is shortened. [Wont=> special case]
What are other examples?
[Students give out examples.]
Me: Great. So now I want everyone to take out a sheet of paper and number it from
1-6. Please write out each sentence.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

Theyre going to the movies this weekend.


Their dog has yellow fur.
Its the best time of year for a vacation.
The dog wagged its tail.
Whose water bottle is that?
Whos going to the dance party tonight?

[We go over these as a class/Students write their sentences on the board.]


Me: Now I want you guys to write your own sentences using theyre/their/there,
its/its, whose/whos and any other contractions or possessives you can think of.
Lets try to get as many as possible in a 4-5 sentence narrative.
[Students write their sentences and share them with the class afterwards.]

Students did come up


with my scripted
generalizations so I was
happy. They were also
pretty involved in class
discussion.
There were three boys
who were slightly rowdy
and Ms. X later told me
they were the ones who
couldnt really sit still. I
looked at their papers
later and it seemed like
they understood the
concept though they
didnt quite stick to the
task. Example: one boy
wrote contractions from
The Lord of the Rings
instead of the mentor
text. While they were
being a bit rowdy, I tried
not to give them too
much attention, but I
did cold call on them, as
I did with the other
students. And I asked
one of them to pass out
papers.
I didnt do the poster
thing. I just amended
the worksheet so that
there was a Regrouping area. I
thought it might have
been messier with the
slips and poster. The
lesson took longer than I
thought it would, too.

We go over the sentences.

IV. Closing

Sometimes I couldnt
hear the students when
they were telling me
their generalizations.
Some of them had

Name: __________________________

Okay, great job today you guys. This exercise will help you all become better writers
and more knowledgeable about English.

Materials:
Graphic Organizer
Slips and posters for each table
Excerpt

Differentiation:
Provide more scaffolding for finding possessives and contractions, such as having
students point to words while reading, or prompting them with examples of phrases
using possessives.

Technology Use: Detail specific technology being used in the lesson with
explanation for why it is being used.

softer voices so I need


to make sure the room
is quiet so that I can
hear them.

I was hesitant about


doing the formative
assessment but they
were all pretty engaged
in it. I think these
students like a
challenge.
No slips or posters, as
aforementioned. Just
the re-grouping section
of the worksheet.

Name: __________________________

Appendices

Name: __________________________

Directions: Fill out this chart by sorting all of the possessives or contractions you find the passage, whether or
not they have apostrophes.
Apostrophe Induction
Possessives
Definition:

Possessive

Contractions
Definition:

Object of Possessive

Contraction

Words Separated

Name: __________________________
Re-group:

Re-group:

Possessive and Contraction Rules


#1) Rule:

Examples:

#2) Rule:

Examples:

#3) Rule:

Examples:
#4) Rule:

Examples:

Sample sentences:

Name: __________________________
1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

Mentor Text: Sword For Hire


Its really not a glamorous a life, being a sword for hire, said Rigby. Frankly, since they kindly
removed me from the Royal Guard, Ive been rather on the skids, workwise. I mean, a person can put a
Sword for Hire sign on his door from now until the cows come home, but that doesnt mean hell get
any business. Are you cold? Shall I start up the fire?
Sam was getting more confused by the minute. No, thank you.
Rigby leaned forward. Would you like to know the exact amount of work Ive done in the last
three years? Nothing. Zip. Zero. Nada. Oh, sure, I helped catch those rogues that escaped from prison,
and I skewered a rabid dog, and I helped some old lady and her cats out of a burning house, but thats
not true adventure! You know, I want to lop the ears off giants and fight off an army when the odds are
two thousand to one against me. Stuff like that. Real fun!
Sam stood abruptly. Siruh, RigbyI thank you for your consideration, but I think Ive made a
mistake in coming to see you.
Sit down! Rigby said coldly. Nobody stands up abruptly in front of me.
Sam sat. Im sorry. Its just thatwell, my father was in the Royal Guard. It was he who wanted
me to do this, not me. Im no warrior.
Rigby spat. What youre trying to tell me, kid, is that youre not man enough to sword around
with me.
Sam lowered his head. Yes.
Rigby stood up and kicked his chair against the fireplace. No, no, no! You stupid farmer, the
least you can do is argue!
Sam looked up angrily. You said yourself you never do anything exciting or heroic! Why should
I stay around here?
Rigby leaned close to Sam. Because you got it, kid. I could tell the second you walked in the
door.
Got what?

Name: __________________________
Rigby slammed a fist against the wall. It, boy, it! That magical, mystical something! Are you
sure youre not hungry?
Sam stood up. Im not hungry! What are you talking about?
Got me, said Rigby. But let me tell you, boy, it came from the heart. You got potential, I cant
say how I know, but I do.
Sam shook his head. If I have such great potential, shouldnt my first move be to get out of this
crummy shack?
SHACK? thundered Rigby. Ill have you know I built this place with my own two hands!
Actually, thats a lie, its been here since before I was born. But Ive been taking care of it lately.
Sam laughed. Captain Clerret was right. You are crazy.
Rigby looked for an instant as though he might be angry, but then he smiled. He walked to the
window and looked out. Join me, boy, he said softly. I guarantee you an interesting time.
I dont doubt that, said Sam. He was silent for a moment, but only a moment. His only
alternative was to return to the farm.
All right. Im your pupil in the manly arts of destruction and mayhem.
Rigby smiled. Thats fine. All right, then, pupil, first we must get a few rules straight. Prepare for your
first lesson.

My reference guide:
Possessives:
Nouns and Proper Nouns:
Jimmys house
Principals crash
Jordans skateboard
Pronouns:
His
Her
My
Their
Its
Contractions:

Name: __________________________

Negatives:
Dont
Doesnt
Didnt
Couldnt
Shouldnt
Cant
Wont ** (special case)
Wouldnt
Isnt
Other:
Shes
Hes
Well
Theyre
Its

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