Lesson video

Hello, everyone.

My name is Mrs. Riley and I'm here today to do some grammar learning with you.

In today's lesson, we're going to be learning all about a piece of punctuation called apostrophes.

Let's get started.

The outcome of today's lesson is to show a noun belonging to a singular noun with an apostrophe.

Here are our keywords.

Now it's really important that we can say these words properly.

So before we start talking about what they mean, let's just practise saying them.

So make sure you've got your listening ears ready, and your loud speaking voices ready because we're going to do my turn, your turn.

Are you ready? Apostrophe for possession.

Well done.

Let's try even louder for the second one.

Singular.

Belong.

Possession.

Ascender.

Well done.

Now, some of that vocabulary is quite tricky, but it's not going to feel tricky by the end of the lesson because we are going to talk about each word lots and lots until you feel really comfortable with what they mean.

So don't worry if you're a bit unsure about what they mean now.

So in today's lesson, we're going to first of all, look at understanding possession.

Hmm.

Let's find out what this means.

So first, let's just remind ourselves about punctuation marks.

All punctuation marks have different purposes.

We have a full stop, an exclamation mark, and a question mark.

A full stop is used to mark the end of a sentence like a fact.

An exclamation mark is used at the end of a sentence, expressing strong emotion, like, "I can't wait for the weekend!" Exclamation mark.

A question mark is used at the end of a sentence asking a question.

For example, "Are you coming to my party this weekend?" An apostrophe, which is what we're focusing on today, has more than one purpose.

So all of those other pieces of punctuation we looked at have got one purpose, but we're looking at an apostrophe, which has got more than one purpose.

The first purpose of an apostrophe is for a contraction.

So when we put two words and we push them together, "is not" becomes "isn't." And you can see there, we've used an apostrophe.

But the second reason we use an apostrophe is to show possession.

And that's what we're going to learn about now.

So could you match before we move on these punctuation marks to their correct label? You've got an apostrophe, a full stop, a question mark, and an exclamation mark, and you need to match them to the correct piece of punctuation.

Pause the video while you have a go at that now.

Well done.

Let's see how you got on.

So first of all, we've got an exclamation mark.

It's a line and a dot, and that's used to show strong emotion.

Then we have an apostrophe, which looks a bit like a comma, but it sits higher up than a comma.

Then we've got a question mark, which is to show a question.

And finally, we have a full stop, which shows the end of the sentence.

So what does possession mean? Have you heard the word anywhere before? Have a little thinking time possession.

Have you heard it anywhere? Here's the word in some sentences.

"My most loved possession is my snugly old teddy bear." Do you wanna see it? I've got him here.

Look, here it is.

This is my most loved possession.

My snuggly old teddy bear.

"Share your possessions." "He had possession of the ball for ages before he scored." "Tidy up your possessions." "The toddler was very possessive of her teddy." "She possessed magical powers." So there's the word in lots of different sentences.

So possession means to own something.

It means that something belongs to you, it is connected to you, or it's in your control.

So let's just go back and have a look at those examples again.

So my most loved possess possession is my snugly old teddy bear.

My teddy bear belongs to me.

Share your possessions.

So share all of the things that belong to you that you own.

"He had possession of the ball for ages before he scored." So that means that he had the ball, he owned the ball for a long time before he scored.

Maybe he was going around dribbling, "Tidy up your possessions." Perhaps all the things in your bedroom are things that belong to you, so you need to tidy them all up.

"The toddler was very possessive of her teddy." So we've changed the word "possession" there to "possessive." She was very possessive of her teddy bear.

If you are possessive of something, it means you want to keep it for yourself.

You don't really want to share it.

You hold onto it very tightly.

And, "She possessed magical powers." That means she owned or she had magical powers.

So can you name one of your possessions? So think about something that belongs to you, that's connected to you, or that's in your control.

Perhaps you could pause the video and then do this as a talk task.

If somebody's next to you, you could take turns naming your possessions.

Or if you are by yourself, perhaps you could just say out loud, a few of your possessions or just one if you can only think of one.

Pause the video now.

Well done.

I heard lots of different possessions, things that belong to you.

So let's just check what we've learned.

What does possession mean? Is it A, to lose control.

B, to rely on something.

C, to own something.

Or D, to give something away.

Pause the video now.

Well done.

The correct answer is C, possession means to own something.

A bit like how I own my teddy bear.

So look at these examples to help demonstrate, that means show possession.

Think about the things that belong together.

For example, Mrs. Riley's teddy bear.

Oh, can you hear? It's got a little winding up thing and it just started playing the music.

That's what I used to listen to when I was a baby at nighttime.

So the the teddy bear and me belong together because I own it.

Mrs. Riley's teddy bear.

So let's think about other things that belong together.

A toy and a child.

The child's toy.

The toy belongs to the child.

A table might belong to a classroom.

The classroom's table.

A bed might belong to a bedroom.

So we can see here, it doesn't always have to be a person it belongs to because a child is a person, but a classroom and a bedroom are places, they're not people.

And the moon belongs to the sky and the sky is a thing.

So, maybe you are starting to think something here.

So these possessions could belong to a person, place, or thing.

Maybe you are starting to make connection here.

So before we think a little bit more about what groups those things, a child, classroom, bedroom, and sky, let's first of all do a task, practising matching things that would go together.

Remember, think about things that belong together.

So we've got a tennis ball, a tree, a flower.

It's a daffodil, but a flower.

And a fish or toot some fish.

And the other options are a stem, sea, forest, and dog.

So which things would likely go together, which would belong together? Could you have a go at this task now? I'd like you to draw lines to match up the things that you think would likely go together.

Pause the video now.

Okay, well done.

Let's see how you got on.

So the tennis ball might belong to a dog.

The dog's ball.

A tree might belong to a forest.

The forest's tree.

A flower might go with a stem, but this time, it's the other way round.

We wouldn't have the stem's flower, we would have, it's the flower's stem.

And finally, the fish might belong to the sea.

So now we are going to look at using apostrophes to show singular possession.

So if you were thinking earlier, maybe earlier in the lesson, you were crying out to me when I was saying, "Oh, it's a person, a place, or a thing." You might have been shouting to me, "Mrs. Riley, they're all nouns." And you're exactly right.

A noun is a person, place, or thing.

Should we say that together? Ready? A noun is a person, place, or thing.

Nouns can be singular or plural.

Singular nouns are things like dog, toy, child, ball.

There's only one.

One dog, one toy, one child or one ball.

Plural means there's more than one.

So here are the examples.

Dogs, toys, children, balls.

There's more than one.

So nouns can be singular or plural.

So my teddy is a noun, it's a thing, and I could say it's singular.

A teddy, one teddy.

Or if there were lots of teddies, I could say teddies, and then that's plural.

Teddy is singular.

Teddies is plural because there's more than one.

So we're focusing today on singular nouns.

Could you identify, that means find, the singular nouns? Remember, it means there's only one.

A, stars.

B, table.

C, ball.

And D, chairs.

There might be more than one.

Could you pause the video now and identify the singular nouns? Well done.

The singular nouns are B, table, and C, ball.

They are both singular because there is only one.

Stars and chairs are both plural.

You'll notice they had an s on the end.

Stars and chairs, which is often what happens if something is plural.

Not always, but very often.

That's how we show if something is plural.

So a singular noun can possess another noun.

Oh, that's quite a lot.

Let's think about that.

Let's break it down.

A singular noun, so that one noun.

So perhaps it might be me, Mrs. Riley, because I'm a person, can possess another noun.

Possess means own, it belongs to me.

So I, Mrs. Riley, can possess another noun.

For example, my teddy.

My teddy is a noun because it's a thing.

Mrs. Riley's Teddy, I can possess this noun, which is my teddy.

So let's look at some examples.

A ring belonging to mum.

A bike belonging to the child.

A crown belonging to a king.

Can you spot the nouns in each of those examples? Can you spot them? There's two in each example.

Perhaps you might want to pause the video and think about which are the two nouns in each example.

Okay, let's go through them.

So the noun in a ring belonging to mum.

So ring is a noun, it's a thing.

And mum is a noun because it's a naming word for a person.

A bike belonging to the child.

We've got bike and child are the two nouns.

A crown belonging to a king.

Crown and king would be the two nouns.

We can also use an apostrophe to show when something belongs to someone or something else.

Remember, it's not always a person because we said for example, that it was the dog's ball and a dog isn't a person.

Or if it was the forest's tree and the forest isn't a person.

We usually add apostrophe s to the first noun.

Mum's ring.

Mum is the first noun, the ring belongs to her.

Mum's ring.

Child's bike.

King's crown.

We've added apostrophe s after the first noun.

These are all singular nouns, mum, child, and king.

We've added apostrophe s.

And ring, bike, and crown, these are the nouns that belong.

These are the things that the singular nouns own or possess.

These are all examples of an apostrophe being used for possession.

Let's look again at how an apostrophe shows possession.

Sometimes, when I do say a possession, I do this as my action because it's like something that you own or possess.

It belongs to you.

So that might help you.

Perhaps you could do that with me.

Can you go possession? Possession.

So let's look again at how an apostrophe shows that possession.

So here are my singular nouns.

Remember, singular means there's only one.

Aisha, baby, Luca.

These are all singular nouns.

There is one of each of them.

Then we add apostrophe s, and then we have the noun that belongs.

So we could have Aisha's homework.

The homework belongs to Aisha.

The baby's toy.

The toy belongs to the baby.

Luca's coat.

The coat belongs to Luca.

The apostrophe s shows that the second noun belongs to the first noun.

You might be wondering why we need to add an apostrophe at all? Why can't we just say, "Aishas homework," "the babys toy" or "Lucas coat"? The reason the apostrophe is so important is because if we didn't have it and we just had an S, it just might look like we've got lots of Aisha's or lots of babies or lots of Lucas.

We use an s very often to show that something is plural.

For example, duck is singular, ducks is plural.

So if we said the ducks nest, then if we didn't have the apostrophe, it just might look like we're just saying a plural of duck, rather than showing that the nest belongs to one duck.

That's why the apostrophe is so important.

So here, they're written out together.

Aisha's homework, the baby's toy and Lucas's coat.

In all those examples, you can see apostrophe s after the first noun.

And the second noun is the thing that belongs.

True or false.

We use apostrophe T to show singular possession.

Is that true or false? Pause the video now.

Well done.

It's false of course.

We use apostrophe s to show singular possession.

Here are some more examples of using an apostrophe for possession when something belongs to a singular noun.

Ben's family are very welcoming.

The farmer's tractor is being repaired.

Look at the cat's whiskers twitching.

We have showed we have used an apostrophe for singular possession.

The whiskers belong to the cat.

The farmer's tractor, The tractor belongs to the farmer.

And Ben's family, the family belonged to Ben.

We have the singular noun, which might be for example in this one, Ben.

Ben is the singular noun.

We have apostrophe s, and then we have family, which is the noun that belongs to Ben.

Remember, if we didn't have the apostrophe, if we just said "Bens family," it just might look like we've got lots of Bens, plural Bens, but we've only got one Ben.

So take the example that shows the apostrophe for possession in the correct place.

Each example says Sam's coat.

So Sam is the singular noun, and then coat is the noun that belongs to Sam.

But where is the apostrophe used correctly? Pause the video now.

Well done.

The correct answer is C.

Sam's coat.

The apostrophe s comes after the first noun.

Sam's coat, the coat belongs to Sam.

Apostrophes for possession are useful to make our writing clear.

We must remember to position them properly within a word.

Look at these examples and explain which one you think is correct.

Jun's shoe.

In each one, the apostrophe is placed somewhere different.

Could you as a talk task, pause the video and explain which one you think is correct and why? Well done.

This is the correct answer, Jun's shoe.

The reason that one is correct is because the apostrophe sits just above the N and the S, which are both normal lowercase letters.

It's if you line it up, can you see where there's the capital letter J and the ascending letter H, which is a tall letter.

It's in line with the top of those two letters, and that's where your apostrophe should sit.

It's the same height as the ascender.

Okay, it's time to do a little activity.

I'm going to have a turn first.

So I'm going to show you what to do and then it's going to be your turn.

Let's practise using an apostrophe for possession.

Here we go.

The book belonging to the teacher.

And the oven belonging to the baker.

So we've got to find the nouns and use apostrophe s to show which noun belongs to the other.

Okay, so, the nouns are going to be book and teacher.

So would I say the book's teacher or the teacher's book? Oh, I think I'm going to say, "The teacher's book." I don't think the book could own a teacher.

That would be a funny idea.

So book and teacher, and I'm going to write the teacher's book.

And you'll see I've got my apostrophe s after the first noun, the teacher's book to show that the book belongs to the teacher.

In my second example, ooh, oven.

The oven belonging to the baker.

"The oven's baker" doesn't sound right.

"The baker's oven." Ah, okay, so oven and baker, and I'm going to write the baker's oven.

Every baker needs an oven to cook their cake or their bread.

The oven belongs to the baker.

So I've got an apostrophe s after the first noun, the baker's oven.

I'm showing there's not lots of bakers, there's just one, but the oven belongs to them.

So now, it's your turn.

You've got to do exactly the same thing as me.

You've got to find the nouns, if you want, you can circle them.

And then you've got to use apostrophe s to show which noun belongs to the other.

Here are your examples.

The spade belonging to the gardener, the teddy belonging to the child.

Could you pause the video now while you have a go at this task? Well done.

So in the first example, the nouns are spade and gardener.

The gardener and the spade are the two nouns.

In the second example, we've got teddy and child.

Now, "The child's teddy" or "The teddy's child." I think it's going to be "The child's teddy." Now I need to add my apostrophe s in the correct place.

It comes after the first noun, the thing that the noun that has that own something.

So the gardener's spade, the spade belongs to the gardener and the child's teddy, the child owns the teddy.

It's time for your final task in today's lesson.

I would like you to look at this table, and circle the nouns and then use apostrophe s to show which noun belongs to the other.

Remember to put the apostrophe for possession in the right place.

It needs to go not right at the bottom, not floating above the word, but it needs to sit next to the ascender, the tall letter.

Here's an example to show you.

The jewels belonging to the queen.

So you would first of all circle the nouns, jewels and queen.

Jewels is a thing and queen is a person you would then write out think, right? Is it, "The jewel's queen" or "The queen's jewels"? Well, the jewels belong to the queen.

So I'm going to write the queen's jewels and I'm going to have my apostrophe s after the first noun, the thing that owns something, the queen's jewels.

And I've put my apostrophe, you can see n and s isn't an ascender, but I put them just above where an ascender would sit.

So the other ones you have to do are, the horn belonging to the car, the pencil belonging to Aisha, the paint belonging to the artist, the shawl belonging to Gran.

So remember, first of all, identify the nouns, circle the two nouns, then think which one belongs to the other, and then write it out remembering your apostrophe s to show possession.

Pause the video now.

Okay, well done.

Let's go through the answers.

The horn belonging to the car.

The horn and car are the two nouns.

So I would write the car's horn.

You can see that I've got my apostrophe s after the first noun, the singular noun, car.

The pencil belonging to Aisha.

So Aisha owns the pencil.

So I'm going to write Aisha's pencil.

The paint belonging to the artist, paint and artist of the two nouns.

And the paint belongs to the artist.

The artist owns the paint.

So I'm going to write the artist's paint with my apostrophe s after artist.

The shawl belonging to Gran.

Shawl and Gran are my two nouns.

But the shawl doesn't own Gran.

Gran owns the shawl.

So I'm going to write Gran's shawl.

And I'm using my apostrophe s after Gran to show that the shawl belongs to her.

She possesses it.

Without my apostrophe, it might just look like I'm saying, "Grans shawl," that I'm using an s to show that Gran is a plural.

There's lots of grans.

There's only one gran, and the shawl belongs to her.

Let's summarise what we've learned today.

We've learned that an apostrophe is an important piece of punctuation with more than one purpose.

We can use an apostrophe to show when a second noun belongs to a first noun.

Bit like me and my teddy.

I'm a noun, Mrs. Riley.

And my teddy is a noun, it's a thing.

Mrs. Riley's Teddy.

The teddy belongs to me.

I possess it.

When we use an apostrophe in this way, we call it an apostrophe for possession.

We usually add apostrophe s to the first noun.

Mrs. Riley's Teddy, Mrs. Riley, apostrophe s, Teddy.

So well done for all your hard work today.

You have a lot about apostrophes and I wonder now this week if when you are reading, you could see if you can spot in your reading any apostrophes that have been used to show possession, to show when something belongs to someone or something.

Good luck with that and hopefully I'll see you again for some more learning another time.

Bye.