Lesson video

Hello everyone, my name's Mrs. Riley, and in today's lesson, we're going to be learning some grammar.

We're going to be focusing on apostrophes today, and we're going to be looking at the two different ways that we can use them.

I hope you are ready to start learning.

The outcome of today's lesson is to show how an apostrophe works for contraction and for singular possession.

Here are our key words for today's lesson.

These are the words that we're going to be using lots and lots, and that are really important.

So let's start off by just saying them out loud.

My turn, your turn, are you ready? Apostrophe for contraction.

Well done! Apostrophe for possession.

Well done! And finally, singular, lovely.

Let's find out what these words mean.

An apostrophe for contraction is a punctuation Mark used to contract two words together.

We're going to find out more about what the word contract means later on.

An apostrophe for possession is a punctuation mark that can show if a noun belongs to another singular noun.

And singular means only one.

We have singular and plural, but if there's only one of something, it is singular, plural means more than one.

In today's lesson, we have two learning cycles.

First, we're going to look at apostrophes for contraction, and then we'll look at apostrophes for singular possession later on.

So first of all, let's think about punctuation marks in general.

They're used for different purposes.

Here are some punctuation marks.

I wonder, can you name all of these punctuation marks? Perhaps you could pause the video, and either shout them out loud or tell them to someone if you've got someone next to you, off you go.

Well done, I heard some amazing shouting there.

So first of all, we have our inverted commas that are used to show direct speech.

Then we have an exclamation mark, then we have a full stop, then we have a question mark, and finally we have a comma.

Well done if you identified what each of those were.

So let's do a check for understanding.

We've thought about what each punctuation mark is, but now we're going to think about its purpose.

So you've got the punctuation marks down one column, and in the other column, you have the options for different purposes, I'll read them to you now.

So one of these is used at the end of a sentence, such as a fact.

One of them is used to signal direct speech.

One of them is used at the end of a sentence expressing strong emotion.

So it could be something scary or something really happy.

And one of them is used at the end of a sentence asking a question.

Can you pause the video now while you match the punctuation mark to its purpose? Well done, let's go through the answers.

So first of all, an exclamation mark is used at the end of a sentence expressing strong emotion, something like, "Quick!" or "Wow, look over there!" A full stop is used at the end of a sentence, such as a fact.

You know a fact I learned the other day is that if you have an egg that's white, a hen's egg that's white, it means that the hen that laid it had white feathers, but if you have a brown egg, it means the hen that laid it has brown feathers.

So if I was going to write a fact, white eggs come from hens with white feathers, I would use a full stop at the end of it.

A question mark is used at the end of a sentence asking a question like, "How old are you?" And inverted commas are used to signal, which means to show direct speech, which is things that people say.

Apostrophes for contraction are useful in informal speaking, like in the playground, or informal writing.

If you are formal, you would be quite polite, quite well mannered, if you dressed in a formal way, you'd be dressing very smartly.

Whereas if you are informal, if we add the prefix "in," informal, it's that the opposite of that, it's much more relaxed.

If you were wearing informal clothes, you might be wearing a T-shirt and some shorts, and some trainers, or something like that.

So in the playground, you would be using informal speaking 'cause you'd be just chatting to your friends and you'd be relaxed.

If you were using informal writing, that might be like if you were writing a little note to your friend, but if you were writing a letter to someone like the Prime Minister, you would probably want your writing to be very formal.

The word "contract" means to push.

An apostrophe can push two words together to make one shorter word, a contraction.

So sometimes, we say clap, for contraction (hands clapping) because it's like we're taking two words (hands clapping) and pushing them together, which makes that clapping sound.

Here's an example, he is such a loyal friend.

So if we used a contraction and we pushed two words together, we could say he is, we could change that to, he's such a loyal friend, he is, he's, (hands clapping) we've pushed two words together to make one shorter word.

I will not be able to come.

If we push, will not together, we would just say, I won't be able to come.

Will not, won't.

(hands clapping) An apostrophe is always placed at the same height as the ascender.

Can you see that? Have a look now in he's, can you all point at that apostrophe, and can you see it's the same height as that capital letter H.

It's a bit higher than those lowercase letters "e" and "s", but it's the same height as the next "h" in such or the "l" in loyal, which are all, they're all ascending letters, they go higher up, so that's where an apostrophe sits.

Let's see what happens when we form or make a contraction.

He is, he's.

You are, you're.

Have not, haven't.

Two words have been pushed together to make one contraction, a shorter word.

Perhaps you might pause the video now, and just see if you noticed a pattern here because we know that two words have been pushed to make one word, but how are we doing that? Can you have a look and see if you can spot any patterns at all? Okay, well done, so let's just look one more time, we've got he's, you're, and haven't.

You might have noticed, that an apostrophe, usually takes the place of the letter that has been removed from the start of the second word.

So if we look at, he is, the second word is "is", the first word Is he, he is.

So the second word is "is," and the first letter of that word is the "i." So we have taken away that "i," and put an apostrophe there instead, and pushed them together.

What's the second word in, "you are?" That's right, it's are.

What's the first letter in the word are? That's right, it's the letter "a." So we are gonna take away the "a," and replace it with an apostrophe.

Have not, what's the second word in "have not?" That's right, it's "not." What's the first letter in "not?" That's right, it's "n." But have a look what happens here this time.

We haven't taken away the "n" we've taken away the "o" and replaced the "o" with an apostrophe.

So that's one of those rules that usually it's the first letter of the second word, but not always, and we'll see later on in the lesson as well, that sometimes something slightly different happens.

But the general rule is we take away the first letter of the second word and replace it with an apostrophe, and push the two words together.

I almost like to imagine that you take those two words, "he " and "is," can you just imagine you are holding them, "he" and "is," and 'cause you're squeezing them together so much, it's like an apostrophe is flying up, pop 'cause of the pressure, and an apostrophe is popping up in place of one of the letters, that's the way I remember it.

So true or false? Let's check what we've just learned.

An apostrophe for contraction takes the place of the letter that has been removed from the start of the first word, is that true or false? Pause the video now.

Well done, the answer is, it is false! An apostrophe for contraction takes the place of the letter that has been removed from the start of the first word, is not right.

Let's see if you can justify your answer.

Is it A, an apostrophe for contraction takes the place of the letter that has been removed from the start of the second word, instead of the first one, or B, an apostrophe for contraction does not take the place of any letter? Hmm, pause the video while you think about which is the better justification.

Well done, A is correct! So that was quite a tricky question because there was a lot of words in it and you might have thought, "Oh yes, that sounds true." But the key thing was is it's not, the apostrophe doesn't replace the letters from the first word, It replaces the letters from the second word.

In many words, the letter that is removed is a vowel.

So let's just remind ourselves vowels are, a, e, i, o, u, take those away, what are the vows? Well done, a, e, i, o, u, let's see that in action.

I am, becomes I'm, "a" is taken away.

You are, becomes you're.

We are, becomes we're, we're having fun.

We can see in all of those examples, it's the letter "a", which is the first letter in the second word, which has been replaced with an apostrophe.

The first letter of the second word is removed, and replaced with an apostrophe for contraction.

The words have been pushed together.

He is, becomes he's, this time, it's that "i," the first letter of the second word that's been removed.

She is, is she's, It is, becomes it's, it's not fair, instead of it is not fair.

Again, the first letter of the second word is removed and replaced with an apostrophe for contraction.

The words have been pushed together.

Let's look at some more examples.

Do not, becomes don't.

Now here's one of those interesting ones because normally, it's the first letter of the second word, but here, it's the second letter of the second word, the vowel, which is "o." Again, is not, we take away that "o," isn't.

Have not, becomes haven't.

In "not" words, the letter "o" is removed and replaced with an apostrophe for contraction.

In some "not" words, other letters can be removed or added, let's have a look at that.

In cannot, we take away the "n" and the "o" and replace it with an apostrophe to become, can't, I cannot do it, I can't do it.

Will not, now this one's funny because we take away the "ill" from will, and the "o" from the second word, So we're taking away some from the first word and some from the second word.

I will not do it, I won't do it.

So those are just two that we have to remember, but don't worry too much if you're thinking, "Goodness, this is all so much to remember" because I think if you thought will not, won't, hopefully, because you've seen that word lots of times, you would just know that will not, becomes won't.

Okay, it's time for your first task.

I would like you to fill in the gaps on both sides of this table.

So you've got here, on this column, you've got the two words that you need to contract or push together.

Remember, you need to take away a letter, or some letters, and replace it with an apostrophe.

So you are, would be, you're.

I will, that's one for you to do.

Now, in this example,, you've got the contracted word, you've got "won't," so in this example, you've actually got to separate it, into what two words it would be if you were using formal writing.

So the rest of the, they're all not there for you, so in one column, you've got the two words, and then in the other column you've got the contracted words, the words that have been pushed together with an apostrophe.

So pause the video now, while you try and fill the gaps on this table, off you go.

Excellent, let's go through the answers.

So you are, is you're, we've looked at that one.

I will, is I'll.

I will be there soon, I'll be there soon.

Will not, is if we separated won't.

I won't do it, I will not do it.

She is feeling sad, would become, she's feeling sad.

It is not fair, it's not fair.

He will be here, he'll be here.

Cannot, is can't.

So well done if you manage to fill in those gaps on that table.

It's now time for our second learning cycle: Apostrophes for singular possession.

Before we do that, can we all just take a deep breath or inhale through our noses, (inhaling deeply) and a big exhale through our mouths.

(exhaling deeply) Maybe you might wanna have a little jiggle, get comfortable, or maybe reposition yourself.

Okay, let's do this.

So apostrophes have two different purposes.

We've already looked at the apostrophes for contraction, used in informal, which is relaxed writing, when two words are pushed together (hands clapping) and a letter or letters are removed, and replaced with an apostrophe.

The other time we use apostrophes, are for singular possession.

This hopefully is something we've learned before and we're going to review it now.

This is used to show a singular noun possessing another noun.

Remember, a singular noun means there is only one.

A noun is a person, place, or thing.

So for example, my name is Mrs. Riley, that's a naming word for a person, so I'm a noun.

So I might say Mrs. Riley's glasses, my glasses are a thing, so they are also a noun.

So an apostrophe can be used to show possession when one noun, Mrs. Riley, owns or possesses another noun, Mrs. Riley's glasses.

To possess means to own something or for it to belong to you.

A bit like how I own my glasses or they belong to me.

Sometimes we have this action, grab for possession.

So clap for contraction (hands clapping) and grab for possession because possession is when you, something belongs to you or you own it, so imagine someone's got something of yours, and you are grabbing it back because you possess it or you own it.

Sometimes in our writing, we need to show that a singular noun owns another noun.

Without using an apostrophe, We would have to say this: This the stickers that belong to Izzy.

However, with an apostrophe for singular possession, we can identify the nouns and say this.

So the nouns are Izzy, that's the a singular noun, there's only one Izzy, and the stickers, that's the noun that she possesses, the things that belong to her.

So instead of saying, "Can you pass me the stickers that belong to Izzy," we could just say, "Can you pass me Izzy's stickers?" And we've used the apostrophe for possession to show that the stickers belong to Izzy.

It's much easier, isn't it? "Can you pass me the stickers that belong to Izzy? Can you pass me the glasses that belonged to Mrs. Riley?" Instead, we can just say, "Can you pass me Mrs. Riley's glasses?" An apostrophe for singular possession is used to show if a noun belongs to another singular noun, we usually add 's to the first nouns.

Jun's bowl, can you see? Jun is the first noun, that's his name, there's one of him, and the bowl is what belongs to him or what he possesses.

A lion's den.

The lion is the singular noun, and the den belongs to it.

We've got lion, 's den, the lion's den.

Now this one's interesting, Charles' job.

Now in the other two examples, we've got an 's but in this example we just have an apostrophe, and we'll look at that in a second.

So the singular noun is Jun, the lion, and Charles.

Then we have our 's, or with Charles, just an apostrophe, and then we have the bowl, den, and job, they're the noun, that the singular noun possesses or owns.

When the singular noun ends in the letter "s" like Charles, the name Charles ends in an "s," we do not add another "s" after the apostrophe for singular possession.

So we don't say Charles 's, we just have an apostrophe, that's just one of those things we have to learn.

So if you have a name like Ross, again, another name that ends in "s," you would just have an apostrophe, you wouldn't have 's.

Okay, let's check what we've learned.

What does possess mean? I gave you a clue there with my action.

A, to like, B to own, or C, to signal.

Pause the video now.

Well done, the correct answer is possess, means B, to own.

Let's look again at how an apostrophe shows possession, shows when you own something.

Here's a singular noun, whale.

Andeep, that's a name, and bag.

So they're all singular nouns, they're all the names of a thing or of a person.

Then we have our 's, and then we have the noun that the singular noun possesses or owns.

So perhaps before I show you, you could think of what that might be.

We could, for example, say, "The whale's eyes." Andeep's lunch, the bag's buckle.

Can you think of another example of what might belong to the whale, Andeep, or the bag? Have some thinking time.

Okay, let's have a look at these examples.

So we've got the whale's skin.

Andeep's calculator, and the bag's strap.

So again, instead of saying the skin that belongs to the whale, the calculator that belongs to Andeep, the strap that belongs to the bag, we can just use 's, to show that the second noun belongs to the first singular noun.

Whale's skin, Andeep's calculator, and the bag's strap.

These words are missing apostrophes for possession.

I would like you to look at each one and decide where should the missing apostrophe go? Let me read them to you.

The girls picture.

Aishas pencil.

The houses walls, so there's one house, singular house, and Mr. Jones desk.

Could you pause the video, and see if you could explain where the apostrophe should go in each example? Off you go.

Well done, let's go through each one.

So in the first example, the girl is the singular noun, and she owns the picture.

So we would put the apostrophe in between the "l" and the "s," the girl 's picture.

There's not lots of girls, there's just one girl, and we have the 's to show that the picture belongs to her.

Aisha's pencil, the house's walls, Mr. Jones' desk.

So that one was a little bit more difficult because in that example, Mr. Jones ends in the letter "s" so in that example, we haven't added an apostrophe and an "s," we've just added an apostrophe.

Well done if you spotted that one.

Let's identify whether the apostrophes in the following sentences are apostrophes for contraction or apostrophes for singular possession.

A, I can't go to the cinema later.

As I'm reading these, I want you to be thinking, look for the apostrophe, and then think, "is that there to show two words pushed together, contraction, or to show possession, that one noun belongs to another?" B, My brother's laptop is broken.

C, I'm starting my home learning in half an hour.

D, the classroom's chairs must be stacked.

If you want, you could pause the video if you want a little bit more thinking time.

Okay, let's go through each one.

So in the first one, the apostrophe is in the word, "can't." This is a contraction.

If we had the full word, it would be, I cannot go to the cinema, but we've shortened it to "can't." My brother's laptop is broken.

Now, this time, I haven't pushed two words together, but instead ,I'm showing that the laptop belongs to my brother.

So I've got this time, an apostrophe for possession.

In the third sentence, in C, the apostrophe is in the word, "I'm," I'm is short for I am, so this is contraction.

In D, the apostrophe is in the word "classroom's." The classroom's chairs, the chairs belong to the classroom.

So in this sentence, we've used an apostrophe to show possession.

Okay, let's check what we've just learned.

Is the apostrophe in each example showing contraction or singular possession? A, The school's pupils are very well behaved.

B, Ms. Douglas' child is now three years old.

C, You can't tell me it isn't fun! So pause the video, and for each one, I'd like you to say if the apostrophe is for contraction or singular possession.

And if you want, you could do the actions as well.

Off you go.

Okay, let's go through the answers.

So in the first one, A, the school's pupils.

School is a singular noun, so this shows singular possession, the pupils belong to the school.

In B, Ms. Douglas is a singular noun, so this shows singular possession.

The child belongs to Ms. Douglas.

And let me just quickly say with that one as well, In that example, remember, because Ms. Douglas, it ends, the singular noun ends in an "s" so in that one, we've just used an apostrophe.

You can't tell me it isn't fun! Can't, is cannot, push together to be a shorter version, and isn't, is, is not, pushed together, so both of these are contractions.

Okay, it's time for your last task of today's lesson.

I would like you to identify the apostrophes in these sentences.

I'd like you to then decide if it is an apostrophe for contraction, and if it is, I'd like you to write the letter C, or an apostrophe for singular possession, and if it is, you can write SP for singular possession.

Here are your sentences.

The woman's personal best time was 4 hours 32 minutes.

I still don't understand! Lucas' tickets had gone missing somewhere on the bus.

Sofia's game was very popular at lunch time.

I can see you're listening very well today.

So remember, first you're trying to find or identify the apostrophe, and then you are deciding if it's contraction or possession.

And you can either write next to it a C for contraction or SP for singular possession.

Pause the video now, and good luck with this last task.

Well done, let's go through the answers.

The "woman's" personal best time.

So the time belongs to the woman, so this is singular possession.

I still "don't" understand, don't is short for, do not, pushed together, so this is a contraction.

So we should have the letter C.

Lucas' tickets had gone missing.

The tickets belonged to Lucas.

So this is apostrophe for singular possession.

Sofia's game was very popular at lunch time.

Again, the game belongs to Sofia, so this is singular possession.

And finally, I can see "you're" listening very well today.

You're is short for, you are, pushed together.

So this is C, for contraction.

Well done if you got those correct, and well done for giving it a go.

Let's summarise what we've learned today.

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

Apostrophes for contraction, push two words together and are useful for informal, which means relaxed speaking and writing.

Apostrophes for possession can show if a noun belongs to another singular noun like this, these glasses belong to me, Mrs. Riley, and is useful to clarify what belongs to whom.

And finally, we add 's after the singular noun to show that it possesses another noun, unless the singular noun already ends in an "s" like the word Ross.

And then in that case, we would just add the apostrophe.

So well done, we've learnt a lot of rules today about apostrophes, and I hope they're really useful for when you are doing your writing, and you want to either use contractions or you want to use an apostrophe to show possession.

Perhaps, later on this week when you're reading, you you could be apostrophe hunters, and whenever you spot an apostrophe, you can think to yourself, "Hmm, is that apostrophe being used for contraction or possession?" So good luck being apostrophe hunters this week.

Well done, and thank you so much for learning with me today.