Year 6 · SPaG · Spring: Apostrophes and speech
Year 6 apostrophes for possession worksheet and PowerPoint
To use an apostrophe to show possession with singular nouns, regular plurals and irregular plurals.
Apostrophes for belonging
An apostrophe can show that something belongs to someone. Where it goes depends on whether there is one owner or more than one.
| one owner | add ’s: the girl’s coat (one girl) |
|---|---|
| many owners ending in s | add ’ after the s: the girls’ coats (two or more girls) |
| many owners not ending in s | add ’s: the children’s coats, the women’s team |
| never | do not use an apostrophe to make a plural: apples, not apple’s |
Examples
- the teacher’s desk (one teacher)
- the teachers’ meeting (more than one teacher)
Key words
- possession
- owning something
- singular
- one
- plural
- more than one
- irregular plural
- a plural that does not end in s, such as children
What is on the worksheet
Every sheet for this lesson has a short teaching box and 12 questions that get gradually harder: 8 fluency questions, then 4 reasoning questions that ask pupils to explain or choose. A writing challenge follows. The questions use the same styles as the key stage 2 grammar and punctuation test (circle, underline, tick, fill the gap, add punctuation, rewrite, explain). They are written for this website, not copied from past papers.
All the answers are on the last page of the same editable Word file. New questions are made every time, so you can print a different sheet for every group or for homework. The same sheet code always gives the same sheet.
Writing challenge: Look around your classroom and write ten sentences about things that belong to people: use singular owners, regular plurals and irregular plurals.
Pupil target: I can use apostrophes to show who owns something.
The PowerPoint
A 20-slide lesson deck for the same lesson: a starter that revisits earlier learning, key words, an I do and a You do question on each slide with a countdown timer, answers that appear one click at a time, and a challenge. Download the apostrophes for possession PowerPoint.
Where this lesson fits
This is lesson 38 of 72 in the Year 6 SPaG scheme, in the Spring term, block “Apostrophes and speech”. It is taught before the SATs grammar test in May.
Other lessons in this block
- Apostrophes for missing letters
- Apostrophes: putting it all together
- Punctuating direct speech
- Direct and reported speech
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