English Spelling & Word Studyusually ages 6–8

Apostrophes for possession

Use the possessive apostrophe with singular nouns to show ownership (e.g., the girl's book, the dog's bone)

How to tell they’ve got it

Tick these off as you see them — no test required.

Write 'the cat's tail' to show the tail belongs to the cat
Distinguish plural -s ('the cats ran') from possessive 's ('the cat's bed') in writing
Add a possessive apostrophe to a singular noun in a dictated sentence

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Try this together

When your child writes something belonging to one person or thing — like "the dog's lead" or "the girl's bag" — do they put the apostrophe in the right place?

Where this sits on the map

Stuck here? Check the skills it builds on first. Confident? Here’s what it unlocks.

Builds on

Regular Plural Nounsages 5–6Must understand plural -s before distinguishing possessive 's

Basic Nouns & Verbsages 5–6Understanding nouns supports identifying what can be possessive

Spelling Contracted Formsages 6–7Understanding apostrophe in contractions helps understand its use in possession

Apostrophes for possessionthis skill · ages 6–8

Unlocks

Apostrophes: Contraction and Possessionages 6–7Must understand possessive apostrophe to use it in writing

Apostrophes for possession (age 7+)ages 7–10Plural possessive apostrophe builds on singular possessive apostrophe

Plural vs Possessive in Nounsages 8–9Builds on singular possessive apostrophe to contrast with plural -s

solid = must come firstdashed = helps

Curriculum alignment

Candidate matches to official curriculum codes — machine-suggested, unreviewed (v0.1).

Show candidate curriculum codes · 1 ACARA · 1 VIC

Australian Curriculum v9 candidate

AC9E3LA11medium confidenceYear 3 · Language

understand that apostrophes signal missing letters in contractions, and apostrophes are used to show singular and plural possession

Victorian Curriculum 2.0 codes & levels only

VC2E3LA12medium confidenceEnglish · Level 3 · Language strand

These are candidate alignments generated by semantic matching — machine-suggested and unreviewed (v0.1), not official or verified mappings. For official curriculum content see australiancurriculum.edu.au, curriculum.nsw.edu.au and f10.vcaa.vic.edu.au. Don’t rely on them for registration or compliance purposes.

Nearby on the map

Alternative Spellings for Soundsages 6–9 Spelling Contracted Formsages 6–7 Suffixesages 6–7 Apostrophes for possession (age 7+)ages 7–10

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