Wondering how to teach plural possessive nouns’ rules? It’s tricky, but you can do it! First, kids must remember to write the entire word. Second, they add just an apostrophe to words that already end in s. For words that don’t end in s, they add an apostrophe and an s. Third, they practice writing phrases. And finally, they move to mixed practice that includes singular possessive nouns.
Posts on this website follow a teaching journey and are written in story form.
Ms. Sneed Explains How Teach Plural Possessive Nouns
Our favorite fourth grade teacher sat at the side table with her student teacher. “You did a great job teaching singular possessive nouns today,” she said to him. “Now it’s time to prepare for the plural form.”
Mr. Grow sighed. “Thanks. Your suggestions really helped. I had kids write the nouns first, then they added the punctuation. What a successful strategy!”
Plural Possessive Nouns’ Rules Include Two Endings
“We’ll continue with that same strategy today. Students, however, must choose between two endings. For plural nouns that already end in s, they just add an apostrophe. If the word doesn’t end in s, however, they must add an apostrophe and an s.”
“Yes, I can see that might be confusing,” Mr. Grow commented.
Adding Endings to Printed Words
“That’s why we use the same process that we did today. First, kids simply add the endings to printed words. Second, they copy words letter-by-letter and add the endings. Only then are they ready to write phrases.”
For Plural Nouns Ending in S, Add an Apostrophe to Make it Possessive
Ms. Sneed took out a list words ending in s. “Once again, we begin simply. For this list, kids simply add apostrophes to the create plural possessive nouns.”
Mr. Grow nodded. “A day ago, I thought this was silly,” he said, “but now I can see that it helps kids understand that endings always come after the original noun. Furthermore, it’s a really quick activity. So why not?”
For Plural Nouns Not Ending in S, Add an Apostrophe and S to Make It Possessive
Next, Ms. Sneed pulled out a list of plural nouns that did not end in s. “To make these possessive,” she said, “kids must add an apostrophe and an s.”
“Wow,” said Mr. Grow. “I just realized something. To make these plural nouns possessive, you can just add an apostrophe. Otherwise, there’s no s sound indicated.”
“Right, this situation is the exception to the rule.”
Rewriting the Word, Then Adding the Correct Ending
From her folder, Ms. Sneed took out another worksheet. “More of the same,” she said. “Usually, I don’t believe in MOTS. But in this case, it’s absolutely necessary. Kids copy each plural noun. Then they make them possessive by adding ‘ or ‘s.”
“Most of the time, kids can handle mixed practice – some words ending in s, some not.”
“And if they can’t handle it, I know what to do.” Mr. Grow smiled. Minute by minute, he felt more confident about teaching this skill.
Writing Plural Possessive Nouns from Phrases
Finally, Ms. Sneed took a worksheet with phrases from her folder. “After today’s practice with singular possessive nouns,” she said, “they shouldn’t have as much trouble with plural possessive noun phrases. In any case, they should understand which word gets an ending.”
“So that’s it for tomorrow’s instruction?” asked Mr. Grow.
Ms. Sneed nodded. “Right. The following day, we’ll pull it all together.”
Mixed Practice – And Back to the Drawing Board
From another folder, Ms. Sneed pulled mixed practice. “These worksheets are similar,” she said. “However, they include both singular and plural possessive nouns. Some kids will be able to discriminate between the two and complete these pages with no trouble. Others, however, will need remediation. Then it’s back to the drawing board.”
When she saw the look on Mr. Grow’s face, the mentor smiled. “Don’t worry,” she said. “It’s not as bad as it seems. The remedial group will already be half-way to conceptualization. We’ll just pull them to the side during our ELA block and reteach.”
Enjoy Teaching
Mr. Grow sat back in his chair and took a deep breath. “Thanks for explaining this to me. With these strategies, I know I can be successful when teaching plural possessive nouns’ rules.”
