Possessive Nouns
Background Information & Activities

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Remind your children that a noun is a person, animal, place, thing, or idea. We recommend screening the Nouns movie for review. Explain to your children that to possess something means to have or own something. Possessive nouns show that a person, animal, place, thing, or idea has or owns something. This movie will explore different ways to make singular and plural nouns possessive by adding an apostrophe and an "s" at the end of a word, or just an apostrophe. You may wish to screen the Plural Nouns movie to review singular and plural nouns and discuss different irregular plural nouns before exploring this topic.

What is a noun? Guide your children to identify different people, animals, places, things, or ideas. Have students point out singular nouns, which name only one, and plural nouns, which name more than one. A possessive noun shows that a person, animal, place, thing, or idea has or owns something. Write the following sentence on the board: "Annie has black hair." Explain that Annie possesses, or has, black hair. So, you can rewrite the sentence with a possessive noun: "Annie's hair is black." Continue writing different sentences together. Some children may find a spelling pattern. To make a singular noun possessive, you can add an apostrophe (') and an s to the end of the word (i.e. "Moby's hat", "dog's tail", "a bird's wings").

Now write the following sentence on the board: "Carlos has a blue pen." How can you write the sentence with a possessive noun? "Carlos's pen is blue." If a singular noun ends in "s", you can still add an apostrophe and an "s". But, you can also just add an apostrophe at the end of the word: "Carlos' pen is blue." Work with different examples and have children write the possessive nouns both ways.

Remind your children that a plural noun names more than one. Many plural nouns end in "s", such as "picnics", "rakes", and "bushes". To make a plural noun possessive, simply add an apostrophe at the end of the word, after the final "s". Write the following sentence on the board: "The birds have black feathers." How can you write the sentence with a possessive noun? "The birds' feathers are black." Point out that the apostrophe comes after the final "s". Write more sentences with plural nouns together.

Some plural nouns do not end in "s", such as "children", "women", and "sheep". To make them possessive, you can add an apostrophe and an "s" to the end of the word: "children's books", "women's bathroom", and "sheep's coat". Brainstorm more plural nouns that do not end in "s" together and create possessive forms.

Forming possessive nouns may be challenging or confusing for some children. However, many children use possessive nouns without even realizing it. Exposing early readers to a print-rich environment and introducing new vocabulary help children find patterns and exceptions in spelling and empower young students.

Possessive Nouns Teacher Activities – Click Here!

Possessive Nouns Family Activities – Click Here!

Possessive Nouns Teacher Activities

© 1999-2009 BrainPOP. All rights reserved.

Elephant in the Room

Ask your students "What is an elephant like?" You may wish to show a picture of an elephant that students can use as reference. Have student volunteers answer the question in a complete sentence either in words, on the board, or in their notebooks. Then together as a class, rewrite the sentence using a possessive noun. For example, a student might say, "An elephant has big ears." You can rewrite the sentence as, "An elephant's ears are big." You can continue the activity with other animals or objects.

Plurals

Have small groups or partners brainstorm different plural nouns together. Make sure students come up with plural nouns that end in "s" and those that do not end in "s". Then have a student use the word to create a possessive plural noun and another partner can use the word in a sentence. For example, if a partner brainstorms the word "butterflies", another partner can write "butterflies’ wings", and another partner can write, "Butterflies’ wings are colorful." Encourage students to look over each other's work and share their sentences with other groups.

Possessive Nouns Family Activities

© 1999-2009 BrainPOP. All rights reserved.

Personal Property

Walk through your home together and identify different items together. Who does the item belong to? Encourage your child to answer the question in a complete sentence and make a label to hang up near the item. "This is my parents’ room." Have your child underline all possessive nouns. Make sure you check for proper spelling and punctuation.

Say It Again, Sam

Write a sentence and read it together out loud, such as "The paws of the dog are big." Have your child rewrite or retell the sentence using a possessive noun: "The dog's paws are big." This activity will help your child learn how sentences can be written in different ways as well as practice forming possessive nouns. How might using a possessive noun make sentences clearer or simpler? You may want to challenge your child by writing a sentence with two possessive nouns: "Moby's dog's collar is gone!"