Possessive Nouns for First Graders: Theory and Practice

Written by Lori Toney, English teacher, educational writer and mother of three school children

Learning grammar in the first grade is such a tough task for little learners! Not only do they have to grasp the specifics about the language they speak, but they are also expected to master reading and writing simultaneously, all while trying to connect these skills together. 

One notoriously difficult concept for first graders to master is possessive nouns. Confusion often stems from learning to use apostrophes in a new way, and the difference between singular and plural forms. Even adults struggle with knowing where to put the apostrophe, and what to do when the word naturally ends in the letter “s”. 

The best way to tackle this tricky skill is to face it head on and practice as much as possible! Keep reading to discover all the resources that Kids Academy offers to help your first grader master possessive nouns.

What Are Possessive Nouns?

It may seem obvious that possessive nouns are words that show possession or ownership, but there are different types of possessive nouns that make learning about them so tough:

• Singular possessive nouns: indicates one person, animal, or thing and needs an –‘s ending, with the apostrophe appearing before the -s: e.g. Tom’s, baby’s.

• Plural nouns ending in-s-: possession that belongs to a group of people, animals, or things, so the apostrophe follows the -s, such as in the words “cats’” to indicate something that belongs to a group of cats: e.g. cats’, friends’, the Jonsons’.

• Irregular plural nouns: these are words that have plural versions that don’t end in -s, such words use an apostrophe and an added -s  to show group possession. E.g.:

• • Child 🡪Children🡪Children’s
  • Man🡪Men🡪Men’s
  • Person🡪People🡪People’s

If this sounds confusing to understand, let alone to teach, then look no further than this video by Kids Academy.

This teacher-led tutorial breaks down possessive noun forms and apostrophe placement in an easy-to-understand way that makes the concept very clear for young learners. It also walks kids through this Bubble Grammar worksheet to provide a full, modeled lesson that reinforces the ideas taught earlier in the video. Best of all, the teacher explains what makes an irregular possessive noun irregular and why those words require an apostrophe before the “s”, even though those words are plural. 

More Resources to Master Possessive Nouns

After introducing the concept using video lesson and its companion worksheet, it’s time for students to practice, practice, practice! The best way for children to master this grammar skill is to gain as much exposure to it as possible. For that, Kids Academy offers a series of interactive drill worksheets. These activities can be viewed as drills that offer short, quick exercises that learners can complete in a quick succession to gain competency and speed as they practice. 

These exercises are categorized into several types of activities and progress in difficulty as learners work through them: 

• Identifying and counting singular nouns in a group 
• Finding and creating possessive nouns
• Completing the sentence in multiple difficulty levels
• Sorting between singular and plural possessive nouns

Each exercise grouping is packed with dozens of bite-sized worksheets that children can work on to increase competency and understanding. They can be downloaded and printed as traditional worksheets or completed online right within your web browser! 

Finally, it will be time to assess whether your budding grammarian has mastered possessive nouns once and for all. This would be a great time to use this quiz and decide if your child needs more practice.

The quiz provides a brief assessment that tests recognition and knowledge of singular and plural nouns, as well as possessive nouns. This can be completed online in the web browser, or the quiz can be assigned to students in Kids Academy Classroom. 

Of course, there is much more to grammar than just possessive nouns! To find more teacher-led lessons, worksheets, and quizzes that cover a variety of crucial grammar skills, head to our website at www.kidsacademy.mobi, or open the Kids Academy Classroom web app!