Georgia 3.L.GC.1.18

ELA3rd GradeGrammar, Usage, & Mechanics

The Standard

Mechanics: Use apostrophes to form contractions and singular possessive nouns. (Master)

Georgia's K-12 English Language Arts Standards · Language (L) · Grammar Conventions

Teacher's field guide

What Students Need to Do: Students use apostrophes to shorten two words into one, such as “cannot” becoming “can’t.” They also use an apostrophe and s to show that one person, animal, place, or thing owns something.
What Mastery Looks Like: Students correctly write common contractions and can name the two words being combined. They place an apostrophe before the possessive s to show that one person, animal, place, or thing owns something.
Common Misconceptions: Students often place the apostrophe where letters were removed instead of where they belong in the contraction. They may also add apostrophes to regular plurals or write a possessive noun like “dogs” instead of “dog’s.”
How to Assess It: Give this exit ticket: Rewrite “do not” as a contraction, then rewrite “the collar of the dog” using a singular possessive noun. Ask students to circle each apostrophe.

Lesson moves

Give pairs word cards such as “can” and “not,” then have students combine them and replace missing letters with an apostrophe.
Ask students to explain how the apostrophe has a different job in “she’s” and “Maria’s backpack.”
Play an apostrophe sort with sentence cards labeled contraction, singular possessive, or no apostrophe needed.
Have students examine classroom labels and signs, then correct apostrophe errors in examples such as “student’s desks” and “dont enter.”

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A ready-to-print activity worksheet aligned to 3.L.GC.1.18, with an answer key for the teacher on its own page. No account needed.

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