Virginia SOL 3.LU.2.B

ELA3rd GradeLanguage Usage

The Standard

Use apostrophes to form contractions and frequently occurring possessions in writing.

Virginia Standards of Learning for English · Mechanics

Teacher's field guide

What Students Need to Do: Students place apostrophes correctly when shortening two words into one. They also use apostrophes to show that a person, animal, or thing owns something. They tell these forms apart from regular plural nouns.
What Mastery Looks Like: Students correctly write common contractions such as “don’t,” “can’t,” and “we’re.” They use possessive forms such as “the girl’s book” and “the dogs’ bowls.” They can explain what the apostrophe shows in each example.
Common Misconceptions: Students often put an apostrophe in every word ending in s. They may place the apostrophe where two words join instead of where letters are missing. They also confuse contractions such as “it’s” with possessives such as “its.”
How to Assess It: Give students four items: do not, the dog’s leash, cannot, and three cats. Ask them to write each correctly and explain whether it shows missing letters, ownership, or neither.

Lesson moves

Give pairs word cards and apostrophe tiles; students join “do not” into “don’t” and label classroom objects as “teacher’s chair.”
Ask students to write two sentences, one with a contraction and one showing ownership, then explain each apostrophe to a partner.
Play apostrophe bingo with cards showing contractions, possessives, and plain plurals; students cover only the form called by the teacher.
Students inspect a school flyer or lunch menu, circle apostrophes, and label each one “missing letters” or “ownership.”

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