•
•
•
PL
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SA
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Only one in every 100 ancient Egyptians could read or write. Those who could were
Scribes and those men studied for four to five years to learn hieroglyphics. Ammon is still
training to be a scribe, and is having difficulty with his possessive apostrophes. To help
him learn their correct use, follow the instructions below.
!
Q1
In the space provided, circle each time Ammon has forgotten an apostrophe or used it
incorrectly, and re-write the sentence correctly in the space provided.
PL
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1. Egyptian’s believe that the Earth is flat and that the River Nile runs through the centre of it.
2. Without the River Nile, Egypts entire surface would be desert.
SA
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3. Papyrus is valued for it’s use as a writing surface. It’s paired with reed brushes dipped in ink.
4. Egyptian slave’s roles include house servant, musician, accountant
and dancer.
5. Canopic jar’s are used to store mummified remains.
Q2
!
Aid Ammon in identifying how many owners and objects each phrase contains. Shade
one ‘owners’ bubble and one ‘objects’ bubble for each question. Read the example and
explanation below to assist you.
Example
Isis’ power:
Single Owner
PL
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Owner Object
Multiple Owners
Single Object
Multiple Objects
There is one person (Isis) so there is a single owner, she has one possession (power), so there
is a single object.
!
Questions
1. The scribe’s brushes:
Multiple Owners
Single Object
SA
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Single Owner
Multiple Objects
2. The slaves’ duties:
Single Owner
Multiple Owners
Single Object
Multiple Objects
Multiple Owners
Single Object
Multiple Objects
Multiple Owners
Single Object
Multiple Objects
Multiple Owners
Single Object
Multiple Objects
Multiple Owners
Single Object
Multiple Objects
3. The Egyptians’ land:
Single Owner
4. Osiris’ daughters:
Single Owner
5. Egypt’s belief system:
Single Owner
6. The dancers’ stage:
Single Owner
Egyptians wrote with a language of pictures called hieroglyphics. Only those who
have studied ancient texts for many years can translate them to English. Become a
historian and transform the following phrases...
!
Q1
Re-write the following sentences, so that they include an apostrophe indicating
possession. Look at the example below for assistance.
2. Nerferti owns three large horses.
PL
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1. Hathor has a gold staff that is valuable.
3. The Pharaoh has an extremely short temper.
SA
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4. Everyone notices that Anuket has a large head.
5. The temple has many dark secrets hidden away.
Q1
Draw lines to link each pronoun with its possessive form, and transform their meaning.
Me
Ours
Us
Hers
Him
Theirs
You
Mine
It
Its
Her
Yours
Them
His
Ancient Egyptian documents are fragile and often disintegrate over time. Aid
Professor Jones, a modern-day historian, in decoding these ancient Egyptian texts by
identifying the correct pronoun.
Fill in the missing possessive pronouns from the following Egyptian phrases, in order to
complete the crossword puzzle.
!
Q1
PL
E
1.
2.
2.
SA
M
3.
Tip
4.
5.
If you get stuck with any of the
questions, use the crossword to
help you! Plus, the number of
blank spaces indicates the
number of letters in the word.
Across:
1. Ask Hessut, I think the reed is
2. Yes it’s
, we share it.
4. We had food at night, but the children from the Nile
ate
earlier.
5. It’s not mine... I don’t know
it is.
Down:
1. Others left their robes at home, but Isis wore
2. Wheat is scarce, I recommend getting
possible.
3. Give that back! It’s
.
proudly.
as soon as
!
Q2
Read the following phrases and identify whether each bolded word is a contraction, or
indicates possession. Shade the speech bubble you believe is correct.
Contraction!
Possession!
4. Every ancient Egyptian temple was dedicated
to a specific god or goddess, wherein they’d be
worshipped by priests and the pharaoh.
PL
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1. Ancient Egyptians didn’t just bury their dead,
they developed a method of preservation
that ensured corpses would remain lifelike.
SA
M
2. Pyramids were built as tombs for their most
important rulers and they were large enough to
hold all of the Pharaoh's possessions upon his
death.
Contraction!
Possession!
5. The majority of Egyptians couldn’t read or
write.
Contraction!
Contraction!
Possession!
Possession!
3. It was a slave’s duty to remain loyal and
obedient to their master.
Contraction!
Possession!
Tip
A contraction is a shortened
word, or the combination of two
separate words. Missing letters
are replaced with apostrophes.
For example, ‘It is a lovely day
today’ becomes ‘It’s a lovely
day today’ .
PL
E
SA
M
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•
•
Firstly, thank you for your support of Mighty Minds and our resources. We endeavour to create highquality resources that are both educational and engaging, and results have shown that this approach
works.
About this resource
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To assist you in using this resource, we have compiled some brief tips and reminders below.
This Mighty Minds ‘Fundamentals’ Lesson focusses on one subtopic from the NAPLAN Tests and
presents this skill through a theme from the Australian Curriculum (History, Science or Geography).
This lesson is also targeted at a certain skill level, to ensure that your students are completing work
that is suited to them.
How to use this resource
Our ‘Fundamentals’ Lessons are split into two main sections, each of which contain different types of
resources.
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The student workbook contains
• The main title page; and
• The blank student worksheets for students to complete.
The teacher resources section contains
• This set of instructions;
• The Teacher’s Guide, which offers information that may be needed to teach the lesson;
• The Item Description, which gives a brief overview of the lesson and its aims, as well as extension
ideas;
• The student answer sheets, which show model responses on the student worksheets to ensure
that answers to the questions are clear;
• The teacher’s answer sheets, which provide a more detailed explanation of the model responses
or answers; and
• Finally, the ‘end of lesson’ marker.
We suggest that you print the student workbook (the first set of pages) for the students. If students
are completing this lesson for homework, you may also like to provide them with the student answer
pages.
Feedback and contacting us
We love feedback. Our policy is that if you email us with suggested changes to any lesson, we will
complete those changes and send you the revised lesson – free of charge.
Just send your feedback to [email protected] and we’ll get back to you as soon as we
can.
PL
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Possessive form remains one of the most commonly confused areas of grammar in the English
language. All too often, students use apostrophes in plurals or personal pronouns, and fail to use
apostrophes properly in words that actually require them. The rules of when and when not to use
possessive apostrophes must be explicitly taught and practiced so that they become second nature to
students.
Plurals
When you have a plural form of a noun, it means you have more than one. For most nouns, this
means simply adding an ‘s’ , ‘es’ or ‘ies’ on the end.
E.g.
one giraffe  two giraffes
one beach  two beaches
one family  two families
Apostrophes are never required in plurals!
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Apostrophe ‘s’
Apostrophes show possession and ownership. When a single noun is the owner of something, the
apostrophe comes before the ‘s’. When a plural noun is the owner of something, the apostrophe
comes after the ‘s’.
E.g.
my best friend’s parents
my three friends’ parents
In the case of irregular plural verbs, like women and children, the apostrophe comes before the s.
E.g.
the children’s school
When you have a name that already ends in ‘s’, you can choose whether you want to simply place
the apostrophe after the first ‘s’ and drop the second ‘s’ as it isn’t pronounced; or place the
apostrophe after the first ‘s’ and still include the second ‘s’. The preferred method is to drop the
second ‘s’.
E.g.
the Marris’s house
the Marris’ house
Possessive Pronouns
Pronouns are words used to substitute nouns, such as ‘they’, ‘her’, ‘him’ etc. In the case of
possessive pronouns, like ‘his’, ‘hers’, ‘ours’, ‘theirs’ etc., apostrophes are never used to show
ownership.
E.g.
his car
that guitar is theirs
Its/It’s
These two words are commonly confused. ‘It’s’ with an apostrophe is the contraction for ‘it is’, while
‘its’ is the possessive pronoun that means ‘belonging to it’.
Item Description
Please note: any activity that is not completed during class time may be set for homework or
undertaken at a later date.
•
Activity Description:
•
•
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This lesson contains three activities of increasing complexity centering around possessive
apostrophes and pronouns.
In the first activity, students will be required to identify the incorrect use of possessive
apostrophes, locate words missing appropriate possessive apostrophes and correct these
errors. They will then identify the number of ‘Owners’ and ‘Objects’ in a phrase, in order to
familiarise themselves with the correct use of possessive apostrophes applied to singular
and plural nouns.
In the second activity, students will rewrite given sentences in order to correctly use
possessive apostrophes and to link pronouns with their possessive form.
The third activity requires students to fill in missing possessive pronouns, in order to
complete a crossword puzzle. They will then have to distinguish between apostrophes used
to create contractions, and those used to indicate possession.
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•
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‘Ammon’s Apostrophes’, ‘Lost in Translation’ and ‘Possessive
Puzzles’
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Purpose of Activity:
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KLAs:
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English, History
CCEs:
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To convey to students the appropriate and accurate use of possessive
apostrophes and pronouns.
Recognising letters, words and other symbols (α1)
Interpreting the meaning of words or other symbols (α4)
Interpreting the meaning of pictures/ illustrations (α5)
Analysing (θ43)
Using correct spelling, punctuation, grammar (π9)
Suggested Time Allocation:
•
This lesson is designed to take approximately an hour to complete – 20 minutes per
activity.
This Item Description is continued on the next page...
Item Description – continued
…This Item Description is continued from the previous page.
•
Teaching Notes:
•
•
•
Some revision of nouns, verbs, pronouns and adjectives may be required before beginning
the lesson.
It would be beneficial to introduce the topic and briefly explicate the correct use of
possessive pronouns and apostrophes before handing out the worksheet.
After the students have completed each activity, go through the answers as a class.
Encourage discussion of the model responses and how students’ answers varied from
these responses.
Follow Up/ Class Discussion Questions:
•
•
Discuss the different cultural elements of ancient Egypt.
What influences did the ancient Egyptians have on the modern world?
SA
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•
PL
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‘Ammon’s Apostrophes’, ‘Lost in Translation’ and ‘Possessive
Puzzles’
Only one in every 100 ancient Egyptians could read or write. Those who could were
Scribes and those men studied for four to five years to learn hieroglyphics. Ammon is still
training to be a scribe, and is having difficulty with his possessive apostrophes. To help
him learn their correct use, follow the instructions below.
!
Q1
In the space provided, circle each time Ammon has forgotten an apostrophe or used it
incorrectly, and re-write the sentence correctly in the space provided.
PL
E
1. Egyptian’s believe that the Earth is flat and that the River Nile runs through the centre of it.
Egyptians believe that the Earth is flat and that the River Nile
runs through the centre of it.
2. Without the River Nile, Egypts entire surface would be desert.
Without the River Nile, Egypt’s entire surface would be desert.
SA
M
3. Papyrus is valued for it’s use as a writing surface. It’s paired with reed brushes dipped in ink.
Papyrus is valued for its use as a writing surface. It’s paired with
reed brushes dipped in ink.
4. Egyptian slave’s roles include house servant, musician, accountant
and dancer.
Egyptian slaves’ roles include house servant, musician,
accountant and dancer.
5. Canopic jar’s are used to store mummified remains.
Canopic jars are used to store
mummified remains.
Q2
!
Aid Ammon in identifying how many owners and objects each phrase contains. Shade
one ‘owners’ bubble and one ‘objects’ bubble for each question. Read the example and
explanation below to assist you.
Example
Isis’ power:
Single Owner
PL
E
Owner Object
Multiple Owners
Single Object
Multiple Objects
There is one person (Isis) so there is a single owner, she has one possession (power), so there
is a single object.
!
Questions
1. The scribe’s brushes:
Multiple Owners
Single Object
SA
M
Single Owner
Multiple Objects
2. The slaves’ duties:
Single Owner
Multiple Owners
Single Object
Multiple Objects
Multiple Owners
Single Object
Multiple Objects
Multiple Owners
Single Object
Multiple Objects
Multiple Owners
Single Object
Multiple Objects
Multiple Owners
Single Object
Multiple Objects
3. The Egyptians’ land:
Single Owner
4. Osiris’ daughters:
Single Owner
5. Egypt’s belief system:
Single Owner
6. The dancers’ stage:
Single Owner
Ammon’s Apostrophes
Question One:
Students were required to identify the incorrect use of possessive apostrophes, locate words missing
appropriate possessive apostrophes and correct these errors.
PL
E
1. Egyptian’s believe that the Earth is flat and that the River Nile runs through the centre of it.
In this case, ‘Egyptian’s’ did not require an apostrophe, as it wasn’t indicating possession.
The correct sentence should read as follows:
Egyptians believe that the Earth is flat and that the River Nile runs through the centre
of it.
2. Without the River Nile, Egypts entire surface would be desert.
A possessive apostrophe was necessary to illustrate that the surface belonged to Egypt ‘Egypt’s entire surface’.
The correct sentence should read as follows:
Without the River Nile, Egypt’s entire surface would be desert.
SA
M
1. Papyrus is valued for it’s use as a writing surface . It’s paired with reed brushes dipped in ink.
Both a correct and incorrect use of ‘It’s’ was included in this sentence to encourage students
to distinguish between the two. ‘It’s use’ was incorrect, despite indicating possession, a
possessive apostrophe is never used for the word ‘its’. The second instance of ‘it’s’ is a
contraction for ‘it is’ and appeared in its correct form.
The correct sentence should read as follows:
Papyrus is valued for its use as a writing surface. It’s paired with
reed brushes dipped in ink.
2. Egyptian slave’s roles include house servant, musician, accountant and dancer.
Although an apostrophe should have been present to indicate the slaves’ ownership of their
roles, plural nouns with a pre-existing ending of ‘s’ need an apostrophe after the word.
The correct sentence should read as follows:
Egyptian slaves’ roles include house servant, musician, accountant and dancer.
3. Canopic jar’s are used to store mummified remains.
Jars did not require an apostrophe as it did not indicate possession.
The correct sentence should read as follows:
Canopic jars are used to store mummified remains.
This answer guide is continued on the next page...
...This answer guide is continued from the previous page.
Question Two:
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Students were required to identify whether a phrase contained singular or multiple owners and
objects. In doing so, they were practicing the correct use for possessive apostrophes when applied to
singular and plural nouns.
1. The scribe’s brushes.
As ‘scribe’ is a singular noun, an apostrophe that indicates possession was coupled with an
added ‘s’. ‘Brushes’ is a plural noun. As such, there was a Single Owner and Multiple Objects.
2. The slaves’ duties.
As ‘slaves’ is a plural noun, the possessive apostrophe was positioned after the pre-existing
‘s’. ‘Duties’ is a plural noun. As such, there were Multiple Owners and Multiple Objects.
3. The Egyptian’s land.
As ‘Egyptians’ is a plural noun, the possessive apostrophe was positioned after the preexisting ‘s’. ‘Land’ is a singular noun, indicating that many Egyptians shared one space. As
such, there were Multiple Owners and a Single Object.
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4. Osiris’ daughters.
In this case, ‘Osiris’ is a singular noun, but as it ended in ‘s’ the possessive apostrophe was
positioned at the end of the word. ‘Daughters’ is a singular noun. As such, there was a Single
Owner and Multiple Objects
5. Egypt’s belief system.
As ‘Egypt’ is a singular noun, referring to the country as a singular being, an apostrophe that
indicated possession was coupled with an added ‘s. ‘Belief system’ is also a singular noun. As
such, there was a Singular Owner and a Singular Object.
6. The dancers’ stage.
As ‘dancers’ is a plural noun, the possessive apostrophe was positioned after the pre-existing
‘s’. ‘Stage’ is a singular noun, indicating that several dancers were sharing one stage. As
such, there were Multiple Owners and a Singular Object.
© 2012. Mighty Minds Educational Systems Pty. Ltd. This material is not associated with or endorsed by the Curriculum Corporation. (******, 2012)
Egyptians wrote with a language of pictures called hieroglyphics. Only those who
have studied ancient texts for many years can translate them to English. Become a
historian and transform the following phrases...
!
Q1
Re-write the following sentences, so that they include an apostrophe indicating
possession. Look at the example below for assistance.
Hathor’s gold staff is valuable.
2. Nerferti owns three large horses.
PL
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1. Hathor has a gold staff that is valuable.
Nerferti’s three horses are large.
3. The Pharaoh has an extremely short temper.
The Pharaoh’s temper is extremely short.
4. Everyone notices that Anuket has a large head.
SA
M
Everyone notices Anuket’s large head.
5. The temple has many dark secrets hidden away.
The Temple’s many dark secrets are hidden away.
Q1
Draw lines to link each pronoun with its possessive form, and transform their meaning.
Me
Ours
Us
Hers
Him
Theirs
You
Mine
It
Its
Her
Yours
Them
His
Lost in Translation
Question One:
Students were required to rewrite given sentences in order to correctly use possessive apostrophes.
PL
E
1. Hathor has a gold staff that is valuable.
As the gold staff belonged to Hathor, the ‘s had to be placed after his name to indicate his
ownership.
The correct sentence is as follows:
Hathor’s gold staff is valuable.
2. Nerferti owns three large horses.
As the three horses belonged to Nerferti, ‘s must have be placed after her name to indicate her
ownership of them.
The correct sentence is as follows:
Nerferti’s three horses are large.
SA
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3. The Pharaoh has an extremely short temper.
As the Pharaoh’s temper was his possession, ‘s should have been placed after the Pharoah’s title
to indicate his ownership of the trait.
The correct sentence is as follows:
The Pharaoh’s temper is extremely short.
4. Everyone notices that Anuket has a large head.
As the head was on Anuket’s body and was thereby his possession, ‘s should have been placed
after his name to indicate ownership.
The correct sentence is as follows:
Everyone notices Anuket’s large head.
5. The temple has many dark secrets hidden away.
As the dark secrets were hidden away in the temple, ‘s should have been placed after the word
‘temple’ to indicate ownership.
The correct sentence is as follows:
The temple’s dark secrets are hidden away.
Question Two:
Students were required to link pronouns with their possessive form. Solutions are on the following
page.
Question Two (cont’d):
Students should have made the following matches:
Ours
Us
Him
You
It
Her
SA
M
Them
PL
E
Me
Hers
Theirs
Mine
Its
Yours
His
Ancient Egyptian documents are fragile and often disintegrate over time. Aid
Professor Jones, a modern-day historian, in decoding these ancient Egyptian texts by
identifying the correct pronoun.
Fill in the missing possessive pronouns from the following Egyptian phrases, in order to
complete the crossword puzzle.
!
Q1
H
I
S
PL
E
1.
E
2.
2.
Y
O
R
U
R
S
U
3.
R
SA
M
M
4.
T
H
E
I
R
S
N
5.
W
H
O
S
Tip
If you get stuck with any of the
questions, use the crossword to
help you! Plus, the number of
blank spaces indicates the
number of letters in the word.
E
Across:
1. Ask Hessut, I think the reed is h i s
2. Yes it’s o u r s , we share it.
4. We had food at night, but the children from the Nile
ate t h e i r s earlier.
5. It’s not mine... I don’t know w h o s e it is.
Down:
1. Others left their robes at home, but Isis wore h e r s proudly.
2. Wheat is scarce, I recommend getting y o u r s as soon as
possible.
3. Give that back! It’s m i n e .
!
Q2
Read the following phrases and identify whether each bolded word is a contraction, or
indicates possession. Shade the speech bubble you believe is correct.
Contraction!
Possession!
4. Every ancient Egyptian temple was dedicated
to a specific god or goddess, wherein they’d be
worshipped by priests and the pharaoh.
PL
E
1. Ancient Egyptians didn’t just bury their dead,
they developed a method of preservation
that ensured corpses would remain lifelike.
SA
M
2. Pyramids were built as tombs for their most
important rulers and they were large enough to
hold all of the Pharaoh's possessions upon his
death.
Contraction!
Possession!
5. The majority of Egyptians couldn’t read or
write.
Contraction!
Contraction!
Possession!
Possession!
3. It was a slave’s duty to remain loyal and
obedient to their master.
Contraction!
Possession!
Tip
A contraction is a shortened
word, or the combination of two
separate words. Missing letters
are replaced with apostrophes.
For example, ‘It is a lovely day
today’ becomes ‘It’s a lovely
day today’ .
Possessive Puzzles
Question One:
Students were required to fill in missing possessive pronouns through the identification of implied
owners and objects in fragments of texts, to complete a crossword.
PL
E
Across:
1. Ask Hessut, I think the reed is _ _ _ .
In this case, the correct answer was his, as the owner had been identified as a singular male
and possession of the reed was indicated.
2. Yes it’s _ _ _ _, we share it.
The correct answer in this instance was ours, as possession of the unknown object had been
indicated, there were multiple owners, and the narrator had been identified as one of these
owners.
3. We had food at night, but the children from the Nile ate _ _ _ _ _ _ earlier.
In this case, the correct answer was theirs, as possession of the food was indicated, there
were multiple owners, and the narrator was not one of them.
SA
M
4. It’s not mine... I don’t know _ _ _ _ _ it is.
Here, the correct answer was whose, as possession of the unknown object was indicated and
there was an unknown owner.
Down:
1. Others left their robes at home, but Isis wore _ _ _ _ proudly.
The correct answer in this instance was hers, as possession of the robe was indicated and
the owner had been identified as a singular female.
2. Wheat is scarce, I recommend getting _ _ _ _ _ as soon as possible.
In this case, the correct answer was yours, as the narrator was speaking directly to the future
owner of the wheat.
3. “Give that back! It’s _ _ _ _ ”.
Here, the owner of the unknown possession was the identified as narrator;therefore, the
correct answer was mine.
Question Two:
Students were required to identify whether an apostrophe was indicating possession or was
contracting two words.
This answer guide is continued on the next page...
Question Two (cont’d):
1. Ancient Egyptians didn’t just bury their dead, they developed a method of preservation that
ensured corpses would remain lifelike.
As ‘didn’t’ is the combination of the two words ‘did’ and ‘not’, the apostrophe in this word
indicates that it is a contraction.
PL
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2. Pyramids were built as tombs for their most important rulers and they were large enough to hold all
of the Pharaoh's possessions upon his death.
As ‘pharaoh’ is a singular noun, the apostrophe indicates possession, ie. The Pharaoh
possesses ownership over his possessions
3. It was a slave’s duty to remain loyal and obedient to their master.
In this case, ‘slave’ is a singular noun and the apostrophe indicates possession, ie. The slave
possesses ownership over their duties.
4. Every Ancient Egyptian temple was dedicated to a specific god or goddess, wherein they’d be
worshipped by priests and the pharaoh.
As ‘they’d’ is the combination of the two words ‘they’ and ‘would’, the apostrophe in this word
indicates that it is a contraction.
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5. The majority of Egyptians couldn’t read or write.
As ‘couldn’t’ is the combination of the two words ‘could’ and ‘not’, the apostrophe in this word
indicates that it is a contraction.
PL
E
SA
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