how do explain a possesive word (being plural or not) to a 5th grade boy?

Question

For instance,

let's say its the boy's ball,

but my son's spelling test is on boys' <-- with the apostrophe after the s. how would you explain it

so it would be the boys' ball (more than one boy owns it)

how do you explain that to a 5th grade boy in a way he would explain it?

Answer 1

you can use that example:

Say "when its one boy's ball, you put the apostrophe in between the last consenent and the s. but if the ball is more then one boy's, you put it after the s."

good luck teaching. :)

Answer 2

You could say the apostrophe goes after the thing that the ball (or something else) belongs to.

So in the boy's ball it belongs to the boy because the apostrophe is separating the word boy from the letter "s" so it isn't plural

And in the boys' ball it belongs to the boys because the apostrophe is after the "s" which would mean the "s" goes with the word boy to make it plural.

I'm not sure if this will help at all but I hope it does!

Answer 3

BOYS: one million. James Lachlan 2. Charlie Atticus 3. Darcy Fletcher 4. Henry Oliver 5. William Avery 6. Hamish Callum 7. Angus Rafferty 8. Hugh Calloway 9. Eamon Lucas 10. Stellan Rafferty (A GP call) women: one million. Charlotte Isobel 2. Annabel Clara 3. Lucy Matilda 4. Eliza Grace 5. Laura Imogen 6. Freya Rosie 7. Madeleine Isla 8. Bronte Sienna - Ella :)

Answer 4

I'd think of it in terms of the plurality. With boys' the word "boys" appears rather than the singular "boy" followed by an apostrophe s. Or maybe you could say it differently. Like boy's is pronounced like boys. And boys' is pronounced like boyses.

It's tough. Good luck.

Answer 5

You just explained it very well. Maybe emphasize that the apostrophe goes after the word. For boy it is boy's. For boys it is boys'. It does make sense after all.

Answer 6

If the word is plural and already has an 's' at the end, don't put another one after the apostrophe. e.g. boys', friends', horses', trains'.

If the word is plural and does not have an 's' at the end, put one before the apostrophe. e.g. people's, children's.
.

Answer 7

tell him that when someone ownes something there should always be an apostrophe before the s.
ex.
I like those shoes.
I like Jon's shoes.