Another Apostrophe Review

This information comes from Purdue University: 
The apostrophe has three uses:

1. to form possessives of nouns
2. to show the omission of letters
3. to indicate certain plurals of lowercase letters

Forming Possessives of Nouns

To see if you need to make a possessive, turn the phrase around and make it an "of the..." phrase. For example:

the boy's hat = the hat of the boy
three days' journey = journey of three days

If the noun after "of" is a building, an object, or a piece of furniture, then no apostrophe is needed!

room of the hotel = hotel room
door of the car = car door
leg of the table = table leg

Once you've determined whether you need to make a possessive, follow these rules to create one.

• add 's to the singular form of the word (even if it ends in -s):

  the owner's car
  James's hat (James' hat is also acceptable. For plural, proper nouns that are possessive, use an apostrophe after the 's': "The Eggles' presentation was good." The Eggles are a husband and wife consultant team.)

• add 's to the plural forms that do not end in -s:

  the children's game
  the geese's honking

• add ' to the end of plural nouns that end in -s:

  two cats' toys
  three friends' letters
  the countries' laws

• add 's to the end of compound words:

  my brother-in-law's money

• add 's to the last noun to show joint possession of an object:

  Todd and Anne's apartment

      from http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/621/01/
  

_____________________________________________

Extra credit opportunity:  Find apostrophes used correctly in published text -- newspapers, magazines, etc. circle the words, and bring me the original or a copy. 

  _________________________________________

See also a crib sheet for apostrophe usage  at http://www.istad.org/apostrophes/cribsheet.html
And here's another helpful review -- with funny pictures: http://www.squidoo.com/apostrophe
And some apostrophe errors: http://www.recordonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061002/NEWS/610020321/-1/NEWS0206 
 and  Help with Apostrophes

______________________
 Exception to the Rule (Compound Nouns)  from http://www.grammar-monster.com/lessons/apostrophes_show_possession.htm
Here is another quirk. Some compound nouns (e.g., sister-in-law) do not form their plurals by adding s to the end.  The s is appended to the principal word (i.e., the plural is sisters-in-law). With a noun like this, the possessive form is created by adding 's to the end, regardless of whether it is singular or plural.
 

Singular	Plural
sister-in-law's pond colonel-in-chief's arrival maid of honour's bouquet	sisters-in-law's husbands colonels-in-chief's meeting maids of honour's dresses

___________________________________________________________________

Cool video about apostrophe use:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fE0IBPtbY2o

___________________________________________________________________

Find this at http://www.angryflower.com/aposter.html

April 18, 2011

Bell-Ringer: Individual Reading for your contemporary realistic novel -- and fill out the sheet about narrator, character, setting, conflict.  If you didn't get it done in class, it is homework.

Contempory Novel 1.doc

Narrator in Literature

 

2.  What do you notice?

What Do You Notice? April 18, 2011

3.  Begin Practice Core Test.

Sorry, but I will not be able to do this on Wednesday morning since I have a meeting I must attend. I will be available Wednesday after school. 

Important:  I will be here before school at 7:15 on Wednesday the 20th and after school on Wednesday the 20th for those people who missed the District Writing Test to take the test.

Reminder:  Next week we will be taking the State Core Language Arts Test.  Please come to school rested and having eaten a nutritious breakfast, and bring a clear water bottle -- all of which you should do everyday anyway!   test_taking_tips.pdf

If you haven't signed up for your Book-of-the-Month, you need to do that right away!  Also, bring your book all this week and next.   We will be completing some assignments with your books in class each day this week.  (If you have finished reading it, bring another book to read next week in case you finish your testing section early.)  



__________________________________________
Elements of literature
Main idea
lie-lay
apostrophes
review of commonly confused words, etc.
Using Reference works -- Dictionaries, etc.

March 22/23, 2010

March 22/23, 2010

Editing Self-Starter: 
Subject-Verb Agreement exercise taped into composition books, edited carefully, and corrected together

New seating assignments

We watched more of the Shackleton DVD.   B4 finished the DVD.