5 Activities for Teaching Possessive Nouns

English rules and grammar aren't always fun to teach. However, that doesn't make them any less important. As teachers, we just need to find new and exciting ways to introduce the topics to our students. This is true for teaching possessive nouns as well. Although it's not a difficult concept, many students find it confusing. Today we are going to break it down as I share 5 fun activities for teaching possessive nouns. 

Possessive Nouns

We all know that possessive nouns are just nouns that show ownership. We add an 's or just a ' to show this. Simple, right? Not always. Students get possessive nouns and plural nouns confused very easily. 

The fact that both types of nouns have an "s" at the end really throws students for a loop. It's important to take some time to differentiate between the two to make sure our students have a solid understanding of both. The best way to do this is with engaging practice activities! Here are some of my favorite activities for teaching possessive nouns.

5 Fun Activities for Teaching Possessive Nouns

Differentiating between plural nouns and possessive nouns takes practice. To do this, we need to get out of the grammar books and get our students engaged. I love implementing these activities in my classroom after introducing key ideas and vocabulary with posters and anchor charts.

1. Sorting Activities

I love sorting activities because they provide a great opportunity for hands-on learning. They are also extremely versatile. 

Sorting activities can be used for whole-group instruction at the beginning of a lesson to introduce a topic.  Or, after introducing the concept and definition, a hands-on, interactive sorting activity can be the perfect way to provide lots of examples and practice. All you need are some noun cards (half plural nouns and half possessive nouns) and a pocket chart. 

Have students take turns choosing a card from the deck and placing it in the correct spot on the pocket chart. This activity provides the perfect opportunity for learning discussions to take place. In the beginning, I talk through why each student moves the card to the correct location.  But I slowly start to turn that explanation into questions for the students. By the end of the activity, I'm asking each student to explain why they think their noun is possessive or plural.  

After completing the sorting activity as a class, I love to move the cards into our centers. It is a great chance for students to practice what they have learned while having the whole class activity to connect to. Sorting activities are also great to use as a reteaching activity or small group instruction activity. The kids love sorting the cards and recording them on their answer sheets. The more they interact with these words, the easier it gets.

2. Engaging Worksheets

Teaching possessive nouns takes lots of patience and practice, practice, practice. Engaging worksheets are just what you need to really dive into that extra practice with your kids. I like to include handouts that require them to color, cut, and glue to keep their attention and make it more interesting. 

The practice activities have the students do more than just write the noun the correct way.  Instead, to keep students engaged and focused they complete tasks like coloring in all of the possessive nouns and then writing a sentence with each, practicing making a noun possessive, and circling a sentence that uses a possessive noun. 

Adding a fun theme to the worksheets like cooking, pets, or even holidays makes it even more fun for the kids. Worksheets are a great way to monitor student progress along the way too!

3. Games

Games just might be my favorite activity for teaching possessive nouns and they are always a favorite with the students too. You can always count on a game to be engaging, fun, and interactive. 

It's super easy to make games our students love, like Four in a Row or Tic-Tac-Toe, and adapt them to whatever skill you're teaching. By using word cards, or creating a simple game board, you can harness the power of games to help your students learn important skills.

Another easy game to play for teaching possessive nouns is Spin and Cover. It is a cross between Four in a Row and Bingo.  Each student will have their own game board with possessive and plural nouns. They'll take turns spinning and covering their boards. Whoever gets "blackout" first is the winner. This is always a hit in my classroom because kids always love a good competition. 

Teaching Possessive Nouns Just Got Easier

Don't these first 3 activities sound like fun? You are probably thinking yes, but who has time to put all of these activities together! I've got good news! I created them all for you in my Possessive Nouns resource bundle. It includes all of these activities and more to give your students plenty of practice differentiating between plural and possessive nouns in a fun and interactive way.  

The unit includes a possessive noun poster, sorting activity and recording sheets, 10 no-prep printable worksheets, answer keys, a sentence sorting activity, and 2 spinner board games. The combination of these activities is a winning strategy for teaching possessive nouns effectively! I hope this encourages you to tackle the task of teaching this skill. This bundle of activities is a great place to start. 

But hey, we're not done yet! I have 2 more fun activities for teaching possessive nouns. 

4. Possessive Nouns Google Slides Activities 

I love to incorporate digital learning into our classroom activities as much as possible. I love that digital resources offer a no-prep way to ensure that my students are getting extra practice with important skills. Plus, the kids love the digital format! It makes learning feel more like a video game, which kiddos of this era are pretty fond of. 

Aside from these obvious benefits though, Google Slides activities like this one come in really handy for whole-group teaching. I pop these slides up on the interactive whiteboard and use them to walk students through this topic. Each card features audio instructions that can be played aloud, and then I will model how to answer each question. I even use these as an exit ticket from time to time. They come up to the board and answer a question before heading out for the day.

This resource also includes introduction cards that detail what possessive nouns are and how they are used. This is a really great refresher for when I assign these activities in our technology centers to help remind students about this grammar topic. Students will love listening, and then dragging and dropping the correct answer into the space. No matter how you choose to use them, these come in really handy for practicing possessive nouns!

5. Possessive Nouns Craft 

Ready for a final activity to close out your lessons on this topic? Why not end with a fun craft that showcases everything students have learned?! I love using the craft in this resource towards the end of the unit. 

In this adorable craft, students have to identify possessive nouns. They will do so by looking over words that are listed on watermelon seed shapes. Then, they color them in, cut them out, and add them to a cut-out of a child holding a large slice of watermelon. They will love coloring and decorating their person! Finally, they must make a sentence using one of the possessive nouns and write it on a sentence strip. The last step is to add this to their craft and viola! These look so cute on a bulletin board and really show off how much students have learned on this topic. 

As an added bonus, this resource also includes even more activities for teaching possessive nouns! Inside, you'll find task cards with recording sheets, as well as 5 additional practice worksheets. These activities are perfect for center time as your students explore this topic. 

Get Started Teaching Possessive Nouns

So, my friend, which of these activities was your favorite? It's hard to choose, I know! And honestly, over the years I have found that the secret sauce is variety! Having a blend of worksheets, games, group teaching, digital activities, and crafts is what has helped me maintain high engagement in the classroom. Even when it comes to tricky topics, like possessive nouns! 

If you're looking to simplify and streamline your teaching process for this topic, you can find all of the resources mentioned here in my shop. They will definitely make planning and teaching this topic simple and fun! 

Save it for Later

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