Spelling Contracted Forms
Spell contracted forms correctly by placing the apostrophe where letters are omitted (can't, didn't, I'll, it's, etc.)
What a learner can do afterwards
- Write 'can't' for 'cannot', 'didn't' for 'did not' with apostrophe correctly placed
- Distinguish 'it's' (it is) from 'its' (possessive) in a sentence
- Expand a contraction back to its full form and explain which letters are missing
1 · Read
A contraction squeezes two words into one shorter word. You have read don't. Now you will spell it. When letters disappear, an apostrophe (') sits in their exact spot to show something is missing.
Mia wants to write "cannot" as a contraction. She joins can and not, drops the letters n and o, and puts an apostrophe right where they used to be: can't.
"It's" with an apostrophe means "it is": It's raining. "Its" with no apostrophe shows something belongs to it: The dog wagged its tail. They sound the same but mean different things.
Say the two full words in your head first. Find exactly where letters go missing, then put the apostrophe right there, not just anywhere in the word.
An apostrophe stands in for missing letters, right where they were removed, not just anywhere.
The rewritten reading was written for this dataset.
More to read
Apostrophes
An apostrophe is a little mark that looks like a comma up high. It does two big jobs. First, it helps us squish words together. When we squish 'do not' into 'don't', we take out the letter o and put an apostrophe in its place. The apostrophe is like a tiny flag that says 'a letter is missing here!' Try it: 'cannot' becomes 'can't' (the letters n and o went away) and 'did not' becomes 'didn't' (the o went away). Second, an apostrophe can show that something belongs to someone, like 'Maria's book'. One tricky pair to watch: 'it's' with an apostrophe means 'it is', but 'its' with no apostrophe means something belongs to it, like 'the dog wagged its tail'. When you are not sure, try saying 'it is' in the sentence. If it sounds right, use the apostrophe.
Practise the spellings you mix up
Spelling rules can help, but some words do not follow them. A short, one-syllable word often doubles its final s, f, z or l after a short vowel. Look at fluff, fuzz and lull. Keep a list of tricky words. Practise a few each day, including its and it's. Reading aloud may reveal some mistakes, but words that sound alike need a meaning check too.
2 · Watch
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Where it sits
8 questions wait behind this lesson, each with its answer explained. Every answer feeds the sky: stars light as they are learned, and dim when it is time to come back.