Years 3 and 4 English · Key Stage 2 · Writing – transcription (spelling)

Years 3 and 4 plural apostrophes and dictionary skills

In Years 3 and 4 children build on the apostrophe for belonging they met in Year 2. They learn to place it correctly when the owners are plural, as in girls’ coats and children’s coats. They also learn to use the first two or three letters of a word to find it in a dictionary, and to write simple sentences from memory when the teacher reads them aloud, which is called dictation.

Plural apostrophes, dictionaries and dictation, explained

An apostrophe of possession shows that something belongs to someone. In Year 2 children learn it with a single owner: the girl’s coat means the coat belongs to one girl. In Years 3 and 4 the owners become plural. The reliable method is to ask two questions in order. Who owns it? Is that one owner or more than one? Then write the owner word exactly as it is and decide where the apostrophe goes.

If the plural word already ends in s, the apostrophe goes after the s and nothing else is added: the girls’ coats, the boys’ changing room, the teachers’ car park. If the plural does not end in s, children follow the same pattern as for one owner and add ’s: the children’s coats, the men’s shed, the mice’s nest. Schools call words like children, men, women, people and mice irregular plurals. The position of the apostrophe tells the reader how many owners there are, so the boy’s ball and the boys’ ball are different things.

Dictionary work starts from the alphabet. Children are taught that words beginning with the same letter are ordered by their second letter, so bat comes before bed and bed comes before bin. When the first two letters match as well, the third letter decides, so back comes before band, which comes before bat. They use the first two or three letters to jump close to the right place, then check the guide words at the top of the page, which show the first and last word on it. To look a word up you need a sensible attempt at its spelling, so teachers also encourage children to try more than one possible spelling, such as looking for a word under both s and c if the sound could be spelt either way.

Dictation means the teacher reads a sentence aloud and the children write it from memory. Schools often read the whole sentence, then say it in short chunks while children write, then read it a final time so they can check. The sentences use only words and punctuation already taught, so a dictated sentence at this stage might include a full stop, a question mark or a possessive apostrophe. How often a school does this is its own decision, but the skill is the same everywhere: hold the sentence in your head, spell the words, punctuate it and check it.

Words your child will hear

Possessive apostrophe: The apostrophe that shows who owns something, as in the dog’s lead.
Plural: More than one of something: girls, children, mice.
Regular plural: A plural made by adding s or es, such as boys or foxes.
Irregular plural: A plural that is not made by adding s or es, such as children, men or geese.
Alphabetical order: Arranging words by their first letter, then their second, then their third.
Guide words: The two words at the top of a dictionary page showing the first and last entries on it.
Dictation: Writing down a sentence that someone reads aloud to you.

What the National Curriculum says

In Years 3 and 4, pupils should be taught to:

Place the possessive apostrophe accurately in words with regular plurals and in words with irregular plurals
Use the first 2 or 3 letters of a word to check its spelling in a dictionary
Write from memory simple sentences, dictated by the teacher, that include words and punctuation taught so far

Objectives from the National Curriculum in England, © Crown copyright, used under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

A worked example: placing the apostrophe

Add the apostrophes: The girls coats hang next to the childrens bags. (Several girls own the coats, and several children own the bags.)

Find the first owner. The coats belong to the girls. That is more than one girl, so it is a plural owner.
Look at how the plural ends. Girls ends in s, so the apostrophe goes after the s and nothing more is added: girls’ coats.
Find the second owner. The bags belong to the children, which is also plural.
Look at how this plural ends. Children does not end in s, so we add ’s as we would for one owner: children’s bags.
Check the spelling in a dictionary. To look up children, go to the c section, then use the first three letters, c-h-i, to land near the word. The guide words at the top of the page show whether you are close.
Test the other meaning. If only one girl owned the coats, we would write the girl’s coats. The apostrophe tells the reader how many owners there are.

The girls’ coats hang next to the children’s bags.

Common mistakes and how to help

Adding an apostrophe to every plural: “two dog’s” or “the apple’s are ripe”

Children see an s and an apostrophe together in many places, and plurals also end in s, so the two get mixed up. Handwritten signs make it worse.

What helps: Ask whether anything belongs to the word. If the dogs own nothing in the sentence, there is no apostrophe at all. Spot the difference in a book: two dogs, but the dogs’ bowls.

Writing “childrens’” or “mens’”

Children learn that a plural owner takes an apostrophe after the s, and apply it to every plural, including those with no s to put it after.

What helps: Ask whether the plural already ends in s. Children does not, so it works like one owner: children’s. Saying “the coats of the children” can help, and so can writing both rules on a card.

Looking a word up by its first letter only, or giving up when the guess is wrong

Finding the right page is slower than it seems, and a wrong first attempt at the spelling can make the word look as though it is not there.

What helps: Practise using three letters together and the guide words. When a word is not where you expect, try another spelling for the sound, such as ph for f or kn for n.

Losing the sentence in dictation and missing words out

Holding a whole sentence in mind while spelling takes working memory, so children often write the first few words and forget the end.

What helps: Ask your child to say the sentence quietly to themselves before writing and to count the words on their fingers. Afterwards, read it back against the original, one word at a time.

How to help at home

Who owns it? Point at things around the house and say who owns them: the cat’s bowl, the neighbours’ car, the grandparents’ garden. Ask your child whether there is one owner or more, then to write the phrase with the apostrophe in the right place.
Dictionary races. Pick five words and see who can find them first in a paper dictionary. Say out loud which three letters you used and what the guide words were. A word that is not where you expected is a good moment to try another spelling.
Two-minute dictation. Read your child one sentence from a book, a card or a message, two or three times, in short chunks. They write it from memory, then check it against the original. Choose a sentence with a possessive apostrophe now and then.
Apostrophe spotting. When you are out together, read shop signs and notices together and talk about whether the apostrophe belongs. Missing or extra apostrophes are everywhere, and noticing them sharpens the rule.

Builds on

Year 2: Spelling sounds and homophones
Year 2: Apostrophes and suffixes

Leads on to

Years 5 and 6: Prefixes, suffixes and silent letters
Years 5 and 6: Dictionaries and thesaurus