This question tests forming and using possessives (CCSS.L.3.2.d). Possessives show ownership - that something belongs to someone or something. The plural possessive of girls is girls'. To form possessives: For singular nouns add apostrophe s (dog → dog's). For plural nouns ending in s add apostrophe after the s (dogs → dogs'). For irregular plurals not ending in s add apostrophe s (children → children's). The apostrophe shows ownership. In this case we have multiple girls that own the backpacks. Since it's plural ending in s we add apostrophe after the s. The possessive form is girls'. Choice C is correct because it properly shows plural possessive with apostrophe after s. The apostrophe is after the s for plural ending in s which correctly shows multiple girls own the backpacks. Choice A is incorrect because it has no apostrophe and shows plural not possessive. Using girls doesn't show ownership. Students confuse plural with possessive. To help students: Teach that apostrophe shows ownership. Ask: Who owns it? One thing? Add 's (dog's). Multiple things whose plural ends in s? Add ' after the s (dogs'). Multiple things whose plural doesn't end in s? Add 's (children's). Memory trick: Apostrophe 's for ONE owner; s apostrophe for MANY owners ending in s. Don't confuse with plural (no apostrophe for quantity - just dogs means multiple dogs; dog's or dogs' means ownership). Watch for: forgetting apostrophe entirely / putting apostrophe in wrong place / confusing plural with possessive / irregular plurals (children's not childrens').

This question tests forming and using possessives (CCSS.L.3.2.d). Possessives show ownership - that something belongs to someone or something. The plural possessive of birds is birds'. To form possessives: For singular nouns add apostrophe s (dog → dog's). For plural nouns ending in s add apostrophe after the s (dogs → dogs'). For irregular plurals not ending in s add apostrophe s (children → children's). The apostrophe shows ownership. In this case we have multiple birds that own the feathers. Since it's plural ending in s we add apostrophe after the s. The possessive form is birds'. Choice C is correct because it properly shows plural possessive with apostrophe after s. The apostrophe is after the s for plural ending in s which correctly shows multiple birds own the feathers. Choice B is incorrect because it shows singular possessive with 's. Using bird's shows wrong number of owners and incorrect apostrophe placement for plural. Students confuse singular with plural possessives. To help students: Teach that apostrophe shows ownership. Ask: Who owns it? One thing? Add 's (dog's). Multiple things whose plural ends in s? Add ' after the s (dogs'). Multiple things whose plural doesn't end in s? Add 's (children's). Memory trick: Apostrophe 's for ONE owner; s apostrophe for MANY owners ending in s. Don't confuse with plural (no apostrophe for quantity - just dogs means multiple dogs; dog's or dogs' means ownership). Watch for: forgetting apostrophe entirely / putting apostrophe in wrong place / confusing plural with possessive / irregular plurals (children's not childrens').

This question tests forming and using possessives (CCSS.L.3.2.d). Possessives show ownership - that something belongs to someone or something. The singular possessive of dog is dog's. To form possessives: For singular nouns add apostrophe s (dog → dog's). For plural nouns ending in s add apostrophe after the s (dogs → dogs'). For irregular plurals not ending in s add apostrophe s (children → children's). The apostrophe shows ownership. In this case we have one dog that owns the bowl. Since it's singular we add 's. The possessive form is dog's. Choice B is correct because it properly shows singular possessive with 's. The apostrophe is before the s for singular which correctly shows one dog owns the bowl. Choice A is incorrect because it has no apostrophe and shows plural not possessive. Using dogs doesn't show ownership and just indicates multiple dogs. Students confuse plural with possessive. To help students: Teach that apostrophe shows ownership. Ask: Who owns it? One thing? Add 's (dog's). Multiple things whose plural ends in s? Add ' after the s (dogs'). Multiple things whose plural doesn't end in s? Add 's (children's). Memory trick: Apostrophe 's for ONE owner; s apostrophe for MANY owners ending in s. Don't confuse with plural (no apostrophe for quantity - just dogs means multiple dogs; dog's or dogs' means ownership). Watch for: forgetting apostrophe entirely / putting apostrophe in wrong place / confusing plural with possessive / irregular plurals (children's not childrens').

This question tests forming and using possessives (CCSS.L.3.2.d). Possessives show ownership - that something belongs to someone or something. The irregular plural possessive of children is children's. To form possessives: For singular nouns add apostrophe s (dog → dog's). For plural nouns ending in s add apostrophe after the s (dogs → dogs'). For irregular plurals not ending in s add apostrophe s (children → children's). The apostrophe shows ownership. In this case we have multiple children that own the playground. Since it's irregular plural not ending in s we add 's. The possessive form is children's. Choice B is correct because it properly shows irregular plural possessive with 's. The apostrophe is before the s for irregular plural which correctly shows multiple children own the playground. Choice A is incorrect because it has no apostrophe and incorrect spelling for possessive. Using childrens doesn't show ownership and shows wrong form for irregular plural. Students confuse irregular plurals with regular forms. To help students: Teach that apostrophe shows ownership. Ask: Who owns it? One thing? Add 's (dog's). Multiple things whose plural ends in s? Add ' after the s (dogs'). Multiple things whose plural doesn't end in s? Add 's (children's). Memory trick: Apostrophe 's for ONE owner; s apostrophe for MANY owners ending in s. Don't confuse with plural (no apostrophe for quantity - just dogs means multiple dogs; dog's or dogs' means ownership). Watch for: forgetting apostrophe entirely / putting apostrophe in wrong place / confusing plural with possessive / irregular plurals (children's not childrens').

This question tests forming and using possessives (CCSS.L.3.2.d). Possessives show ownership - that something belongs to someone or something. The singular possessive of mother is mother's. To form possessives: For singular nouns add apostrophe s (dog → dog's). For plural nouns ending in s add apostrophe after the s (dogs → dogs'). For irregular plurals not ending in s add apostrophe s (children → children's). The apostrophe shows ownership. In this case we have one mother that owns the keys. Since it's singular we add 's. The possessive form is mother's. Choice B is correct because it properly shows singular possessive with 's. The apostrophe is before the s for singular which correctly shows one mother owns the keys. Choice C is incorrect because it shows plural possessive with apostrophe after s. Using mothers' shows wrong number of owners and incorrect apostrophe placement for singular. Students confuse singular with plural possessives. To help students: Teach that apostrophe shows ownership. Ask: Who owns it? One thing? Add 's (dog's). Multiple things whose plural ends in s? Add ' after the s (dogs'). Multiple things whose plural doesn't end in s? Add 's (children's). Memory trick: Apostrophe 's for ONE owner; s apostrophe for MANY owners ending in s. Don't confuse with plural (no apostrophe for quantity - just dogs means multiple dogs; dog's or dogs' means ownership). Watch for: forgetting apostrophe entirely / putting apostrophe in wrong place / confusing plural with possessive / irregular plurals (children's not childrens').

This question tests forming and using possessives (CCSS.L.3.2.d). Possessives show ownership - that something belongs to someone or something. The plural possessive of men is men's. To form possessives: For singular nouns add apostrophe s (man → man's). For plural nouns ending in s add apostrophe after the s (boys → boys'). For irregular plurals not ending in s add apostrophe s (men → men's). The apostrophe shows ownership. In this case we have multiple men who own shoes. Since it's irregular plural not ending in s we add 's to the irregular plural. The possessive form is men's. Choice B is correct because it properly shows irregular plural possessive with 's. The apostrophe is before the s for irregular plural which correctly shows multiple men own the shoes. Choice A is incorrect because it has apostrophe after the s. Using mens' is wrong because men is already plural and doesn't end in s. Students incorrectly treat irregular plurals like regular plurals. To help students: Teach that apostrophe shows ownership. Ask: Who owns it? One thing? Add 's (man's). Multiple things whose plural ends in s? Add ' after the s (boys'). Multiple things whose plural doesn't end in s? Add 's (men's). Memory trick: Apostrophe 's for ONE owner; s apostrophe for MANY owners ending in s. Don't confuse with plural (no apostrophe for quantity - just men means multiple men; men's shows ownership). Watch for: forgetting apostrophe entirely / putting apostrophe in wrong place / confusing plural with possessive / irregular plurals (men's not mens').

This question tests forming and using possessives (CCSS.L.3.2.d). Possessives show ownership - that something belongs to someone or something. The plural possessive of cats is cats'. To form possessives: For singular nouns add apostrophe s (cat → cat's). For plural nouns ending in s add apostrophe after the s (cats → cats'). For irregular plurals not ending in s add apostrophe s (children → children's). The apostrophe shows ownership. In this case we have multiple cats that own toys. Since it's plural ending in s we add apostrophe after the s. The possessive form is cats'. Choice A is correct because it properly shows plural possessive with apostrophe after s. The apostrophe is after the s for plural ending in s which correctly shows multiple cats own the toys. Choice B is incorrect because it has apostrophe before the s. Using cat's shows only one cat owns something. Students confuse singular with plural possessive. To help students: Teach that apostrophe shows ownership. Ask: Who owns it? One thing? Add 's (cat's). Multiple things whose plural ends in s? Add ' after the s (cats'). Multiple things whose plural doesn't end in s? Add 's (children's). Memory trick: Apostrophe 's for ONE owner; s apostrophe for MANY owners ending in s. Don't confuse with plural (no apostrophe for quantity - just cats means multiple cats; cat's or cats' means ownership). Watch for: forgetting apostrophe entirely / putting apostrophe in wrong place / confusing plural with possessive / irregular plurals (children's not childrens').

This question tests forming and using possessives (CCSS.L.3.2.d). Possessives show ownership - that something belongs to someone or something. The plural possessive of girls is girls'. To form possessives: For singular nouns add apostrophe s (girl → girl's). For plural nouns ending in s add apostrophe after the s (girls → girls'). For irregular plurals not ending in s add apostrophe s (children → children's). The apostrophe shows ownership. In this case we have multiple girls who own backpacks. Since it's plural ending in s we add apostrophe after the s. The possessive form is girls'. Choice B is correct because it properly shows plural possessive with apostrophe after s. The apostrophe is after the s for plural ending in s which correctly shows multiple girls own the backpacks. Choice A is incorrect because it has apostrophe before the s. Using girl's shows only one girl owns something. Students confuse singular with plural possessive. To help students: Teach that apostrophe shows ownership. Ask: Who owns it? One thing? Add 's (girl's). Multiple things whose plural ends in s? Add ' after the s (girls'). Multiple things whose plural doesn't end in s? Add 's (children's). Memory trick: Apostrophe 's for ONE owner; s apostrophe for MANY owners ending in s. Don't confuse with plural (no apostrophe for quantity - just girls means multiple girls; girl's or girls' means ownership). Watch for: forgetting apostrophe entirely / putting apostrophe in wrong place / confusing plural with possessive / irregular plurals (children's not childrens').

This question tests forming and using possessives (CCSS.L.3.2.d). Possessives show ownership - that something belongs to someone or something. The singular possessive of bird is bird's. To form possessives: For singular nouns add apostrophe s (bird → bird's). For plural nouns ending in s add apostrophe after the s (birds → birds'). For irregular plurals not ending in s add apostrophe s (children → children's). The apostrophe shows ownership. In this case we have one bird that owns a nest. Since it's singular we add 's. The possessive form is bird's. Choice B is correct because it properly shows singular possessive with 's. The apostrophe is before the s for singular which correctly shows one bird owns the nest. Choice A is incorrect because it has apostrophe after the s. Using birds' shows multiple birds own something. Students confuse apostrophe placement for singular vs plural. To help students: Teach that apostrophe shows ownership. Ask: Who owns it? One thing? Add 's (bird's). Multiple things whose plural ends in s? Add ' after the s (birds'). Multiple things whose plural doesn't end in s? Add 's (children's). Memory trick: Apostrophe 's for ONE owner; s apostrophe for MANY owners ending in s. Don't confuse with plural (no apostrophe for quantity - just birds means multiple birds; bird's or birds' means ownership). Watch for: forgetting apostrophe entirely / putting apostrophe in wrong place / confusing plural with possessive / irregular plurals (children's not childrens').

This question tests forming and using possessives (CCSS.L.3.2.d). Possessives show ownership - that something belongs to someone or something. The singular possessive of mother is mother's. To form possessives: For singular nouns add apostrophe s (mother → mother's). For plural nouns ending in s add apostrophe after the s (mothers → mothers'). For irregular plurals not ending in s add apostrophe s (children → children's). The apostrophe shows ownership. In this case we have one mother who owns a car. Since it's singular we add 's. The possessive form is mother's. Choice C is correct because it properly shows singular possessive with 's. The apostrophe is before the s for singular which correctly shows one mother owns the car. Choice A is incorrect because it has no apostrophe. Using mothers doesn't show ownership, it just means multiple mothers. Students forget to add the apostrophe for possessives. To help students: Teach that apostrophe shows ownership. Ask: Who owns it? One thing? Add 's (mother's). Multiple things whose plural ends in s? Add ' after the s (mothers'). Multiple things whose plural doesn't end in s? Add 's (children's). Memory trick: Apostrophe 's for ONE owner; s apostrophe for MANY owners ending in s. Don't confuse with plural (no apostrophe for quantity - just mothers means multiple mothers; mother's shows ownership). Watch for: forgetting apostrophe entirely / putting apostrophe in wrong place / confusing plural with possessive / irregular plurals (children's not childrens').