An innovative technique to correct the wrong usage of apostrophe and promote understanding of the correct usage.

1. Mrs N Shesha Prasad
PGT English
KVAFS Begumpet
Hyderabad, Telangana
Assimilating Apostrophe S
-The Pictorial Way
An Innovation

2. Genesis

5. Areas to focus on
1.The Possessive noun that takes an
apostrophe with S
2.The plural noun that does not take an
apostrophe with S
3.The III form singular verb that does not
take an apostrophe with S

6. A few glimpses of students’
confusion

10. Rationale behind the
Innovation
 Reduce the confusion about the use of Apostrophe S
among students
 Simplify the understanding of the concept of
Apostrophe S with a single rule that can be applied
to all cases of Apostrophe S
 Reduce errors and promote better writing skills

11. Objectives
 Enable the learners differentiate between Plural S
and possessive S.
 Fix the occurrence of Apostrophe with possessive
S in their minds.
 Help them discontinue the practice of using
Apostrophe with III Person singular verb.
 Familiarize the learners with different situations
of using the Apostrophe S.
 Give them rigorous practice in the use of ’S
 Improve the grammatical correctness in writing.

12. Study the
pattern of
errors of
students
Collect
samples
of
students’
writing
Conduct a pre
test for
authentication
Apply the
innovative
technique
Conduct
a post
test
Tabulate
the
results
Draw a graph
and draw
conclusions
Select
a
target
group
List the
educational
implications
Steps followed in the implementation of Innovation

13. STEP 1A
Concept of gap and Crossing
over/connection
Girl ’ s Lunch
Ga
p
Gap
The girl’s lunch is on the table

14. Boy ’ s Car
Ga
p Gap
STEP 1A
Concept of gap and Crossing over/
connection
The boy’s car is on the table

15. Bird ’s cage
STEP 1A
Concept of gap and Crossing
over/connection
The bird’s cage is strong

16. Gap means connection so
crossing over so Apostrophe
Conclusion

17. GIRLS
NOT
GIRL’S
STEP 2A
Drawing their attention to the absence of
gap in plural forms
NO GAP ∴ NO CONNECTION ∴ NO APOSTROPHE
The girls are on their way to school

18. Boys
not
Boy’s
STEP 2A
Drawing their attention to the absence of
gap in plural forms
NO GAP ∴ NO CONNECTION ∴ NO APOSTROPHE
The boys are planning some mischief

19. BIRDS
Not
BIRD’S
STEP 2A
Drawing their attention to the absence of
gap in plural forms
NO GAP ∴ NO CONNECTION ∴ NO APOSTROPHE
The birds are colorful

20. BALLS
NOT
BALL’S
STEP 2A
Drawing their attention to the absence of
gap in plural forms
NO GAP ∴ NO CONNECTION ∴ NO APOSTROPHE
The balls are made up of plastic

21. STEP 2B
Formulation of the rule
NO gap / NO CONNECTION/ SO NO
crossing over so NO APOSTROPHE

22. STEP 2C
Extending the rule to III person singular
verbs
Ram eats an apple
Ram EATS NOT Ram eat’s
In the word EATS there is no connection so NO
APOSTROPHE
Sita sings beautifully
Sita Sings NOT Sita Sing’s
In the word SINGS there is no connection so NO
APOSTROPHE

23. The cat JUMPS Not JUMP’S
The river FLOWS Not FLOW’S
Mom YELLS Not YELL’S
Glass BREAKS Not BREAK’S
Reinforcement

24. Two Rameshs in a class can be confusing
Ramesh’s hand sneaked out to grab the book
Ramesh’s hand’s skill is impressive.
Ramesh’s hands’ colour is pale
Ramesh’s hands are pale
Ramesh hands out the tickets in the museum
every day
Check Mate

25. Range Before After
0-3 1 NIL
4-6 5 2
7-9 9 4
10-12 8 13
13-15 7 11
Tabulation of the results ( scores of
pre & post test)

26. Graphical Representation of the data
Marks scored by students
Noofstudentsintherange

27. Result/Inference
The concept of imagining a gap between the word and S
helped the students understand where apostrophe
should be used where it isn’t required. The fact that this
technique can be applied to possessive case, plural
nouns and III person singular verbs helped avoid
confusion. As a result their usage of Apostrophe got
better with practice and the concept was firmly
cemented in their minds.
Using the Concept of Crossing over the Gap with
Apostrophe helped in better understanding of the usage
of Apostrophe.

28. Educational Implications:
The practice will strengthen the
understanding of Apostrophe S and enable
learners clearly differentiate the plural
form from the Possessive S form. It will
also help in the correcting the habit of
putting apostrophe between the verb and S
in III form singular verb. Thus they
promote better writing skills among the
learners.