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3rd grade · English Language Arts · Unit 10 of 13

Grammar Gears

Possessives, verbs and prepositions

What your child practices

Showing who owns something with 's, choosing linking verbs and -ing verbs, using question words like which and whose, and spotting prepositions and interjections.

Minnesota K-12 Academic Standards benchmark: 3.2.1.3 · irregular plurals, verb tenses and prepositions

How we explain it

Children can open this short lesson before they practice.

  1. Add ’s to show who owns something: the dog’s bone.
  2. Question words ask for different things: who (a person), when (a time), where (a place), which (a choice), whose (an owner).
  3. Prepositions show where: under, on, beside. An interjection shows feeling: Oops! Wow!

Example: Which word completes the question? “___ is your birthday?” “In May.” The answer, May, is a time. The question word for a time is when. Answer: When

Grammar Gears in Minnesota

In the Minnesota K-12 Academic Standards, this is unit 10 of 13 in 3rd grade English Language Arts, after ABC Order & Dictionary and before Reading Patterns.

Gradelings describes a child's practice on this unit as Beginning, Approaching, Meeting or Exceeding (Four practice steps). That reflects practice, not a report-card mark: the teacher decides the mark.

Source: Minnesota Department of Education (MDE)

Sample questions

A taste of this unit. In the app, questions change every time and get easier or harder to match your child.

  1. Question 1

    Which word completes the question? ___ pencil is on the floor?

    • Which
    • Why
    • Whose

  2. Question 2

    The pie ___ delicious yesterday.

    • were
    • is
    • was

  3. Question 3

    Which word is the linking verb? The sky is cloudy.

    • is
    • cloudy
    • sky

  4. Question 4

    Which sentence uses the apostrophe correctly?

    • Mia backpack's is blue.
    • Mia's backpack is blue.
    • Mias' backpack is blue.

  5. Question 5

    Which word is an interjection? Wow! That is a huge fish.

    • Wow
    • fish
    • huge

  6. Question 6

    Which word shows where the ball is? The ball is beside the box.

    • ball
    • beside
    • box

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