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Spelling

Year 4 · Writing

Match a plural owner to the correctly placed apostrophe.

Choose a game

Take your time, try a game and collect stars.

Activities to try together away from the screen

Take it beyond the game

Use one example in a real piece of reading, writing or discussion.

  1. Choose a useful message or short task, and plan what you want a reader to understand.
  2. Try an original example on paper and reread it for meaning and accuracy.
  3. Agree on one useful improvement and try the example again.

Helping your child with spelling

The Year 4 focus

Year 4 spelling includes apostrophes for plural possession. Plural possession pairs distinguishes regular plurals ending in s from irregular plurals such as children, men and women. The owner needs to be identified before the apostrophe is placed. The prepared prompts explicitly name more than one owner so that the plural meaning is clear, rather than relying on a guess from a picture.

Work through an example

Compare the girls’ coats with the children’s books. Girls is already a plural ending in s, so the apostrophe follows that s. Children is plural without a final s, so possession adds apostrophe plus s. Write a short sentence for each example and explain who owns the objects. Avoid using the apostrophe merely because a word is plural.

Use the skill beyond the screen

Say the whole word and use it in a sentence before looking closely at its spelling. After a short game, cover the model, write one useful example and compare it carefully with the original. Discuss the part that changed rather than copying a whole list without noticing a pattern. Follow the school’s sequence when choosing new spellings; this game offers selected practice.

Curriculum connection

Reading and writing use the shared Years 3–4 programme of study. These Year 4 practice choices provide one possible progression; schools can sequence the shared content differently. This collection offers selected practice rather than the complete programme. Read the official English programme of study.

Questions families ask

What does the game check?

It checks the prepared examples in this collection. Use real books and writing to explore the skill more widely.

Is this a separate statutory Year 4 programme?

The National Curriculum groups reading and writing in Years 3 and 4. These Year 4 examples provide a practice progression within that shared programme; schools can sequence the content differently. Spoken-language requirements apply across Years 1–6.