How to Teach Contractions
Would you like to help your child avoid some of the most common errors in written English? Today we’re talking about the misuse of contractions, especially when it comes to words like it’s vs. its and you’re vs. your.
You’ve probably seen these mistakes; maybe they’ve even made you cringe.
Giving your child a solid foundation in the way contractions are formed and what they actually mean—that is, which letters the apostrophe replaces—will go a long way toward helping him or her avoid these common mistakes in the future.
What Is a Contraction?
A contraction consists of two words that are combined to form one word. To “contract” means to “make smaller,” and that is what we do when we form contractions: we take two longer words and contract them into one shorter word.
When Do We Use Contractions?
Contractions are informal “shortcuts” that we often take in our everyday speech. Instead of saying “Do not tease the dog,” we shorten it to “Don’t tease the dog.”
Those same shortcuts can be used in informal writing when we want our writing to reflect our way of speaking. In formal writing, however, it’s best to avoid contractions.
6 Ways to Teach Contractions
Teaching contractions might seem complicated, but these helpful tips can make this concept easy to teach!
- Use a rubber band to demonstrate to your student the concept of expanding and contracting. When you stretch the rubber band, it expands; when you let it go, it contracts. That’s what we’re doing when we contract words – we’re just making them smaller.
- Demonstrate the concept of contractions by writing he is on a piece of paper, or use letter tiles if you have them. Cross out the i and replace it with an apostrophe. Read the new word to your student to show how the pronunciation changes from he is to he’s.
- Explain that an apostrophe is a type of punctuation mark. One of its jobs is to help us form contractions. However, many students put the apostrophe in the wrong spot, as in ar’nt. Understanding that the apostrophe must always take the place of the omitted letters will help prevent such errors.
- Write or build the words she will. Cross out the w–i and replace those letters with an apostrophe. Explain to your student that she’ll is a shortcut, a shorter way of saying she will.
- Underscore the importance of the apostrophe by removing it from the contraction she’ll. Point out that without the apostrophe, the word is shell and not she’ll. Never forget the apostrophe!
- Finally, in All About Reading we include an engaging activity sheet where students create contractions out of printed strips of paper. The strip starts out with a pair of words, such as I am.
The student folds the word strip on the solid line to reveal the contraction, such as I’m.

Download Our Lessons on Contractions
Download Lesson 27 of All About Reading Level 2 to see how we teach contractions in our reading program.
Download Step 27 of All About Spelling Level 3 to see how we teach contractions in our spelling program.
Below is a list of contractions you can teach and practice with your child.
Do your children use contractions properly, or are they still figuring them out?

julius
says:Thank you so much. The materials are of great help to me and my learners
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceYou’re very welcome, Julius. I’m glad these were helpful for you and your students.
star
says:THIS WORK SOOOOO WELL MY CLASS LOVES IT
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceGreat to hear, Star! I’m very happy to hear that it is working so well for your class.
Anne
says:Very helpful information and easy to understand….thank you
Nanette
says:You all = Y’all
For some reason, this contraction is misspelled even on official signs where I live!
Christy
says:hi
Aisha
says:Very nice..such a easier way to teach my kid..thanku
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceYou’re welcome, Aisha!
Ally
says:I really appreciate the contraction cards… what a great trick to teach my little guy! Thank you for making the world a little richer, by sharing a great teaching tool.
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceYou are so welcome, Ally! I’m glad you find this helpful.
Sudha Singhania
says:Very nice
Neha
says:Very useful information👍
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceThank you, Neha!
Mansi Gupta
says:This is very helpful. Thank you so much.
Suraiya
says:Hi from Cape Town, South Africa. Thank you so much for the lovely way you make teaching contractions easier. Much appreciated.
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceI’m so glad this was helpful for you, Suraiya!
Marie
says:I love how this site makes teaching contractions so much easier
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceGlad this was helpful for you, Marie! 😊
frank
says:Thanks a lot people.
Edgar Vasquez
says:I just checked this Site for the first time and I love the way explains Contractions. Thank you for this wonderful site.
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceYou’re welcome, Edgar! 😊
Joan Oredola Fakunle
says:I really appreciate the simplicity of explanation. My child got the contraction easily.
Bettie Sanchez
says:I love this! So fun and exactly the visual help my students need. I am a special education resource teacher for grades k-5. Thanks!!!
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceYou’re welcome, Bettie! Let me know if you need anything else.
Bettie Sanchez
says:Your resources are amazing! I am a special education resource teacher and this will be so super helpful, especially through distance learning.
Aquila Matos
says:Thank you for the free list of contractions. I printed one for each of my children and they have it posted in their rooms.
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceWhat a great idea, Aquila!
amelia rainwater
says:This is wonderful! Thank you!
Cyndianne Larvie
says:Wow what a great concept for my son with Autism. Would love to give this a try and later donate it to his special needs classroom.
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceCyndianne,
If you haven’t seen it already, I think you will find out Teaching Reading and Spelling to Children with Autism blog post helpful. Let me know if you have any questions or need anything.
Caci
says:Your information is always so helpful!
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceWell, thank you, Caci! 😊 We do try very hard to be helpful and it’s nice to hear we succeed.
Sandie
says:Thank you for the list of contractions! We are putting together an interactive notebook to help my son in his writing.
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceYou’re welcome, Sandie! I made something similar for my kids when they were younger and they found it helpful.
Angela
says:Wow. I’ve done a lot of research and your reading and spelling programs come well recommended. I can see why. What a great post – not only for my 7 year old daughter but also for most my Facebook friends who seem to have forgotten!
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceThank you, Angela! I’m glad you found this helpful for your child and others. 😊
Indra Helmbrecht
says:Very helpful information!
Robyn
says:Awesome! Thank you.
Adzo Debanse Quarshie
says:Very educative and helpful . Thank you.
Aniqa khan
says:This is really helpful for me to teach my students.
Thank you for an amazing guidelines.
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceYou’re welcome, Aniqa. I’m glad this was helpful for you. Let me know if you need anything else.
Meg E.
says:The paper strips are a great timesaver and help my pupils completely visualize what happens when we contract words. Thank you for another great download!
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceYou’re so welcome, Meg! I’m glad these have helped your students visualize how contractions work.
farhat
says:very very helpful and fun way to teach contractions
Heather
says:These are great ideas!! Thank you!!