It was a sunny Monday at Roosevelt High, and Tom was already confused. Seeing his puzzled expression, Mrs. Jenkins, his English teacher, asked, 'What's troubling you, Tom?' He replied, 'I just don't understand when to use 'it' and when to use 'it's'. With a smile, Mrs. Jenkins said, 'Let's clear this up. 'It's' is a contraction of 'it is' or 'it has'. 'It', however, is a pronoun used to represent a thing previously mentioned or easily identified.' For the rest of the day, Tom tried to remember this. In Math, he thought, 'It's a challenging problem, but I can solve it.' At lunch, he told his friend, 'It's my sandwich. I made it this morning.' In History, Tom wrote in his notebook, 'It's clear that the event had a significant impact. It changed the course of the war.' As the day ended, Tom felt more confident. He realized that 'it's' and 'it' weren't as confusing as he'd thought; 'it's' when you could say 'it is' or 'it has', and 'it' in other cases. The school day was over, but Tom's learning journey had just begun. It was no longer a mystery to him. Now, think about your day. Can you spot the moments when you used 'it' and 'it's'? Do you know the difference? Remember, 'it's' is only for 'it is' or 'it has'. Otherwise, 'it' is your word to use!