One Cat, Two Cats: Plural Nouns with -s, -es and -ies

Student Task

• Hold up one pencil and then three pencils and write pencil and pencils on the board.
• Teach the three rules with the examples in the lesson plan, then do activities 1 and 2 together.
• Children complete activities 3 to 5; answers are in the answer key.

Classroom Use

• Plural relay: teams race to write the plural of a noun on the board.
• Hiss and buzz: children say the plural aloud and listen for the extra syllable in boxes and buses.
• Plural hunt: children find five plurals in a storybook and sort them by rule.

Differentiation

Support: focus on -s and -es only. Challenge: children find more irregular plurals, such as goose and geese or woman and women.

Answer Key & Assessment

Activities 1 to 4 check the spelling rules (answer key included). Activity 5 checks plurals in sentences.

Learning Objectives

• Make plurals by adding -s or -es.
• Change y to -ies to make plurals such as babies and cities.
• Use five common irregular plurals correctly.

Teacher Tips

Say the -es plurals aloud: box-es, bus-es, watch-es. Children can hear the extra syllable, which helps them remember to write -es.

What's Included

• 6-page printable PDF lesson pack: teacher lesson plan with timings, materials and differentiation
• Key vocabulary list (4 words with meanings and examples)
• Student worksheet (5 activities)
• Editable Word version of the worksheet
• Complete answer key (also as a separate PDF)

Additional Files

• Editable Worksheet (Word) (DOCX)
• Answer Key (PDF) (PDF)

Teacher Reviews