Word Families

Singulars and Plurals (5+)

Material

Containers with singular and plural matches. Each container should contain pairs in which the plurals are made in a similar way. E.g. cat & cats, along with cup & cups.

How to make these boxes according to pluralizing rules:

Box 1: regular nouns with plural ending -s

E.g. bug – bugs

Box 2: nouns that end in -s, -ss, -sh, -ch, -x, or -z with plural ending -es

E.g. glass – glasses

Box 3: nouns that end in -s and -z and require doubling the ending before adding -es

E.g. fizz – fizzes

Box 4: nouns that end in -f and -fe with -s ending

E.g. roof – roofs

Box 5: nouns that end in -f and -fe change to -ve before adding -es

E.g. wolf – wolves

Box 6: nouns that end in -y with a consonant before change to -ies

E.g. pony – ponies

Box 7: nouns that end in -y with a vowel before add an -s

E.g. city – cities

Box 8: nouns that end in -o add an -es

E.g. potato – potatoes

Box 9: nouns that end in -o add an -s (exception to Box 8)

E.g. halo – halos

Box 10: nouns that end in -us are changed to -i

E.g. sarcophagus – sarcophagi

Box 11: nouns that end in -is are changed to -es

E.g. ellipsis – ellipses

Box 12: nouns that end in -on are changed to -a

E.g. phenomenon – phenomena

Box 13: nouns that don’t change at all

E.g. moose

Box 14: irregular nouns

E.g. child – children

Direct aim

Word awareness and spelling.

Presentation

Show the child how to set out the singular noun cards and pair them with the plurals. E.g. Box 1: bug – bugs, cat – cats, chair – chairs, etc. After they have matched each card, show the child how to check their work.

Control of Error

A number, color, or the name of the pair can be printed on the back of each card.