Forming irregular plural nouns
Lesson details
Learning outcome
I can spell common irregular plural nouns that do not follow clear rules.
Key learning points
- Regular plurals follow spelling rules.
- There are no rules for irregular plurals; you just have to learn them.
- Examples of irregular plural nouns include: formula - formulae, woman - women, tooth - teeth, index - indices.
- We can look for naughty letters to help us to remember tricky spellings.
- How to spell the curriculum words: equip and equipment.
Keywords
Suffix - a letter or group of letters added to the end of a word to change its meaning
Root word - the base word from which other words are formed often by adding prefixes or suffixes
Singular - only one
Plural - more than one
Irregular - means not conforming to a regular or predictable pattern
Common misconception
Pupils will apply common plural rules to singular nouns that have irregular plural patterns.
Use spelling strategies such as 'big letters' or 'colour blocks' to help pick out the tricky elements of irregular plural spellings and embed them in the memory.
Teacher tip
Give pupils cloze sentence activities featuring deleted irregular plurals. Using a spelling in the context of a sentence can help pupils to hear what sounds right and this, in turn, will help them to spell the word correctly.
Licence
Lesson video
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Prior knowledge starter quiz
6 Questions
Q1.What happens when the noun 'tray' becomes plural?
Q2.What happens when the noun 'story' becomes plural?
Q3.What happens when the noun 'kiss' becomes plural?
Q4.What happens when the noun 'knife' becomes plural?
Q5.Which of these are irregular past tense verbs?
Q6.Correct the spelling of the word in bold in the sentence. My younger brother loves it when I read him storees.
Assessment exit quiz
6 Questions
Q1.Match the nouns to the rules they demonstrate when becoming plural.
Just add -s
Just add -es
Remove the ‘y’, add -ies
Remove ‘f’ or ‘fe’, add -ves
Q2.Identify the irregular plurals.
Q3.Match the singular noun to its plural.
children
antennae
oxen
indices
Q4.Write the correct spelling of the word in bold in the sentence. Gooses often fly in a 'V' formation.
Q5.Write the correct spelling of the word in bold in the sentence. I counted seven dears in the woodland copse.
Q6.Write the correct spelling of the word in bold in the sentence. Don't forget to label both axises on your graph.
To help you plan your 6 English lesson on: Forming irregular plural nouns, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your 6 English lesson on: Forming irregular plural nouns, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs.
The starter quiz will activate and check your pupils' prior knowledge, with versions available both with and without answers in PDF format.
We use learning cycles to break down learning into key concepts or ideas linked to the learning outcome. Each learning cycle features explanations with checks for understanding and practice tasks with feedback. All of this is found in our slide decks, ready for you to download and edit. The practice tasks are also available as printable worksheets and some lessons have additional materials with extra material you might need for teaching the lesson.
The assessment exit quiz will test your pupils' understanding of the key learning points.
Our video is a tool for planning, showing how other teachers might teach the lesson, offering helpful tips, modelled explanations and inspiration for your own delivery in the classroom. Plus, you can set it as homework or revision for pupils and keep their learning on track by sharing an online pupil version of this lesson.
Explore more key stage 2 English lessons from the Homophones and tense unit, dive into the full primary English curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.