eng.g1.s.lesson_13.singular_plural_irregular
One Foot, Two Feet — Singular and Plural Nouns (Including Tricky Ones)
- Students form regular plural nouns by adding -s or -es.
- Students name and write at least 6 frequently-occurring irregular plurals.
Lesson plan
Warm-up
5 minPlural call-and-response: teacher says a singular noun; class chants the plural. Start regular, then sneak in irregulars.
- When children say 'foots' for foot, note it; do not correct mid-game
- Address the irregulars head-on in DI
Direct instruction
13 minWhen we have MORE than one of something, we make the word a PLURAL. The regular way is to add -s (one cat, two cats). For words that end in s, x, ch, sh, z — we add -es (one bus, two buses; one box, two boxes). But ENGLISH IS TRICKY. Some words go their own way. Today we meet 9 special words: foot/feet, child/children, mouse/mice, tooth/teeth, man/men, woman/women, person/people, fish/fish (no change!), sheep/sheep (no change!).
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Regular and easy.model cats, dogs, balls (add -s)prompt Regular plurals: cat → ?, dog → ?, ball → ?
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These don't follow the rule — we memorize them.model feet, children, miceprompt Irregular: foot → ? child → ? mouse → ?
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Fish stays fish — no plural change!model I have two fish.prompt Tricky: 'I have two ___ (fish).' '
- One sheep. Two ___? (sheep)
- One tooth. Two ___? (teeth)
- One mouse. Two ___? (mice — NOT mouses)
M-1-S-GR-13-A
Chart
Physical / non-image
Anchor chart 'Tricky Plurals.' Two-column layout with 9 rows. Left column shows singular (with photo): foot, child, mouse, tooth, man, woman, person, fish, sheep. Right column shows plural: feet, children, mice, teeth, men, women, people, fish, sheep. Bottom: 'Fish and sheep stay the SAME — sneaky!' Style: print-ready 11x17, photos cut from creative-commons sources.
Guided practice
12 min-
Singular/plural sort: child sorts 20 picture cards into 'one' and 'more than one' bins, writing the plural word.scaffold Anchor chart for irregulars visible
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Sentence completion: 'I lost my ___' (tooth) → 'I have lost three ___' (teeth).
Independent practice
10 min
M-1-S-GR-13-B
Interactive
Physical / non-image
On-screen activity. 12 singular words appear in a column on the left; 12 plurals in scrambled order on the right. Child drags each plural to the correct singular. Includes 6 regular (-s), 3 regular (-es), and 3 irregular. On correct match: gentle chime; on wrong: 'Listen again — is this word REGULAR or TRICKY?' with audio replay. Score tracked across sessions.
Formative assessment
4 min- Write the plural: foot → ___, mouse → ___, fish → ___, child → ___, book → ___.
Closure
1 min- Chant the irregular plurals together: foot/feet, child/children, mouse/mice, tooth/teeth, man/men, woman/women, person/people, fish/fish, sheep/sheep.
Homework
8 min- At home, find five things you have more than one of. Write each plural correctly.
Exercises in this lesson
Differentiation
- Picture pairs for every irregular at desk
- -s and -es tile sets to drop on regular words
- Irregular anchor chart on the wall
- Write a sentence using one regular plural and one irregular plural in the same sentence.
- Find another irregular plural not on the list (e.g., goose/geese).
- L1 plural marker comparison chart
- Picture-only sort first, then word labels
- Three irregulars maximum
- Oral plural production option
Teacher notes
Over-regularization ('foots', 'mouses') is developmental — most G1 children produce these even after explicit teach. Do not over-correct in workshop; instead celebrate when a child self-corrects. The chant at closure embeds the irregulars in auditory memory. Plan to spiral-review these for the next 4 weeks.