Lesson Plan: Plural Nouns

Subject: Writing
Grade: 5th (can be adapted for other grade levels)

Integration of Learning Outcomes:

• Students will be able to correctly use and identify plural nouns by correcting a short paragraph.
• Students will be able to correctly use and identify plural nouns by choosing the correct option in a sentence.
• Students will be able to identify the seven different rules for using plural nouns.

Standards

· 1.5.5.F: Use grade appropriate conventions of language when writing and editing.

o   Spell common, frequently used words correctly.

o   Use capital letters correctly.

o   Punctuate correctly.

o   Use correct grammar and sentence formation.

Anticipatory Set

Sing “Do You Want to Learn Plural Nouns?” to the tune of “Do You Wanna Build a Snowman?” from Frozen.  Play the video with the lyrics on the board so students can sing along.

Procedures

Walk through Plural Nouns Active Inspire. Students will copy down notes on their Guided Note Sheet:

• Have student provide the definition of a noun. Reveal on the presentation.
• Define singular nouns (a noun that refers to only one person, one place, one thing, or one idea). Provide examples (book, beach, toy), and then have students give examples to a partner. Have a few students share their partner’s answers to the whole class.
• Define plural nouns (more than one noun). Give examples (books, beaches, toys) and then have students give examples to a partner. Have a few students share their partner’s answers to the whole class.
• Show the different rules of plural nouns and how the endings change depending on the spelling of the word. Stop to ask questions along the way and have students answer the examples. Also have students talk to a partner to come up with their own examples of words for each rule. Have a few students share their examples to the whole class. Student should copy down the rules on their guided notes sheet.

o   Rule 1: Add an ‘s’ to make most nouns plural.

§  Examples: girl-girls, turtle-turtles, camera-cameras

o   Rule 2: Add –es to nouns ending is sh, ch, s, ss, or x.

§  Examples: bush, bushes, fox-foxes, tomato, tomatoes.

o   Rule 3: When a noun ends with a consonant and y, change y to ‘i’ and add –es. Nouns that end in a y with a vowel before the y, add an –s.

§  Examples: puppy-puppies, bunny-bunnies, daisy-daisies

§  Example: monkey-monkeys

o   Rule 4: Some nouns may end in f, ff, or fe.  Sometimes you need to drop the ‘f” and add –ves, but not all the time.

§  Example: elf-elves, life-lives

§  Example: giraffe-giraffes

o   Rule 5: Change the spelling of some nouns

§  Examples: child-children, foot-feet, person-people

o   Rule 6: If a noun ends in o, add ‘s’ or –es.

§  Examples: tomato-tomatoes, radio-radios, hero-heroes

o   Rule 7: Some nouns don’t change.

§  Examples: moose-moose, sheep-sheep, deer-deer

• Review the rules on the images of plural noun posters
• For the final slide, students will write their answers to the examples in their writing notebooks. They will then share with a partner

Closure

• Students will receive a worksheet with a paragraph on it. They must find 10 nouns that should be plural and write them correctly.
• Have students explain one rule that they learned to a partner.

Differentiation

• The Active Inspire presentation is for visual and 21st century learners.
• The Plural Nouns Guided Note Sheet will help students follow along. Their notes will provide a reference later on. It will help students who are unable to write notes quickly.
• The Do You Want to Learn Plural Nouns? Song will target multiple intelligences, such as those who are musical. It also triggers motivation, interest, and desire to learn.

Formative/Summative Assessment

• Students will have to correctly use plural nouns in their pieces of writing.
• Observations during examples.
• Collect Plural Noun Closure worksheet and formatively assess what students have learned.

Materials

• Writing notebook and pencils
• Plural Nouns Closure Worksheet
• Plural Nouns Active Inspire slides
• Do You Want to Learn Plural Nouns Video
• Plural Noun Guided Note sheet (Found on our Teachers Pay Teachers Page)
• Computer and projector

Technology

• Plural Nouns Active Inspire (Found on our Teachers Pay Teachers Page)
• Computer and projector
• Do You Want to Learn Plural Nouns Video

Reflection on Planning

When I wrote this lesson, I was having trouble thinking of an anticipatory set.  I wanted a song about plural nouns, but I was having trouble finding a song that was just about plural nouns.  Most of the songs that I found were just about nouns in general.  I decided to write my own song.  I remembered work from summer camp where one tribe made a parody of Frozen’s “Do You Want to Build a Snowman?” where they sang “Do You Want to Come to Day Camp?” Because I’ve seen a parody of the song in action before, I thought that this would work for plural nouns, even though I have never seen the movie.  I know that the students at camp were really into Frozen, so perhaps the students in this class may be as well (most likely the girls).

When researching for this lesson, I found a poster display of rules for proper nouns online, so I decided to put those rules into a slide presentation so that students would be able to learn each and every one of them.  I thought examples would better help them understand what the definitions of the rules meant. 

After I finished the lesson, I decided to go back and add a notes sheet. I thought that a notes sheet would help students write down notes faster.  A lot of students have been taking notes during writing, and don’t want me to change the slides.  The note taking sheet will not only help take faster notes, but enable all of the students to take notes, whereas some students wouldn’t take notes in the past. All students will have the sheet as a reference throughout the year, which was another reason I decided to make it.

Reflection of Instruction

Students absolutely loved the “Do You Want to Learn Plural Nouns?” parody.  They wanted to sing it again, even the boys.  I was surprised that it went over so well. I had a feeling they would like it, but not to that extreme.

The class today was much more energetic during writing than any other point during the day.  This could be because most of them missed out on recess due to failure to complete assignments on time.  I had to break up the session by having them stretch to try to settle them down and get them re-focused. I had to use a lot of nonverbal cues to help them settle down.

When reviewing the rules, I could have had students do more of a review themselves rather than me reading the slides.  My supervisor suggested that I have the students rank the rules from most difficult to most easy. This would have required students to revisit the rules, but also apply a more critical thinking strategy.

Note: Click here to download the Active Inspire presentation on Plural Nouns. The presentation is compatible with Promethean Boards. (NOTE: You must have ActivInspire downloaded on your computer to be able to view).