When There’s More Than One: Explain to your students that we use the plural “s” when we’re talking about more than one thing. For example, one dog becomes many dogs, one book becomes many books, and one apple becomes many apples.
Add “s” to Most Nouns: In most cases, to make a noun plural, we simply add the letter “s” to the end of the word. For instance, “cat” becomes “cats,” “dog” becomes “dogs,” and “book” becomes “books.”
Exceptions with “es”: Teach them about the exceptions where we add “es” instead of just “s.” Words that end in s, x, ch, sh, and z usually get an “es” to form the plural. For example, “bus” becomes “buses,” “box” becomes “boxes,” “church” becomes “churches,” “wish” becomes “wishes,” and “buzz” becomes “buzzes.”
Irregular Plurals: Introduce them to irregular plurals, such as “child” becoming “children,” “foot” becoming “feet,” and “mouse” becoming “mice.” These words don’t follow the typical rule of adding “s” or “es.”