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When making words plural, why do you add S to some words but ES to others? And when a word ends with Y, how do you know whether to change the Y to I before adding the plural suffix? And why on earth does the word knife become knives?
You can unravel these mysteries with six scoops of ice cream. Just click the play button below for a yummy treat, and then read on for free printable spelling rule posters and sample lessons!
Whether you prefer your ice cream in dishes or in cones or with one cherry or two cherries, these tasty guidelines will help you spell plurals correctly every time.
Tips and tricks like these are taught throughout the All About Spelling program. Want to see more? Download these free resources to see just how easy teaching spelling rules can be.
Download All About Spelling Level 1, Lessons 22 and 23.
These lessons from All About Spelling Level 1 shows how we teach kids to make words plural by adding either S or ES.
Download All About Spelling Level 5, Step 17.
In this lesson from All About Spelling Level 5, you can see how we teach kids to pluralize words that end in F and FE.
Download our free Spelling Rules Posters.
This handy resource will help make learning three important spelling rules fun and easy to remember for your children.
Do you think these guidelines for making words plural will improve your child’s spelling? Let me know in the comments below! And check out our other spelling rules, too!
Emily
says:Thanks for this! I have a question though. Have the numbering of the rules changed a bit since the last printing of the books? My student was a little confused that it didn’t seem to match with the Make It Plural book he was doing today.
Robin
says: Customer ServiceYou’re welcome, Emily.
No, the numbering hasn’t changed; what you have with the All About Spelling Level 5 Make It Plural book is what is currently offered.
Are you asking about how this infographic presents some of the plural rules in a different order? This poster wasn’t created that way to suggest the rules have to be taught or applied in a certain order. This poster is simplified over the patterns taught in the Make It Plural book. For example, the Make It Plural book teaches making silent E words plural by adding an S separately from adding an S to other words. This poster is a nice visual reminder, while the Make It Plural book is a more incremental step-by-step review of making words plural.
I hope this clears things up, but let me know if you have additional questions.
Betsy
says:This is so helpful because we struggle with this concept.
Robin
says: Customer ServiceMy glad this is helpful, Betsy!
Kylee
says:I find blogs like this so amazing in contributing to our reading/writing/spelling journey. Thank you so much.
Robin
says: Customer ServiceYou’re welcome, Kylee!
Kailee
says:I have these hanging up on my wall to use as a reference for my tutoring students! Visually appealing and helpful!
Robin
says: Customer ServiceKailee,
I’m glad these will be useful and appealing to your students! Thank you.
Kandy
says:Thank you so much for the spelling rule posters! They’re a great resource!
Robin
says: Customer ServiceYou’re so welcome, Kandy! Thank you!
omakltoum ajouri
says:I love it ,Robin!
Debra
says:👍
Katherine
says:Very nice and informative poster. Thank you!
Robin
says: Customer ServiceYou’re welcome, Katherine! Thank you.
Gerda Theron
says:This is a great help for parents.
Thanks
Robin
says: Customer ServiceYou’re welcome, Gerda! I glad this is a help for you.
Gerda Theron
says:These are so much help for parents who are struggling with reading and writing English.
Thank you!
Kelly
says:Thank you, for sharing resources.
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceYou’re welcome, Kelly.
Robert
says:I would like to know when spelling bible whether it is le or el?
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceRobert,
There is no rule for using LE or EL to spell the /ul/ syllable at the end of the word. The make matters worse, the /ul syllable can also be spelled IL or AL as well.
I can tell you that the IL spelling (as in pencil, stencil, basil) is the least common spelling. EL (as in cancel, travel, cruel) is the next in commonness, then AL (focal, local, traditional), and LE is the most common (Bible, pickle, article). One other tip is that most of the time AL is used when the word is an adjective.
So, with that in mind, it is best for students to become very familiar with IL words and EL words, as they have to be learned visually. Students need to know which just looks correct. Otherwise, ask themselves if the word is an adjective or has a base word as AL is a suffix added to words to make them adjectives. Otherwise, students need to know that LE is the most common spelling of this syllable and use it most often.
We recommend when teaching these to spend a lot of time with each one before introducing the next one, including reading a lot of words in addition to spelling them to build up visual memory for how they look.
I hope this helps some.
Ronald Dahl
says:Can you get this in a book form
If so what is the name of it I think it helped me out too
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceYes, Ronald. It is All About Spelling and it can be purchased through our website, All About Learning Press.
Carole McDonald
says:We really like the ice cream poster.
hayden
says:icecrema is my faoivrit
Cheree
says:This is awesome info and I found it just in time! I am starting to work thru rules and guidelines of spelling plurals with my daughter ?
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceI’m glad this was just in time to be helpful for you, Cheree! ?
Elizabeth Black
says:I absolutely love this bright Ana’s beautiful posters- they are so crispy and clear my kiddos love them, and like that they are not “too busy’). ELizabeth
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceThank you, Elizabeth! I’m glad you like the posters.
shehzad Royyy
says:Great work.
I have learned a lot from above mentioned rules.
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceThank you, Shehzad.
Jacqueline
says:These lessons have taken out all guessing for my kids learning how to spell plural words! We are so thankful for AAS!
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceThis is great to hear, Jacqueline! I’m very pleased to know that this was helpful for your kids.
Stephanie
says:Thank you. These will come in handy.
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceYou’re welcome, Stephanie!
Melissa Remmert
says:Love the resources! Also love the whole program! It’s really helping my daughter spell a lot better! Thank you!
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceGreat to hear, Melissa! It’s exciting to hear that All About Spelling is helping your daughter to have success with spelling!
Shana Levy
says:very helpful
Jeniver
says:Very helpful! My son will love these!
Samantha Sinclair
says:This was very helpful. Thank you!
Christine
says:This was a very helpful video!
valentina guerrini
says:This is a great way to make spelling easier to grasp.
Zorah F
says:These are great engaging resources for teaching important spelling rules to my young kids!
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceThank you, Zorah!
Katie
says:It would have been wonderful to learn these rules thirty years ago in public school. Thank you for making many of your resources free to access.
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceI know what you mean, Katie. But I’m glad this is available in time to help today’s students.
Meg
says:This was really helpful!
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceThank you, Meg!
Emily
says:Love that ice cream chart! Very engaging but easy to read.
Erin H
says:I love how engaging your materials are.
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceAwww, thank you, Erin!