Spelling patterns

Spelling patterns: I can spell plurals and words with prefixes and suffixes, pick the right homophone and spot a misspelt word.

1. Plural means more than one. Here are two ways to make a plural.

   Dog just adds the letter s: dog, dogs.

   Bus, fox, watch and paintbrush end in the letters s, x, ch and sh.

   After those letters, we add es: buses, foxes, watches, paintbrushes.

   Picture: Sorting into 2 groups: Add s, Add es. Add s: dog, dogs (dog). Add es: bus, buses (bus), fox, foxes (fox), watch, watches (watch), paintbrush, paintbrushes (paintbrush).

2. Key, monkey, baby, cherry and butterfly all end in the letter y. Look at the letter just before it.

   Key and monkey have a vowel, the letter e, before the letter y. They just add the letter s: keys, monkeys.

   Baby, cherry and butterfly have a consonant before the letter y.

   So we change the letter y to i, then add es: babies, cherries, butterflies.

   Picture: Sorting into 2 groups: Add s, Change y to i, add es. Add s: key, keys (key), monkey, monkeys (monkey). Change y to i, add es: baby, babies (baby), cherry, cherries (cherry), butterfly, butterflies (butterfly).

3. Your turn: One box, two ___. Which word is the plural of box?

   Choose one:

   • boxs
   • boxes
   • boxies

   Answer

   The answer: boxes

   Box ends in the letter x.

   So we add es: boxes.

   Picture: The root word "box" and the suffix "es" join to make "boxes", adding es.

Words to know

plural:

More than one, like 3 foxes.

vowel:

One of the letters a, e, i, o and u.

consonant:

Any letter that is not a vowel, such as the letters b, c and d.

prefix:

Letters added to the front of a word, like un in unkind.

suffix: