The Elementary Spelling Book, being an Improvement on the American Spelling Book · No. 43 · Part 4: Accent, blends and new sounds
25. One and more than one: egg, eggs; bell, bells
Goal: Your child makes plurals by adding s and hears when that s sounds like z.
You'll need
- The book, open to this table
- A slate, small whiteboard, or paper and pencil
What's in the book
No. 43 is a table of words in pairs, one and more than one: stave, staves; egg, eggs; cliff, cliffs; hall, halls; mill, mills; wall, walls; bill, bills; ball, balls; bell, bells. Sentences follow, such as "A cliff is a high steep rock."
The lesson, step by step
The pattern
SayOne egg. Two...? Eggs. To mean more than one, we add s.
Say "eggs", "bells", "balls" slowly. The s at the end sounds like z. In "cliffs" it sounds like s. The spelling is the same.
Read the table aloud
Read the pairs aloud: your child reads the first word, you read the second, then swap.
stave, staves
egg, eggs
cliff, cliffs
hall, halls
bell, bells
Spell aloud
Now the old way: your child looks at a word, then spells it aloud and says it.
Sayb, e, l, l, s, bells.
Go down a column like this. Then cover the column, say a word, and have your child spell it aloud without looking.
Read the sentences
Under the table are short reading lessons that use its words. Your child reads them aloud, pointing to each word. Help with any word not yet learned. Two of them:
A cliff is a high steep rock.
A tarn is a small lake among the mountains.
Dictation
Say one word; your child writes its plural. Try: egg, mill, wall, bill, ball, bell, cliff, skull.
Check together. Any word written with a z instead of s goes on a card.
Wrap up
Look around the room and make plurals: chairs, cups, books.