Name: _____________________________

You work on Mojangs Minecraft team. New resources

and mobs are being added to the game.

Players need to see the names of these resources and

mobs written correctly.

The game is programmed to create the plural form of each resource or mob. It follows the
rule: Add s to the end of each noun. For example: Brick > Bricks.

1. The game has followed this rule for other nouns. Check whether these are correct.
Singular Plural Created Correct? Correct Plural
(Write Yes or No)
fish fishs

child childs

mouse mouses

rope ropes

person persons

foot foots

bookshelf bookshelfs

block blocks

wolf wolfs

lily lilys

sheep sheeps

potato potatos

Now think of your own for the program to test

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You need to test the computer program when using nouns in complete sentences.
2. Use the plural form of each of the nouns below in a complete sentence.
Try to write a sentence that might appear in the Minecraft game.

leaf:

sword:

torch:

man:

Brain Power:
A computer program follows rules. You can come up with your own rules for it to
follow.

The rule for regular nouns is: Add an s to the end of each noun

Write some rules to create irregular plural nouns.

Your rules should be clear and simple.

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 TEACHER GUIDE
Activity:
Review the word noun and ask students for examples. As each example is given write the
word in two columns, one showing the singular form and the other the plural form.
Note you may need to add extra nouns to ensure some irregular plurals are listed.
Look at the list and ask if they see any rules for forming plurals. Discuss regular and irregular
plural nouns and different types of irregular plural nouns (ies, es, ves, etc.).
Talk to students about computer programming. Explain that engineers write programs to
make computer games work: they can create a set of rules for games to follow.
Use brick as an example and explain that a player will see either 1 brick or 2 bricks on their
screen. The game needs to know how to change brick > bricks, i.e. add an s. Then discuss
how the computer program would follow this rule with knife and whether this rule would
work here. You could prepare for the Brain Power section by coming up with a rule for fe
words as a class.
Go over the directions for students to complete Pluralizing Minecraft independently. You may
want to discuss the different terms (mob, resources) with a Minecraft expert in the class.
Consider having students look up definitions of domain-specific vocabulary that appears in
this task, such as: programmed, irregular, plural, resource.

Differentiation:
Decrease difficulty: Leave examples on display showing a selection of irregular endings
Remove some of the nouns in Q1
Have students check their nouns in a dictionary
Allow students to work in groups to come up with ideas for Q2
Increase difficulty: Remove the words from Q2 and have students think of their own
irregular plural nouns or ask students to combine into fewer
sentences
Q1: Have students come up with more than two of their own

Brain Power:
The Brain Power question is included to help students with strategic and extended thinking.
There is generally no right or wrong answer, but students are required to show a deeper
understanding of the skill(s) being practiced.
Students should be encouraged to think strategically, plan carefully, carry out thorough
investigations, and give clear justifications to support their reasoning where appropriate.
Provide appropriate support or groupings as necessary and consider giving students an
example such as When a noun ends in fe, remove the fe and add ves.

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ANSWER KEY
1.

Singular Plural CreatedCorrect? Correct Plural

(Yes or No)
fish fishs No fish
child childs No children
mouse mouses No mice
rope ropes Yes (ropes)
person persons No people
foot foots No feet
bookshelf bookshelfs No bookshelves
block blocks Yes (blocks)
wolf wolfs No wolves
lily lilys No lilies
sheep sheeps No sheep
potato potatos No potatoes
Students should correctly add two of their own either regular or irregular nouns

2. Students should write four full sentences, ideally based on Minecraft, using the
following plural nouns: leaves, swords, torches and men.

Brain Power
Students may have come up with general rules such as:
- When a noun ends in fe, remove the fe and add ves
- When a noun ends in y, remove the y and add ies
or more specific rules like:
- When you see the word sheep, do no add an s

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 RUBRIC

To keep track of students progress against standards, check the boxes in the rubric below.
Indicate the students understanding of the skills covered in this task, using their score as an
indicator.

You may also use the Brain Power question as an indicator of exemplary understanding.

L.3.1.B Form and use regular and irregular plural nouns.

Question No. Proficient Developing Not Yet

Form regular plural nouns 1.

(ropes, blocks) Score = ___ / 2
Form irregular plural nouns
(fish, children, mice, people, 1.
feet, bookshelves, wolves, Score = ___ / 10
lilies, sheep, potatoes)
Use regular plural nouns 2.
(swords) Score = ___ / 1
Use irregular plural nouns 2.
(leaves, torches, men) Score = ___ / 3

Strategic & Extended Thinking

Think strategically Brain Power

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