As you set out to teach the plural of nouns to English language learners, known as ELL, it's important to know exactly what level of English language knowledge they already possess. For some English language learners, you will need to begin a lesson on nouns and plurals at the very beginning. Others may already have an understanding of the basic rules of plural nouns.

Noun Choice
When teaching the plural of nouns to English language learners, it's helpful and effective to use nouns that the students are familiar with. Rather than giving the lesson using comprehensive nouns that the students may not have ever heard of before, stick with basic plural nouns, such "children," "brothers," "cars," "women" and "men." As the students get a grasp on the elementary plural nouns, move on to more difficult words, such as "cacti" as the plural form of "cactus" and "geese" for the plural of "goose."

Visual Aids
Using visual aids in your lesson for the plural of nouns can make your teaching attempts more successful. When you represent a noun with both pictures and words, students will be able to visualize the context of the noun. For instance, put a picture of one woman on one side of a poster board, with the word "woman" written below it. Put a picture of two or more women on the other side of the poster board, with the word "women" written below it. The visual elements let you communicate the concept of multiple or more than one, which is the lesson behind plurals.

Exercises
An effective way to engage English language learners in your lesson plan is to put them to the test by administering worksheet exercises on the lesson. For a plural noun worksheet, exercises may consist of word games, such as a word scramble or a word search puzzle, or a multiple choice worksheet where the student has to circle the plural noun from a group of singular nouns. Exercises should be performed in class so that you can walk around and assist the students as they encounter questions or barriers.

Interactive Games
Incorporating interactive games into your lesson plan on plurals is another effective way to stimulate ELL students and get them engaged to retain the information. One example of an interactive game is "Around the World" -- where the students stand up at their desk and the teacher asks each student, individually, to give the plural of a noun. If the student gets the plural correct, he remains standing. Students who don't answer correctly must sit down. The last person standing in the game wins. Other interactive games can include multimedia games on the computer, where students have to click on the correct plural answer to advance to the next level and compete for the highest scores.