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CHAPTER 6
Analyzing the Structure
of Long Words in Third
Grade and Above
The Strategy of Using Multiletter Word
Parts to Read and Learn Complex Words
This chapter describes how readers use the multiletter groups in
word structure to read and spell long words. You will learn about
multiletter groups or chunks from parts of long words that represent
prefixes and suffixes, and about how syllables represent sound. In
reading this chapter, you will learn the best practices for teaching
prefixes, suffixes, and syllables; how to support readers as they
strategically analyze word structure; and activities for teaching the
structure of long words. Here you will also find suggestions for
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A
t a mere glance, you know how to pronounce astroport , as used in Figure 6-1, and you know it is a noun. You recognize that it is most likely an interstellar station for the space traveling public and, if asked, could use astroport in a sentence. All this is quite interest- ing since astroport is not a real word—at least, not yet. The way to unlock this word’s pronunciation and get insight into its meaning is to divide astroport into the two large, meaningful multi- letter chunks: astro and port. A chunk is a group of letters that represents meaning and sound (the re - in redo ) or sound only (the two syllables in na / tion ). Each word part is spelled the way it sounds and contributes to the word’s definition, provided you know that astro means “star” and port means “to carry.” With this knowledge, you might logically infer that an astroport is a site to which space travelers are transported, just as an airport is a site to which airline passengers are transported. After reading and writing the same letter sequences time and time again, readers perceive these groups as large, intact units. In so doing,
KEY VOCABULARY
Accented syllable Affix Automatic word recognition Base word Bound morpheme Chunk Cognates Compound word Consolidated word learner Contraction
KEY IDEAS
Readers automatically recognize and pronounce large, intact letter groups in long words. Many word parts indicate meaning—for example, the prefix un - in unhappy , the suffix - ly in friendly , and the root word sign in signal and signature. Syllables are units of pronunciation, such as the syllables dis , trib , and ute in distribute. The strategy of analyzing long words to find useful multiletter groups is more efficient than other word identification strategies. The strategy of using large, multiletter groups in the structure of long words is the last word identification strategy to develop before readers automatically recognize the words they see in text.
teaching word structure to English language learners and children at
risk of struggling with reading, as well as e-resources to support
teaching word structure in your classroom reading program.
198 Chapter 6
large structural units that make up complex words. When you demonstrate how the meaning of effort changes when you add - less to make effortless , you are teaching structural analysis. You also teach structural analysis when you help readers un- derstand how isn ’ t consists of is and not. When you help a fifth-grader use a hyphen to divide the word government into syllables so as to write part of the word on one line ( govern -) and part on another ( ment ), you are teaching structural analysis.
THE STRUCTURE OF LONG WORDS In analyzing the structure of long words, children pay attention to the following seven multiletter groups:
1. Prefixes. Prefixes are added to the beginning of words to change meaning (the un - in unpleasant ) or to make meaning more specific (the mid - in midweek ). 2. Suffixes. Suffixes are added to the end of words to clarify meaning (the - s in cats ) or to change grammatical function (the - able in drinkable ). We use the term affix when referring to word parts that are attached or fastened together. For the purposes of this book, we will use affix to refer collectively to prefixes and suffixes. 3. Base Words. Base words (also called morphemes) are the smallest meaningful units, or words, in English that can stand alone ( play, go, come, here, father). 4. Greek and Latin Root Word Parts. Greek and Latin word parts are borrowed from these two languages ( astro borrowed from Greek and port from Latin) to form English words. 5. Compound Words. Compound words are two base words that, when combined, make an entirely new word ( cow boy cowboy ). 6. Contractions. Contractions are shortcuts for writing two words together ( isn ’ t, we ’ re ). 7. Syllables. Syllables are the basic units of pronunciation in our English language (the ta and ble in table ). All words have one or more syllables, and each syllable has one vowel sound.
Free and Bound Morphemes Shady consists of two meaningful parts or morphemes— shade (the base word) and - y (the suffix meaning “full of or having”). Morphemes are the basic meaning units in language. They can be free or bound. Free morphemes represent meaning in and of themselves; they can stand alone. Lady is an example of a free morpheme. We do not need to add any other morpheme to associate meaning with lady. Furthermore, we cannot reduce lady to a smaller word. Lady is a complete, meaningful word all by itself. Bound morphemes have meaning only when they are attached to another morpheme. Shady consists of two morphemes: one free morpheme ( shade ) and one
Analyzing the Structure of Long Words in Third Grade and Above 199
bound morpheme (the suffix - y ). For the - y to be meaningful, we need to add it to another morpheme, such as baggy , chewy , or foamy. Bound morphemes have mean- ing, but that meaning is expressed only when these morphemes are attached to another morpheme. Bound morphemes include prefixes, suffixes, and word parts borrowed from other languages to form English words. Examples of bound morphemes include the pre - in prepay , the - ing in laughing , and the Greek word part phon in phonics. Combining morphemes is a common way to form multisyllable words. It fol- lows, then, that one way to identify an unfamiliar long word is to identify free and bound morphemes in the word. For example, on seeing laughable , readers would find the bound morpheme - able and the free morpheme laugh. Having disaggre- gated the word into morphemic parts, readers now know how to pronounce this word and have insight into word meaning. You may see the term morphemic analy- sis in reference sources or teachers’ manuals. Morphemic analysis is identifying the meaningful parts—free and bound morphemes—in words. For instance, in using morphemic analysis to read a word like reapplied , readers would note the prefix re -, the suffix - ed , and the base word apply. Readers would know how re - and - ed affect the meaning of apply and, therefore, not only identify reapplied but also understand the meaning of reapplied within the context of the reading selection.
TEACHING WORD STRUCTURE
IN YOUR CLASSROOM READING PROGRAM
First and Second Grades
If you are a first- or second-grade teacher, you will teach the word parts that children need to know to be successful readers and spellers in these early grades. As a first-grade teacher, you will introduce common suffixes like - s/es , - ly , - ing , - ed , - er , and - est ; a few common prefixes such as un - and re -; compound words; contractions; and, perhaps, a few syllable patterns such as VC ( cap ), VCe ( cape ), CV ( he ), or C le ( table ). In the second grade, children review the word parts taught in the first grade. As a second-grade teacher, you will introduce compound words and contractions that were not taught in first grade and a few more common pre- fixes and suffixes, such as mis - ( mistook ) and - less ( useless ). Additionally, you might introduce easy-to-recognize and consistently pronounced syllables like the - tion in nation. While word structure is taught in first and second grades, phonics is the main focus of first- and second-grade classroom reading programs.
Third, Fourth, and Fifth Grades
Classroom reading programs emphasize word structure in the third, fourth, and fifth grades because the children in these grades have a reasonable grasp of phon- ics. They do not need focused phonics instruction. The classroom reading programs in these grades focus instead on the multiletter units or chunks in word structure,
Analyzing the Structure of Long Words in Third Grade and Above 201
parts that indicate pronunciation only (the - ter in butter ), as well as those that indi- cate meaning and pronunciation (the - ing in playing ). The more reading and writing experiences children have in school, the more they learn about the structure of words, and the more accomplished they become at using structural analysis to read long words. The strategy of analyzing the structure of long words hinges on identifying the intact letter groups that make up word structure. Let’s look at an example. Peter comes across the new word antiseptic in this sentence from his science book: “Perhaps you recall getting a cut on your knee. Someone may have disinfected the cut with an antiseptic” (Hackett, Moyer, & Adams, 1989, p. 27). Peter’s science class has already discussed antiseptics and their function, so this word is in his speaking and listening vocabularies. Peter also knows that anti means “against or prevent- ing” when it is in common words like antismoking and antitheft. All things consid- ered, Peter brings a good deal of prior knowledge to word identification. He knows what the spoken word antiseptic means, how anti contributes to a word’s definition, and how to recognize many different types of intact, multiletter chunks in the words he reads. Here is how Peter goes about using this streamlined strategy:
1. Peter recognizes anti and, in so doing, instantly recalls its pronunciation and meaning. 2. He identifies two additional word parts: sep and tic. Peter now has divided antiseptic into three pronounceable groups: /anti/ /sep/ /tic/. 3. Peter blends /anti/ /sep/ /tic/ into /antiseptic/. 4. Last, he cross-checks to make sure that he pronounces and understands the word in the context in which it is used in his science book. He asks himself: “Does antiseptic sound and look right? Does antiseptic make sense in the passage?” If antiseptic makes sense, Peter continues reading. In the way Peter separated them, the first group of letters is anti ; the second, sep ; and the third, tic. However, there are other ways Peter might have chosen to group letters. Though the septic in antiseptic is a meaningful word part, Peter is not familiar with it. Had he known the meaning of septic , Peter might have divided antiseptic into these two meaningful chunks: anti septic. Or he could have divided antiseptic into an ti septic. Though the specific multiletter groups individual readers use will vary depending on each reader’s background knowledge, all readers who use this strategy are sensitive to which letters form intact chunks and which do not. Take ing as an example. Readers know that ing represents meaning and sound in playing and only signals pronunciation (a rime) in swing. They also know that ing is not a viable word part in hinge. When identifying multiletter groups, readers bring to bear their knowledge of the letter-sound patterns in a word. Peter and readers like him use their knowledge of letter-sound patterns to determine the letters in new words that are most likely to belong in the same groups. This explains why Peter did not identify the ise as an intact unit in antiseptic. This kind of in-depth knowledge is not an overnight phenomenon. Rather, it develops gradually as readers strategically use the multiletter groups in word structure to read and write long words.
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Correcting Misidentifications Readers who do not successfully identify words on the first try may choose from among the following four alternatives:
1. Reanalyze long words (divide words into different multiletter groups and then blend). 2. Fall back on either the letter-sound or analogy strategy. 3. Look up words in the dictionary. 4. Ask expert readers for help. The strategy of analyzing word structure does not come into its own until after readers have had experience using the analogy and letter-sound strategies. Readers like Peter who look for multiletter chunks in word structure are in the consolidated stage of word learning and the syllables and affixes stage of spelling , as you will learn in the next section.
CONSOLIDATED WORD LEARNERS AND SYLLABLES AND AFFIXES SPELLERS Readers in the consolidated word learning stage have insight into the letter-sound patterns of phonics and have consolidated, or grouped, letter sequences in mem- ory (Ehri, 2005). Readers at the consolidated stage recognize meaningful parts in long words, such as the un - and - ed in unfinished , as well as nonmeaningful sylla- bles, such as the cir and cle in circle. While the transition into the consolidated stage comes toward the end of second grade for most readers, some will move into this stage during the third grade. Average third-grade readers quickly recognize multiletter groups in words. Because these readers automatically associate sounds with whole groups of letters, they read words faster and with greater accuracy than their classmates who try to decode long words letter-sound by letter-sound (Neuhaus, Roldan, Boulware-Gooden, & Swank, 2006). Readers at the consolidated stage use the reading context to help them identify words and use cross-checking to determine whether words make sense in the pas- sages they read. These readers know when to self-correct and, because their focus is on meaning, know when it is necessary to fix a word identification miscue. They do not sound out words letter-sound by letter-sound, nor do they think about anal- ogous rimes to read word family words. Instead, these readers instantly recognize large intact letter groups in words. They recognize syllables, such as the - tion in nation , and they also automatically recognize prefixes (the pre - in preheat ), suffixes (the - er in smaller ), base words (the clean in cleaning ), compound words ( snowman ), and contractions ( she ’ d ). Readers at the consolidated stage are at the syllables and affixes spelling stage (Bear, Invernizzi, Templeton, & Johnston, 2007; Henderson, 1990). These spellers have insight into the structure of words and use this understanding when spelling. When you look at the writing of syllables and affixes spellers, you will
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words the way she believes they sound ( comin for common ). From her misspelling of snaping for snapping , we can infer that Shania is still learning how to add end- ings to words that require doubling the last consonant. As a third-grader, Shania will be ready to make the transition from learning and using letter-sound phonics to learning more about the word parts that make up the structure of long words. The more literacy experiences she has, the more sensitive she will become to the structure of long words, and the more effectively she will use this knowledge when she reads and spells. Fifth-grader Kristen spells all words conventionally, with the exception of restaurant , which she spells restarant (see Figure 6-3). She has a large reading
Figure 6-3 Kristen, a fifth-grader, conventionally spells the words in her fluent reading vocabulary. When reading, she looks for pronounceable multiletter groups or chunks in the words she does not instantly recognize.
Analyzing the Structure of Long Words in Third Grade and Above 205
vocabulary and automatically identifies many words. When she does not instantly recognize a word, she is most likely to analyze word structure to find intact multi- letter groups. Kristen’s knowledge of word structure will continue to grow in middle and high school. This is important because she will rely on the strategy of reading mutliletter groups as whole chunks when she is challenged to learn the long, complex technical terms in high school textbooks. In due time, children’s reading vocabularies become so enormous that they include all the words children typically see in text. Readers who automatically recognize all the words they read are at the fifth and final stage: automatic word recognition. Now word recognition is completely automatic, with the exception, of course, of unusual words and some content subject words. These children spell known words conventionally, including irregular words; they know when words are not spelled right and fix their own misspellings. Accomplished high school readers use many effective comprehension strategies and, because they automati- cally recognize words, they concentrate on comprehending and learning from their textbooks. When these readers encounter new words, they use the strategy of analyzing word structure, calling on their extensive knowledge of multiletter chunks to learn words in subjects like geometry, physics, geography, and American literature.
PREFIXES, S UFFIXES, AND BASE WORDS
Prefixes, suffixes, and base words are meaningful chunks or morphemes. Prefixes are added to the beginning of words ( prepay ); suffixes are added to the end of words ( movement ). Prefixes and suffixes cannot stand alone; they are bound mor- phemes and must be attached to words. For example, the word like can stand alone, but the prefix un - and the suffix - ly cannot. When un - and - ly are added to like , we create a word with a different meaning and grammatical function, unlikely. Affixes make words longer, as we see in unlikely , reworked , and returnable. Unlike prefixes and suffixes, base words stand alone. Base words are free morphemes and are the smallest real words in English. We add affixes to base words. For example, we might add - ing to learn to make learning , - able to train to spell trainable , and in - and
- ive to act to write inactive. Prefixes, suffixes, and Greek and Latin word parts tell readers something about word meaning, which in turn supports the understanding of text. Therefore, knowing the meaning of these structural units makes it possible for readers to infer word meaning. As children have experiences reading and writing, and as they learn about the structure of words from their teachers, chil- dren come to understand that some words consist of two or more meaningful units. Eventually, children become so familiar with the meaningful parts in words they read words with more than one chunk, such as the suffix and base word shady , faster than words with only one meaningful chunk, as in lady (Carlisle & Stone, 2005).
Analyzing the Structure of Long Words in Third Grade and Above 207
Suffixes Suffixes either clarify word meaning or change grammatical function. There are two types of suffixes: inflectional suffixes and derivational suffixes. Inflectional endings consist of - s ( es ), - ed , - ing , - er , and - est. These suffixes change the number ( dog - dogs ), affect verb tense ( walk - walked ), or indicate comparison ( big , bigger , biggest ). Inflectional endings are the most frequently occurring of all the suffixes (White, Sowell, et al., 1989). Table 6–2 has generalizations about adding suffixes to base words.
TABLE 6–2 Generalizations for Adding Suffixes
- s and - es
Add - s to one-syllable VC and VCe words: win-wins, make-makes. Add - es to words that end in s , ss , ch , sh , x , and z : bus-buses , wish-wishes. When a word ends in f or fe , and the plural includes a /v/, change the f or fe to a v before adding - es : leaf-leaves , shelf - shelves.
Words Ending in a Consonant
The spelling of base words that end in a consonant often does not change when adding a suffix: short-shorter , alarm - alarming.
VC Short-vowel Words
We often double the last consonant before adding a suffix that begins with a vowel: big-biggest. Doubling the last consonant indicates the vowel is short ( hop - hopped ). When the final consonant is not doubled, the vowel in the base word is usually long: ride - rider , hope - hoped.
VCC Short-vowel Words
Simply add suffixes to one-syllable words ending in a VCC short-vowel pattern. The final consonant is not doubled because there is no chance of confusing these short-vowel words with long-vowel VCe words: talk - talking , soft - softer.
VCe Long-vowel Words
Drop the final e before adding a suffix that begins with a vowel or - y : dine-dining , large-largest , ease- easy. We do not need the final e because the suffix begins with a vowel. Keep the final e when adding a suffix that begins with a consonant: move-movement , like-likely.
Words Ending in Y, y
Simply add a suffix to words ending in ay , oy , and ey : play-plays , obey-obeyed. Generally change the y to an i before adding a suffix when a word ends in a y preceded by a consonant: carry-carries , busy- busiest. Generally keep the y when adding a suffix that begins with an i : try-trying , boy-boyish.
Words Ending in ce or ge
Do not drop the e when adding suffixes that begin with a vowel: notice-noticeable , manage- management. Drop the e before adding a suffix that begins with an e : change-changed , admire-admired.
Two- or More Syllable Words Ending in a VC Syllable
Double the final consonant when the last syllable represents a VC pattern and is accented: begin- beginner, occur-occurrence. Do not double the final consonant when the final VC syllable is unaccented : open-opener, cover-covered.
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Derivational suffixes affect meaning and grammatical usage, such as changing dirt (noun) to dirty (adjective), history (noun) to historic (adjective), and agree (verb) to agreeable (adjective). Children’s knowledge of derivational suffixes increases from the third to the fifth grade (Mahony, Singson, & Mann, 2000; Singson, Mahoney, & Mann, 2000). You can expect older readers to more readily recognize and understand derivational suffixes like - ment , - able , and - ic than younger, less experienced readers. Table 6–3 is a list of the 20 most common suffixes (White, Power, & White, 1989). Ross’s story in Figure 6-4 illustrates how a precocious first-grader uses common suffixes. Ross conventionally spells words with - ed , - ing , and - s/es and correctly forms contractions. Ross has learned these multiletter groups so well that they are second nature when he reads and writes. For example, he drops the final y in try and writes an i before adding - ed to spell tried. Notice the word cutted , which
TABLE 6–3 The 20 Most Common Suffixes
Suffix Meaning Examples al, ial relating to bridal, global, rental, burial, memorial, personal ed past tense played, jumped, painted, hopped, kicked en relating to liken, ripen, olden, frozen, waken, wooden er, or one who painter, player, reader, worker, visitor, actor, sailor er comparative quicker, higher, fatter, uglier, faster, slower est most (comparative) biggest, slowest, highest, largest, fastest, nicest ful quality of artful, joyful, beautiful, plentiful, careful, fearful ible, able able to, quality of readable, eatable, fixable, defensible, divisible ic like, pertaining to historic, scenic, acidic, atomic, poetic ing ongoing reading, listening, running, jumping, helping ion, ation, ition, tion
act or state of action, addition, adoption, construction, donation
ity, ty state or quality of dirty, dusty, nutty, salty, fruity, oddity, activity ive, ative, itive tending to, relating to creative, active, massive, formative, additive less without joyless, aimless, fearless, endless, jobless, useless ly every, in the manner of friendly, badly, kindly, dimly, boldly, calmly ment result or state of payment, argument, judgment, excitement, shipment ness quality of fitness, illness, happiness, madness, goodness ous, eous, ious full of, state of studious, joyous, envious, furious, gaseous s, es plural dogs, houses, boys, girls, ashes, boxes, teachers y quality, full of ability, muddy, baggy, bossy, bumpy, chewy, jumpy
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variety of suffixes. As readers move into higher grades, their knowledge of suffixes also increases, quite possibly as a consequence of increased grammatical aware- ness (Nunes, Bryant, & Bindman, 1997). So, it is not surprising that children in fourth through eighth grade use their knowledge of suffixes to read new words in context, and that children in sixth through eighth grade are better at this than those in fourth grade (Wysocki & Jenkins, 1987).
Base Words We have learned that base words (free morphemes) are the smallest real English words to which we might add prefixes and suffixes. Unlike prefixes and suffixes, base words stand alone; they are what is left when we take away the prefixes and suffixes ( drinkable – able drink; unhappy – un happy ). Butterfly is a base word because we cannot divide it into butter and fly and still maintain the meaning of butterfly. We can, however, add a suffix to butterfly. We might refer to several butterflies. In this example, the - es ending is not part of the base word. The purpose of - es is to indicate that there is more than one butterfly. Likewise, we cannot take letters away from base words and still preserve their meaning. For example, if we find a “little word,” such as wag , in a “big word,” such as wagon , we cannot say that wag is the base word for wagon. Wagon is the base word, as it conveys the meaning. Wag is an English word, to be sure, but it conveys a totally different meaning from that of wagon.
BEST PRACTICES FOR TEACHING PREFIXES AND SUFFIXES Because children in fourth and fifth grade read longer and more complex words than children in earlier grades, understanding how prefixes and suffixes affect word meaning becomes increasingly important. Children in fifth grade are sensitive to prefixes and suffixes in the words they read (McCutchen, Logan, & Biangardi-Orpe, 2009). Fourth- and fifth-graders who understand how prefixes and suffixes affect base word meaning have larger reading vocabularies and better comprehension than their classmates with less knowledge (Carlisle, 2000; Deacon & Kirby, 2004; Nagy, Berninger, & Abbot, 2006). In using the following best practices, you will effectively teach children how to recognize, read, and write words with prefixes and suffixes.
1. Break words into meaningful parts, talk about the parts, and put the words back together again. In following this teaching sequence, you show children how affixes combine with base words. This makes children more aware of affixes and teaches them something about word meaning. For example, you might begin with unfairly , break it into parts— un, fair, ly —and talk about the mean- ing of each part, and then show children how the parts work together to make unfairly. 2. Teach the peel-off strategy. Peeling prefixes and suffixes away from long words is helpful because this reveals base words that are already part of
Analyzing the Structure of Long Words in Third Grade and Above 211
readers’ reading vocabulary. We will use the word unfriendly as an illustration. Show readers the following steps: a. Do I see a prefix? Look for a prefix. If you see a prefix, peel it off. Peeling un- away from unfriendly ( unfriendly un friendly ) reveals friendly. b. Do I see a suffix? Look for a suffix. If you see a suffix, peel it off too. Peeling -ly away from friendly (friendly ly friend) reveals the base word friend. c. Do I know this base word? If you see a familiar base word, read it to yourself. d. Put the word back together. The word is unfriendly. Now I can read this word.
3. Teach inflectional suffixes (-s/es , -ed , -ing , -er , -est) in the first and second grades. Begin to explore meaningful word parts early, and suffixes are a better investment in learning than prefixes. Authors who write for young readers frequently use words that end with - es , - ing , and - ed , which makes these suffixes extremely important. The comparative suffixes - er and - est are useful because they are important for understanding comparisons such as quick , quicker , and quickest or large , larger , and largest. 4. Give children practice reading and writing many different words with the same prefixes and suffixes. As children’s reading ability increases, you can expect their knowledge of multiletter chunks to expand as well. In reading and writing words with the same prefixes and suffixes, children learn how these affixes contribute to word meaning. Prefixes and suffixes are significant features of syntax and therefore contribute to the strength of sentence structure cues. This is especially true for the inflectional endings. When children read and write in your classroom, take naturally occurring opportunities to ask them to find base words with affixes and to explain in their own words how the affixes affect word meaning. 5. Teach base word meaning. Children need to know the meaning of the base words to which the affixes are added. Once children understand base word meaning and recognize base words in text, then it is appropriate to teach them how affixes affect base word meaning. 6. Directly teach affixes in meaningful reading and writing contexts. Teaching words in context helps children develop an appreciation of how affixes change the meaning of base words. Demonstrate how to divide unfamiliar long words into base words and affixes when readers meet these words in context. Explain, too, how the meaning of base words with affixes is consis- tent with the reading context. Give children opportunities, under your guidance, to read and write base words with affixes and to discuss the meanings of these words in the books they read in your classroom and at home in their leisure time.
GREEK AND LATIN WORD PARTS
Greek and Latin word parts are borrowed from both languages. When the schol- ars, philosophers, and authors of the Renaissance became interested in writing in their own language, English, they borrowed liberally from ancient Greek and Latin
Analyzing the Structure of Long Words in Third Grade and Above 213
compound has practically nothing to do with the meaning of the individual words. Examples include butterfly , hardware , turtleneck , and peppermint. The first-, second-, and third-grade readers we teach find compound words to be relatively easy to learn. Perhaps this is because compounds are made of two whole words and thus are not overly challenging to identify. When the words that make up compounds are already in children’s reading vocabularies, pronunciation
TABLE 6–4 Greek and Latin Word Parts
Root Meaning Example Root Meaning Example
aqua water aquarium ast(er) star asterisk
aud hear audience bio life biography
cycl circle, wheel bicycle dict speak dictionary
duct lead conduct fin end, limit final
geo earth geography graph write biography
hydr water dehydrate ject throw project
loc place location logy study of psychology
magn great magnify meter measure thermometer
micro small microscope nov new novel
numer number numeral pend hand pendulum
phon sound symphony port carry airport
quest seek, ask question rupt break interrupt
sci know science scribe write subscribe
semi half semicircle serv keep preserve
spect see spectator scop see telescope
sphere ball stratosphere sub under, less submarine
tele far telescope terr land territory
therm heat thermometer vid see video
vis see visual voc voice vocal
Numerals
bi two bicycle dec ten decade
hex six hexagon kilo thousand kilometer
oct(a) (o) eight octopus pent(a) five pentagon
quad(r) (ri) four quadrant sept(i) seven septet
sex six sextet tetra four tetrapod
tri three triangle uni one unison
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is merely a question of saying the words together. As for the meaning of com- pounds, we find that readers are intrigued by the changes in meaning that occur when words are glued together. First-graders enjoy finding words that are glued together in compounds. Older readers, on the other hand, have so much experi- ence that the compounds they see in everyday text usually pose no challenge whatsoever. This said, some teachers may continue to introduce a few new com- pound words through the fifth grade, depending on the reading program. When compound words are part of fourth- and fifth-grade programs, they are usually taught through spelling.
CONTRACTIONS Contractions are formed when one or more letters (and sounds) are deleted from words. Missing letters are replaced by an apostrophe, which is a visual clue telling readers that a word is abbreviated, as in hasn ’ t , he ’ s , she ’ ll , and let ’ s. Words mean exactly the same thing whether they are written as a contraction or individually. First- and second-graders meet contractions in everyday reading material, so it is important that these readers learn to recognize the contractions they see in storybooks. Older children may occasionally review how to form contractions and the words that contractions represent. All children encounter contractions in reading and use them in writing, so teaching contractions is a good large group activity. Use a set of magnetic letters and a magnetic apostrophe (or an IWB) to illustrate how contractions are formed. Ask first- and second-graders to change words like she and will into she ’ ll as well as to reverse the process by changing contractions ( she ’ ll ) into two words ( she and will ). Then you write pairs of sentences. In the first sentence, you underline two words that can be combined to form a contraction. In the second sentence, you leave a blank where the contraction should be:
1. The dog did not find the bone. 2. The dog ________ find the bone. Children then read the first sentence, form a contraction from the two underlined words ( did and not ), and write the contraction ( didn ’ t ) in the blank in the second sentence. Everyone then reads both sentences together in chorus while you sweep your hand under the words as they are read.
SYLLABLES The syllable is the basic unit of pronunciation. Each syllable has one vowel sound, so the number of syllables in a word equals the number of vowels heard. Try saying lilac. How many vowels do you hear? /li/-/lac/ has two vowel sounds and hence two syllables. Now try table. When you pronounce the last syllable, ble , you do not notice a distinct vowel. You hear instead a vowel-like sound—/bul/. So when we
