1-Cover a lot of ground
Studies show that morphologically derived words make up 40% of unfamiliar words children encounter in text in their late elementary school years (Nagy & Anderson, 1984; Nagy et al., 1993 as cited in Tong, Deacon, Kirby, Cain, & Parrila, 2011, p. 529). By teaching morphemes, you are introducing students to the basis of almost half of the words they will read in a given text.
Tip: Take a section of text and highlight or mark all the words that use roots they know. This is a great way for students to see the way morphemes help them understand lots of words in a variety of contexts.
2-Dissect words
Research suggests that classroom activities can be used to boost children’s ability to dissect and analyze morphologically complex words that occur in their reading materials and to infer the meanings of these words by using their knowledge of the root words and suffixes (Larsen & Nippold, 2007, p. 208). Tactile activities using index cards would work for this, as well as digitally based activities such as the one featured in the video below.
Tip: One strategy offered by Winters (2009) is a morpheme triangle (see image), which offers an entry point for students to bring what they know to the conversation about words.
3-Teach it as a cognitive strategy
Kieffer & Lesaux (2007) noted that teachers should teach four steps explicitly, model them several times with various words, and provide students with time to practice them. The four steps:
- recognize they don’t know,
- analyze for morphemes,
- hypothesize a meaning, and
- check against context
4-Think deep and wide
In their research of upper elementary students, Kieffer & Lesaux (2007) found that a better understanding of morphemes led to a larger vocabulary, and a larger vocabulary led to a greater understanding of word parts. Therefore, teaching morphemes helps build not only a wide knowledge of words but a deep one as well, a concept Stahl (1999, as cited in Kieffer & Lesaux, 2007) studied as well. This idea was that a strong vocabulary means more than just knowing the definition of words; it also includes knowing how words relate to each other and can transform into new words.
Tip: Have students practice connecting new words to words they already know or other related words by using graphic organizers. A common one used for root words is a tree diagram, where the root word is the root of the tree and related words are the branches.
5-Word Walls (explicit instruction)
Tip: One way to explicitly teach morphemes is to create a word wall that students can use to identify word parts. Having prefixes and suffixes available for student use gives students the knowledge they need when they discover an unfamiliar word with a familiar root.
6-It's all Greek to me (in context)
Tip: Using whatever text being read in the classroom, pull out words with the same for study. The roots can be taught explicitly within the context of the current text. A chart would work especially well to track the different words using the same root and their meanings.
7-Scaffold instruction
Tip: Give students the scaffolding they need by asking some helpful questions:
- What does the word mean? How do you know?
- Can you break the word into smaller parts? What do these parts mean?
- Are there any context clues that help you know what it means?
- Could it mean...? Or...?
8-Reach ELLs
Tip: Have ELLs keep a graphic organizer to record cognates that they can connect to root words for meaning and easy recognition. This can be their own personal word list kept in a notebook.
9-Remediation
Tip: Add the teaching of morphemes to remediation attempts by focusing on words students struggle with during guided reading in small groups. Stop to focus on these words and model the thinking that goes with this type of processing.
10-Learn more
Tip: Use the related reading section and the webliography to find out more about using morphemes in the classroom to benefit all of your students.
Parent Tips
Homework help: When your child struggles with a word, see if you can connect it to another word to help foster connections and build comprehension.
There's an app for that: There are lots of apps to help students with word parts. Check out the Roots to Words app at www.taptolearn.com.
Play games: When you are driving in the car, look for words on signs that start with a certain prefix or end with a certain suffix.
Flash cards: Prefixes, suffixes and root words can all be practiced using flashcards. The traditional method of index cards is just fine, but for a digital tool, try www.quizlet.com/.
Talk it out: Think of a word that uses a certain root word (like use). Have your child think of as many other words as he can that have the same root (like reuse or useful). Try using each new word in a sentence.
Christy M. Johnson
Student-The University of Texas at Arlington
Email: christy.johnson2@mavs.uta.edu
Twitter: @mrs_cmjohnson
