Teaching Word Learning StrategiesCynthia SantosuossoJanuary 30, 2014

ObjectivesDetermine the different types of context cluesDeepen your personal knowledge of morphology Learn classroom strategies to support students

learning of new words Context clues Morphology

Common Core Connections

Teaching Word Learning Strategies

Teach word learning

strategies

Using the context

Types of Clues

Teaching Word Parts

Prefixes Suffixes Roots

Teaching Word Learning Strategies

Use context

Use word parts

Best to

com-bine

What can effective word learners do?

Attack unknown words Break words into their meaningful parts Hypothesize meanings for larger words Check the word meaning against the context of the text

as well as their own background knowledge Use their knowledge of high-frequency root words to

access low-frequency words.

Context Clues

What are context clues?

Context clues are the words, phrases, and sentences

surrounding an unfamiliar word that can give hints or clues to its

meaning.

Why Teach Context Clues?

Instruction in specific types of context clues is an effective

approach for teaching students to use context to infer word

meanings. (Reading Rockets)

What is the best way to teach context clues?

Provide examples from content reading.

Types of Context Clues

1. Definition2. Description3. Synonym4. Comparison5. Contrast6. Example

Type of Clue: Definition

Explanation: The word is defined directly in the sentence.

Example: The nation was undergoing urbanization-the movement of people into cities.

Type of Clue: Description

Explanation: The word is described by information in the context so that the reader can figure out the meaning.

Example: Pollination occurs when a pollen grain from a male plant lands on the stigma of a female plant.

Type of Clue: SynonymExplanation: A word that is similar to

the word is provided.

Example: Water soaks in the ground pores, or spaces, among the fragments of soil.

Type of Clue: Comparison

Explanation: The word is compared with other examples that are similar.

Example: Light enters your eye through a pupil, which is like a small hole.

Type of Clue: Contrast

Explanation: The word is contrasted with another word, usually an antonym.

Example: Unlike a compound, an element cannot be broken down into simpler materials.

Type of Clue: Example Explanation: A word or words that are

examples are provided.

Example: The children could tell, from Pete’s statement about everything and everybody having a good side, that he was an optimist.

Teach students:1. Read carefully and ask yourself, “Does this make sense?”

2. Notice when you don’t know the meaning of a word and slow down. Read that sentence

at least once more, looking for clues.

3. If necessary, go back and reread the preceding sentence, looking for clues that help

you figure out what the word might mean.

4. When you figure out what the word might mean, substitute your guess for the difficult word and see if it makes sense. If it

does, keep on reading. If it doesn’t try again.

Teach Students that Context Clues Cannot Always be Used!

Example: In order to gain active immunity to a disease, one of two things must occur-either you come down with the disease, or you receive a vaccination.

Your Turn!

Can you determine each type of context clue?

Basics of Morphology

A large percentage of the words students learn after the third grade are derived words, such as discontinuous, that have a base word with one or more affixes that change the meaning and grammatical role of the word. (Carlisle 2007)

60% of unfamiliar words middle school student encounter in books are derived words whose meaning could be figured out by analysis of word structure and their use in the passage. (Nagy and Anderson 1984)

What is Morphology?

In language and reading, morphology refers to the study of the structure of words, particularly the smallest units of meaning in words: morphemes.

What is a morpheme?

A word or a part of a word that carries meaning. They are the smallest unit of meaning in a language.

Ex: place, re-, -ment, -s

Unbound Morphemes

Unbound morphemes, which are roots within more complex words that can stand alone as words.Example: Popular

Bound Morphemes

1. Inflectional morphemes2. Derivational morphemes

Inflectional Morphemes(“ed” “s” “ing”)

-They can only be suffixes.-They are a marker of some kind (plural, tense….). -They don’t change part of speech.-They carry more grammatical meaning than content.

Derivational MorphemesAffixes= prefixes, suffixes, and connectors

Derivational morphemes can change the meaning and part of speech of the word.

Most prefixes (“pre” “post” “re”) change content meaning, but do not change the part of speech of the word.View, preview

Most suffixes (“ful” “able” “ist”) can change the content meaning and the part of speech of the word.Popular, popularity

Connectors

They connect suffixes with bases.(e, i, u - in Latin words) (o, in Greek words)

They also connect 2 bases or 2 suffixes.

Doctorial Special Phonology

Linear Actual

Watch Out!

A syllable can be disguised as a “morpheme wanna-be.”It may look like and sound just like a morpheme!

(-er as in father)(moth as in mother)The word part it clings to may even be a word on its own.

Can “mother” be broken into 2 meaningful word parts? Is a mother someone who moths?In these words, moth, fath, and er are not morphemes.

Turn and Talk

Explain the differences between bound and

unbound morphemes. Don’t forget to describe the two different types of unbound

morphemes!

As with phonemic awareness, in morphology, we are:

-Segmenting words into word parts to be able to spell transported = trans + port + ed

-Blending word parts together to read or pronounce trans + port + ed = transported

-Manipulating word parts to create and infer meanings of new wordstransported exported extended pretended extracted

Apply segmenting, blending and manipulating to this word!

noun: floccinaucinihilipilification floc·ci·nau·ci·ni·hil·i·pil·i·fi·ca·tion ˌfläksəˌnôsəˌnīˌhiləˌpiləfiˈkāSHən/ 1. the action or habit of estimating something as

worthless. (The word is used chiefly as a curiosity.).

Phonology:Being able to

hear the different

morphemes

OrthographyBeing able to

see the different

morphemes

Morphological Awareness

What is morphological awareness (MA)? The ability to reflect upon and manipulate morphemes and employ word formation rules in one’s language.

Example: If a student grows in MA, she becomes increasingly aware that words sharing the same base or root are similar in form and meaning. For example, the child notices similarities across painted, painter, paintings, painterly, and repaint, at the same time realizing that pain –while somewhat similar in form—is not related to this morphological family. MA also includes knowledge of common suffixes and prefixes.

Baby-lag

Noun: Extreme fatigue and disorientation due to the sleep deprivation associated with parenting a baby.

See also babylag, baby lag

Video

English Word Formation

Student development of morphological awareness

Who Should Learn Morphology?

All students!!!Research has shown that students

with Special Needs and English Language Learners especially benefit from instruction in morphology.

Application to The Common Core State Standards Vocabulary Acquisition and Use

L. 1. 4 [First Grade] Use frequently occurring affixes as a clue to the meaning of a word.

 L.2.4 [Second Grade] Determine the meaning of the new word formed when a known prefix is added to a known word (e.g., happy/unhappy, tell/retell).

L. 3. 4 [Third Grade] Determine the meaning of the new word formed when a known affix is added to a known word (e.g., agreeable/disagreeable, comfortable/uncomfortable, care/careless, heat/preheat).

L.4.4 (Fourth Grade and Fifth Grade): Use common, grade-appropriate Greek and Latin affixes and roots as clues to the meaning of a word.

The Fourth Grade Slump

Academic vocabulary demands increase

Reading comprehension decreases

(Kieffer and Lesaux)

Vocabulary and reading comprehension have a reciprocal relationship—as greater vocabulary leads to greater comprehension, better comprehension also leads to learning more vocabulary words

Vocabulary

Comprehension

Morphological awareness

Vocabulary

As morphological awareness increases, reading comprehension increases (Kieffer and Lesaux)

Morphological Awareness

Reading Comprehension

Classroom Application

Teach in Context

Knowledge of Prefixes and Suffixes

Knowledge of How Words Get Transformed

Knowledge of roots

Prefixes

There is a significant body of research indicating that instruction of prefixes is beneficial, and many vocabulary researchers recommend instruction of the most common prefixes as the first and best component of word analysis. (Graves, Edwards, 2004).

20 prefixes account for almost 97% of the 2, 959 prefixed words that most frequently appear in school reading materials.

Four of these prefixes account for 58% of all prefixes.

Teaching Prefixes

Provide direct, explicit instruction about what a prefix is and how it can affect he meaning of a word. Provide many examples of words with prefixes that most students already know.

Avoid having students focus on memorizing the meanings of prefixes; instead have them practice using knowledge of prefix meanings to help define new words.

Provide students list of roots and prefixes and have them try to combine them to create new words.

Encourage students to think of other words they know that start with the same prefix. This can provide another clue to the meaning.

Suffixes

Less agreement about the value of teaching suffixes. Inflectional suffixes do not change meaning. Suffixes have vague meaning (-ic=related or

marked by) Teach suffixes in content classroom reading.

Root or Base?

Base Word: Usually a free-standing word, often of Anglo-Saxon origin. Example: water

Root Word: Usually not free-standing; often Latin or Greek originExample: aqua in aquamarine

Teaching Roots Teach students how roots combine with

prefixes and suffixes. Emphasize roots that come up repeatedly

in instructional materials. Introduce Greek roots before Latin roots,

because their meanings are more obvious.Example: aero=air

zoo=animal

Teaching Roots

Visual Cues to Divide Words

Flip Books

Make flipbooks with prefixes, roots, and suffixes.

Word Matrices

ab + use + ive = abusivere + use = reuse

mis + use + ing = misusing

Visual representations of roots

Word Trees

Grows from “root word”

Word Webs

Give students a root, and have them create a web of words.

Word Sorts

To Find Out the Meaning of Unfamiliar Words

1. Look for context clues in the words, phrases, and sentences surrounding the unfamiliar word.

2. Try to break the word into parts. Look at roots, prefixes, and suffixes.

3. Guess the word’s meaning.

4. Try out your meaning in the original sentence to check whether or not it makes sense in context.

5. Use the dictionary, if necessary, to confirm you meaning.