Teaching Reading with Thunder and Lightning

English words are morphophonemic.  

morph + phon 

Let's break that down quickly. 

Phon: Phonemes are discrete sounds within a word such as /k/  /a/  /ch/ in catch.  When learning to read, children study phoneme-grapheme correspondence --the sound associated with a particular letter(s), such as in "a is for apple" as the old saying goes.

Morph: Morphemes are the smallest units of semantic or grammatical information in a language-- prefixes, suffixes, roots, and bases—the smallest meaning-bearing elements, the building blocks of vocabulary. Morphology is the study of word structure or word formation with morphemes -- prefixes, bases or roots, suffixes. Morphological awareness (MA) refers to “the ability to consciously consider and manipulate the smallest units of meaning in spoken and written language, including base words and affixes” (Apel, 2017). 

Some weeks ago in EdView360 I discussed the morphophonemic nature of English words and provided some implications for teaching children to read.  English -- like virtually every language to greater or lesser extent-- is based on morphophonemic word structure.  

If phonemes are thunder, then morphemes are lightning, and they both exist in English words. They both provide vital information to a child learning to read, or a fluent reader striving to comprehend a complex text.  Phoneme-grapheme correspondences are to be clearly taught so these associations are instantaneous and resound in the mind like thunder.  In keeping with this metaphor, morphemes are like lightning in that most of them are more visual, being larger chunkier units. These chunks must also be taught. In written words, morphemes can be colorful, placed in bold format, circled, highlighted, etc. 

mis spell ing     

un fashion able    

pre dict ion s

Morphology is a universal language component, a key aspect of the various human languages, along with phonology, semantics, syntax, and pragmatics. The English spelling system is morphophonemic, representing linguistic information about how to pronounce a word (phonemic) and how to determine its meaning and usage (morphemic).  When learning to read beyond the basic beginner stages, children will benefit from both phonics and morphology.

Many teachers capitalize on the morphophonemic nature of the English spelling system in literacy instruction, providing lessons in phonics/ phonemic awareness as well as in morphological awareness. Students who learn both phonics and morphology will hopefully be more likely to quickly access words via two routes: morphological make-up and phonological make-up (Levesque, Breadmore, & Deacon, 2021; Levesque & Deacon, 2022). Not only that, morphological knowledge is strongly associated with reading comprehension (Liu, Groen, & Cain, 2024).

In the Word Families activity below,  children reinforce what they have learned about specific phonetic and morphological units. They have been taught the phoneme-grapheme correspondence for ow (as in now) and ou (as in shout) and then they expand that knowledge further, into morphological word families with ou/ow patterns. In this image the learner has begun to color or highlight words that contain the same base with the same color. (Supercharged Readers curriculum, Voyager Sopris).

When the child has learned enough of the phonics code, while still in primary grades, begin to layer in lessons in word structure. This includes lessons in compound word structure as well as affixation. Teach children about suffixes and prefixes, beginning with the most common affixes. Help children begin to conceptualize words as part of a morphological family of related words, such as sun, sunning, sunned, suns, sunshine, sunny, sunniest, sunnier, sunshade, sunblock, etc.

Make the most of the morphophonemic attributes of the English language.

References 

Apel, K. (2017). Morphological Awareness Development and Assessment: What Do We Know? Perspectives on Language and Literacy, 43(2), 29–34. 

Levesque, K. C., Breadmore, H. L. , & Deacon, S. H. (2021).  How morphology impacts reading and spelling: Advancing the role of morphology in models of literacy development. Journal of Research in Reading, 44(1),10–26. 

Levesque, K., & Deacon, S. (2022). Clarifying links to literacy: How does morphological awareness support children’s word reading development? Applied Psycholinguistics, 43(3), 921–943. 

Liu, Y., Groen, M. A., & Cain, K. (2024). The association between morphological awareness and reading comprehension in children: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Educational Research Review.

Thunder and Lightning and This and That

Greetings! Some news:

Today, EDVIEW360 published a brief article I wrote on the importance of integrating phonics and phonological awareness lessons with morphological awareness lessons when teaching children to read.  Based on growing evidence from empirical studies, I suggest beginning to teach morphological concepts at a younger age than previously thought. Begin in primary grades, after children learn basic closed-syllable  short-vowel phonics patterns, when children are learning to spell and read. Let's not wait until grade four, but rather plan lessons in first grade and beyond to dovetail orthography with morphology. Carpe diem!  See my article about this topic -- and many other good articles -- at EDVIEW360. 

Go to  Thunder and Lightning: Sound and Meaning in a Morphophonemic Language

Next week, Wednesday May 8 at 4pm Central Time, I will provide a webinar on these same topics. Sign up at EdView360 at this link:  Building Reading Skills in Grades 1-4

A few months ago, EDVIEW360 recorded my podcast on helping children learn to read. Listen to the podcast at Boosting Beginning Reading (and listen to other podcasts by many and varied experts in the field).

Plus, Silvereye Learning Resources is --even as we speak -- preparing to publish a new Third Edition of my morphology curriculum, Vocabulary Through Morphemes: Suffixes, Prefixes, and Roots for Intermediate and Secondary Grades. Cover art coming soon! I am pleased to announce that this curriculum has been in widespread use for more than two decades and will soon be back in publication again.

Also, Voyager Sopris Learning has recently (2024) published a new full-color Second Edition of my interactive decodable beginner books, Power Readers (K-2) and Supercharged Readers (more advanced decodable books).  The black-and-white first editions are also still available for purchase. The new edition of Supercharged Readers includes 5 additional chapter books with a greater focus on morphological knowledge. All the new books are now in color, with even more coaching tips provided in small font at the bottom of each page. To see samples or to order, go to  Power Readers and to Supercharged Readers.

Cheers to all,

Susan

Using Poetry To Develop Reading Skills and Interests

This post comes to us courtesy of Ally Bush, Marketing/Communications Coordinator at Reading Partners. Reading Partners is a nonprofit dedicated to serving the literacy needs of our nation's students. We envision a future where all children in the US have the reading skills necessary to reach their full potential. By empowering communities through individualized instruction and measurable results, we help our students become lifelong learners. (Originally posted on ReadingPartners.org: How poetry can help kids develop reading skills )

The power of a good poem can help make reading a reality for young kids. From making reading fun to teaching kids different ways to think about phonemic sounds, poetry is an invaluable resource in any young reader’s literacy journey. Here are a few ways poetry helps improve reading skills.

Motivates Children to Read

Some parents may have emergent readers who are struggling to find the motivation to pick up a book and hone their skills. If this is the case, try poetry. Kids will find joy in reciting their favorite poems with a caregiver and they’ll gain important literacy skills at the same time. As poetry is typically only a few lines, it may feel less daunting to a young reader to tackle a poem as opposed to a longer book.

While being short, poetry is still packed with important literary elements such as characters, narrative structure, new words, and sometimes rhyming that can help children build foundational and more advanced literacy skills.

The musical rhythm of poems can also remind kids of their favorite songs. The next time you feel like reading a poem with your child, try singing it and see what happens.

Teaches Young Readers About Sound

Reading poetry helps children learn about voice, pitch, volume, and inflection. While these are mainly functions of speech, they’re also incredibly important for children learning to read. Poetry can teach young readers about speech patterns, which can give them cues to the words on a page. 

Additionally, rhyming can help kids identify sounds in words and identify word families. For example, check out this stanza in the poem “The Letter A” by Darren Sardelli:

“Without the A, you couldn’t aim 

an arrow in the air. 

You wouldn’t ask for apricots 

or almonds at a fair.” 

This stanza could help young readers practice the short “a” and long “a” sounds and expose them to word families such as “air” and “fair.” For children learning to read, poems that play with sound and rhyme like this one can offer a new perspective on phonetics.

Builds Vocabulary 

Like any form of reading, poetry can introduce children to new words. Poetry is unique to other forms of writing in that it typically follows a rhythm. When children read sentences and phrases that have a cadence, it introduces them to new words in new contexts.

Even though it may not seem like it, a poem that rhymes is the result of certain restrictions a poet followed during the writing process. If they want every other line of a poem to rhyme, there are a limited number of rhyming word pairs that could contextually fit in the first and third lines. For the poet, this results in surprising new connections between words. For the reader, these new connections translate to a larger vocabulary.

For example, in the poem “The Dentist and the Crocodile,” Roald Dahl rhymes common words with new words your young reader may not know:

“The crocodile, with cunning smile, sat in the dentist’s chair. 

He said, ‘Right here and everywhere my teeth require repair.’”

While “chair” is a common word, “repair” may be less familiar to your child in the same word family. The fact that these words rhyme creates a connection between them, which may make these specific words and other words with an ending “-air” sound easier to remember. At the very least, this poem would help a young reader add “repair” to their vocabulary.

Not only does poetry teach children new words, but also it teaches them about the power of those words. Learn more about the higher purpose of poetry, how it can provide meaning and nuance to new words, and how it relates to choosing a crayon color in Poetry: The Power of Words.

Encourages Creativity

Pablo Picasso once said, “It took me four years to paint like Raphael, but a lifetime to paint like a child.”

 Children have wonderful, active imaginations. Poetry can help children tap into their creativity by encouraging them to think about the new and unexpected relationships between words. In addition, having young readers try to write poetry can improve their literacy skills.

The wonderful thing about poetry is that it’s subjective. Poetry can have a narrative structure, nonlinear structure, or even just be a collection of your favorite words. When children are learning to read, giving them the freedom to express themselves through poetry can be both an educational and fun experience. And who knows, the creativity of their writing may surprise you!

Reading Aloud

One of the seven most important skills for promoting literacy is supporting oral language. Reading poetry aloud, just like reading other genres aloud, can help children improve their literacy skills. When kids read aloud, they think more deeply about the sound of the words they’re saying and therefore improve their reading skills.

Poetry is the perfect genre for reading aloud because it’s rhythmic, expressive, and fun. Host a poetry reading event in your home or classroom, and share your favorite poems with the little ones.

Love the idea but don’t know where to start? Here are some poetry suggestions to get your kids reading:

• Falling Up by Shel Silverstein 
• Poetry for Young People: Emily Dickinson by Emily Dickinson and Francis Schoonmaker Bolin
• Poetree by Shauna LaVoy Reynolds 
• Full, Full, Full of Love by Trish Cooke 
• Homemade Love by Bell Hooks 
• My Village: Rhymes from Around the World by Danielle Wright