How early is too early to start exploring the structure of a word?
Preschool into first grade, children learn about the letters (graphemes) and their sounds (phonemes) while they explore how their spoken word looks when written down. They are also learning how to notice sounds within a word from the beginning to the middle to the end of the word, matching sounds, creating rhymes and changing just one sound to say a completely new word. These pre-reading skills are the foundation and are necessary. When a child wants to write their words to label a picture or tell a story, the cue is often "sound it out" and "write what you hear." This is the time to discover that words have a structure and the spelling holds the key to the meaning of the word. Do not wait until the child is older and ready to study for the SAT vocabulary exam! I always think about how a young child can say the complex names of dinosaurs and understand the difference between them...they can handle the structure of our written word! Think about the word <play> and the word family that you can talk about! Without any print, you can use your fist for the word <play> and attach to the front of your fist with fingers <re> + <play> to build the word <replay>. Consider the base word <help>. Attach the suffix <ing> or <ful> and you have just discovered more words in the word family. Blocks work just as well! This begins the conversation of how words have structure and meaningful parts. Even more exciting, you can build many words with one base word like, <play> or <help>.
1 Comment
11/9/2022 05:42:55 pm
Think tough let line point prepare. East suggest song work throw me lawyer.
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AuthorI am loving learning! I've been an educator for over 30 years and a tutor for ten...and I'm constantly amazed at new discoveries about the brain, how we learn, and how new instructional strategies like Structured Word Inquiry, unlock readers who are stuck. New discoveries about our English language and the structure of words are absolutely the biggest "Ah-Ha" moments with students that I've ever encountered! Archives
November 2022
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