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WORD STRUCTURE
Using knowledge of word structure to determine meaning
ANALYZING WORD PARTS:
Knowing word structure can help students learn how to spell and pronounce words to decipher meaning.
SYLLABLES
Facilitate student discovery:
All words are divided by SYLLABLES or sound segments
a. Define syllable
i. The beats in a word
b. Every syllable or beat has at least one vowel
i. Pick a few words and model a word on the board
1. i.e. dis/in/ter/est/ed
c. Assess for understanding
i. Provide a few words for students to practice dividing syllables
ii. Look for the vowels
iii. Work on pronunciation
PREFIX:
Identify prefixes
• pre• un• re• bi-…
Understand that prefixes have their own meaning
• Pre – before
• Un – not
• Re – again
• Bi – two
Understand that prefixes are NOT words.
Understand what prefixes do?
unhappy – what does the prefix do?
Articulate a clear and accurate definition of Prefix: A word part added to the beginning of words to change
meaning.
ROOT:
A ROOT WORD
• Is a word in a word
• And/or is a word by itself
• Or a word that has changed so much over time, that it no longer a complete word:
o Students can explore the languages from which English words come.
o Students can look at the ETYMOLOGY in many dictionaries to discover how
words change over time.
o Students can identify all the words they know that are synonymous with a given
word to demonstrate how language changes: Ex. COOL—how words take on new
meaning through use
 Da bomb
 Raw
 Awesome
 Rad
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ROOTS have relatives:
• What makes people related? (Share the same bloodline, birth/adoption, marriage)
• Does looking alike make us related? (No)
• Can people be related and not look alike or be alike? (Yes)
• List words that are related to STRUCTURE
o Construct
o Construction
o Instruct
o Deconstruction
What do they have in common? They share the same root - (STRUCT--build)—therefore
they are related words—same family—share a history.
SUFFIX:
Identify suffixes: (-ly, -ous, -ed…)
These are difficult to define!
Understand that suffixes change the job a word can do.
Jobs: Naming
noun
Action
verb
Describing
adjective or adverb
Students can name things in the room – NOUN
Students can describe the things named – ADJECTIVE
Students can name actions – VERB
Student can describe actions – ADVERBS
Understand that words aren’t the job, but can do the job.
Example: A student can be a son, grandson, friend, waiter, etc… he can do those
things, but it’s not who he is; the same is true with words.
Example:
The race was long.
I love to race.
Identify the job (Name)
Identify the job (Action)
CREATE CONTEXT TO TEST JOB—naming, describing or action:
NOUN Test: The word can be used as a sentence subject.
• (The/ a / an _______________ is or are…)
VERB Test: The word can be used as a sentence predicate; what the subject is or is
doing.
• (A girl (is/are) _____________________. )
• (The boy(s) is/are _________________. )
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DESCRIBING Test: Use the word in a sentence to determine if the word is doing a
describing job. Words that describe can have an arrow drawn from them to the word
being described. (Note: If it is too difficult to use an unfamiliar word in a sentence, the
end suffix can be transferred to a known word and the describing test applied).
REVIEW:
Word structure
• Prefix
• Root
• Suffix
jobs:
a word part added to the beginnings of words to change meaning
a word in a word or a word base that has changed over time
a word part added to the ends of words to help words do different
(name, describe, action)
Word history
• Etymology: English words come from places and languages throughout the
world and have
been added to our language throughout time.
Words change over time: disrespecting = dissing
Words are related by their roots and related roots share meaning:
• Memory
• Memoir
• Memo
• Memorial
APPLY KNOWLEDGE & ASSESSMENT:
Begin with easy words and progressively work toward more difficult words.
• Break words into their parts
• Define each part (the job for suffix)
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• List an overall definition
• List 3 related words
Give students a list of simple words that have all 3 parts for practice.
e.g.. discovering, replayed, & unnatural
MODEL
WORD: Unhappily
Prefix: un- = NOT
Root: happy = TO FEEL JOY
Suffix: -ly = DESCRIBE
Def.: to describe not feeling joy
Related words: Happy,
happiness,
happily
(share the same root – HAPPY)
ASSESS: students understanding through application. Identify and respond to errors in
understanding.