Words Their Way Chapter 7:
Syllables and Affixes
Nora Vines
Warm Up Journal
 What
orthographic knowledge must
students have before working in the
Derivational Relations Stage?
What
have they already studied and
learned?
Focus




How consonant and vowel patterns are represented in
multisyllabic words
What occurs when syllables join together (syllable
juncture)
How stress or lack of stress determines the clarity of the
sounds in syllables
How simple affixes (prefixes and suffixes) change the
usage, meaning, and spelling of words
Syllables



Syllable Juncture: explores the “rules” of spelling where two syllables meet.
Example Syllable Juncture Sort:
Sudden (VCCV Doublet)
Public (VCCV)
Foggy
Signal
Mammal
Velvet
Village
Injure
Dessert
Seldom
Butter
Costume
Message
Husband
Office
Lumber
What do YOU notice about the words in this sort? What is the focus? How will
you, the teacher, guide students’ understanding?
Affixes


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Affixes refers to prefixes and suffixes.
Example Suffix Sort:
-ness (changes an adjective
to a noun)
-ful (full of or
characterized by)
Darkness
Tactful
Kindness
Painful
Illness
Thoughtful
Weakness
Thankful
Freshness
Dreadful
Hardness
Faithful
Blindness
Colorful
What is the focus in this sort? How do you scaffold student’s
understanding?
Morphemes
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
The study of morphemes represents the meaning layer of our
spelling system.
2 types of morphemes:


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Free morphemes are words that can stand on their own without
prefixes or suffixes (base words such as able in disable).
Bound morphemes can not stand alone as words (un in uncover)
Because the spelling of morphemes is based on meaning
instead of sound, the pronunciation may differ, but the spelling
will remain the same.


Example: -ed signals past tense: shouted, worked, jogged.
Visit the link for everything you ever needed to know about morphemes
 http://www.uhu.es/mpilar.ron/61109/units/unidad2/resources/documents/Morpheme%20overview.pdf
Vocabulary

Refer back to Vocabulary_Resource.pdf

You can use these activities for word study in the
meaning layer.
Let’s Play!!
Word Sort “Stations” for Derivational Relations Stage 