friend...real connections, real stories

Real Connections: MEANING, STRUCTURE, RELATIVES, PRONUNCIATION

<friend> 

... such a valuable and interesting word to investigate at the beginning of the school year...

I love that this word has a non-phonemic letter to demonstrate that not all letters in an English word will represent pronunciation. 

I love that this word explicitly demonstrates that the primary function of English spelling is to represent MEANING, not pronunciation.

I have been working with a group of young students whose previous spelling instruction has primarily been based on thinking that spelling represents sound.

"Time to change their thinking by explicitly demonstrating and investigating 

how the English spelling system really works."

I want the children to be able to spell <friend> accurately from the very beginning of the school year but  more importantly I want them to know why it is spelled this way; I want them to understand that not all letters in a word are there to represent pronunciation; I want them to know that some letters are etymological markers which give us important clues about the spelling. I want the children to be on a learning journey of discovery and understanding...

How did I choose <friend> for investigation?

This was a central word as part of the initial discussion and development of the class essential learning agreements early in the school year, in conjunction with many others like: <respect> <safety> <collaboration>. All ripe for future word investigation and inquiry!

From the beginning of the school year the children were consistently challenged to think about the how and why of words. We constructed many word families using words from the first PYP Unit of Inquiry. They were introduced to important terminology; base, suffix, prefix, meaning, structure.

After only one month the children are already  beginning  to analyse/synthesise words based on this growing understanding.

Setting the scene

We presented two questions:

 I deliberately used the terminology 'word' not 'base' in this
question so that the children would consider another
possible base.

Initially I chose to present <friend> as
the base but  I also presented this question
to provoke and challenge the children's thinking.
I wanted to see if anyone would
 hypothesise <fri> as a possible base.

1. What does it mean? Predictably the children discussed the idea of 'friendship' connected to their personal experiences.

2. What is the structure of the word? The majority of the children hypothesised  <friend> as the base. Predictably one child presented <fri> (as in <fry>)  which led to an important discussion about meaning and how <fry> has no meaning connection to <friend>. 

Consistently, I observe children needing this fundamental concept to be revisited over and over again to help them fully understand the importance of both meaning and structure as the key to the connection.

3. What are its relatives?

The first activity was a think/pair/share. Individually, the children wrote one or two (or more) words related to the word <friend> on a piece of paper. This was an initial assessment piece to ascertain the children's present understanding of how words are related in meaning and structure. The children then collected further words, to add to their original list, by sharing with each other. They moved from partner to partner until they had collected an extended list. It was incredibly exciting to watch the children actively discussing and trading each other's words. 

The children are writing a collection of words
related to <friend>

The children shared their hypotheses with each other and
added to or modified  their own list of  words.

I had the absolute joy of overhearing one student tell another student (who offered <fri> and <end> as  two related words) that they couldn't belong in the family of <friend> "because they didn't have the same meaning or the same spelling."  He then proceeded to give the other student clear evidence by providing his three words (friendly, friends and befriended) to demonstrate what he meant. No need for adult intervention here...Max had certainly provided the necessary teaching. I shared this observation later  as we revisited the fundamental concept of  how words are related in meaning and structure.

Can you see how valuable this initial activity is in terms of assessing children's understanding throughout the learning process? 

The other valuable part of this activity is the expectation that all children will actively participate, regardless of where they are on their learning pathway; and the opportunity to learn from each other, as demonstrated above, cannot be underestimated. 

A student is extending her list of
related words by trading with her
classmates.

As a whole group, we shared and recorded the words on a word web. I explicitly stated, every time, how the words were related in meaning and structure; and how new words were constructed. 

What did you do to construct this word <friendly>? 

...consistently asking the students to clarify and provide evidence...

How do you know <-ly> is a suffix?

The word bag!

A student, who currently speaks very little English, had the job of extracting words from a word bag, to check if there were others we could add to the current word web. I placed two words for provocation  in the bag: <fried> and <Friday>.  The children suggested that both <fried> and <Friday> couldn't belong in this word family because they didn't have the same meaning. We decided to leave these words off the word web until we had provided some evidence. You will notice that even though I knew, as a teacher, that <Friday> was related, that I didn't share this information at this particular time on their learning journey. My goal was to guide them to their own understanding of this relationship.

However, I did ask the question "I wonder what Friday means?" to challenge their thinking and hopefully jog their previous learning about the days of the week. One student suggested that Friday was named after Frigga! "I know her!" counteracted many of the other children.

An Etymological Study!

As I told the historical 'story" I wrote key words,
pictures and connecting arrows to demonstrate
the 'big picture'.
The children also recorded the story
on individual whiteboards.

The following day I related the historical 'story' of 'friend' by linking the word to 'Friday' and 'Frigga'.  

We studied images of the Romans and the Germanic peoples, explaining how the days of the week evolved through history. The children could clearly see the connection between Friday and Frigga.

I modelled how to use the Word Origin Dictionary to discover further important historical information about 'friend'. For many this was new.

<friend> was written on a post-it note to indicate where in the dictionary it was located. A child was selected to open to the page and locate the word <friend>. 

I summarised the relevant information highlighting the diachronic meaning; 'loving' Old English 'freond'; Proto Germanic 'frijand'.

The children were now able to ascertain a clearer connection with 'Friday' and 'Frigga'. 

The <i> is present to show its meaning connection to <Friday> and historical connection to 'Frigga', the Germanic Goddess of love.

The children are recording the history
of <friend> as we discuss it together.

Of course this is not the full etymological story of the word <friend>. You can trace its history way back from the PIE root 'pri' meaning 'to love'. One student has recently discovered that <free> is related too!

A closer investigation of the structure of words and the 'spelling out' strategy

In subsequent lessons we investigated the structure of each of the words from the word web. Beginning with a blank matrix we gradually added the appropriate affixes to construct new words. 

I explicitly modelled the construction of the word sum, demonstrating the 'spelling out' strategy, critical for internalisation. The children practised constructing the word sums on individual whiteboards.

                                   

I briefly introduced how to identify and check for any changes.  "Stop, check for changes, change the y to an i" as in this word structure: <friend> + < ly/i> + <er> --> friendlier

For now, I only needed the children to understand that there might be a change caused by a suffix. Investigation                                                                        of the <i/y> suffixing convention would happen in the                                                                            future.

During the next few days we constructed additional words, writing the word sum to demonstrate the underlying structures. You may notice that the matrix is not completed and it won't be for sometime. This 'work in progress' is an indication of the children's learning journey; an understanding that we could add, change, modify the matrix and word web as our learning deepens. 

More information is gradually
added to the matrix as we revisit
meaning, structure, history
and connections.

Throughout the process one student consistently wanted to know how could we add <Friday> to the matrix. He had developed a hypothesis that <fri> was the base, based on the structure of <Friday> Fri + day --> Friday

I had this blank matrix ready to demonstrate his hypothesis. We will revisit this matrix and discuss how it could be constructed at another time. It is there for provocation, thought and discussion. 

Time to consolidate

The following week the children  independently constructed word sums from a variety of matrices.  

I can assure you by this stage all the children are spelling <friend> accurately and they know why there is an <i>! 

You will notice that the matrices are different, varying in complexity. At times I choose the matrices for the children, other times they choose. One student added to the complexity of his matrix, demonstrating his own deep understanding of the underlying structures of words.  

The children chose words to write in sentences or illustrate to show the meaning; they constructed words at home to teach their families.

 

We have been revisiting the structure of words by constructing large word sums to identify the morphemes and graphemes in the base and the underlying changes.

In this session the children had one piece of the word sum, on a large piece of card.
Together they had to sequence themselves to form the final word sum. Collaboration in action.
This beats memorising a list of unrelated words!

What about pronunciation?

Throughout the whole learning process the children were introduced to 'tasting and feeling' phonemes. We have started to look more carefully at what is happening in our mouth and throat as we sequence the important phonemes in a word. 

Learning is a journey; a journey of discovery and connections...and so our journey continues!

You can go to Real Spelling, Toolkit2 Kit2 ThemeL Naming the Days of the Week, for the full story of <friend>.

and Pete Bowers Word Works Spelling Out Word Structure

Give me a shout! 

If you happen to be using my blog please drop me a line and let me know what you think, 

what you would like to see, what you enjoyed! 

inquiry.beyondtheword@gmail.com

Teaching Orthography in the Early Years: word webs for young children

The primary function of English spelling is to represent MEANING. 

Implementing orthography, 
through scientific inquiry, in the early years. 

As I continue on my learning journey, and work with young children in a variety of learning settings, it is consistently validated that teaching morphology to the youngest is not only essential but critical to their success as proficient language users.  

As we know and understand from research, morphology is the building block, the solid foundation, for understanding how the English spelling system works. It provides a meaningful structure for teaching and learning phonology in an effective and authentic way.

In this post, I would like to share a wonderful learning story of a group of young children who are currently embarking on a journey of orthographic understanding.

This structured word inquiry was explicitly embedded in an authentic literacy learning experience, integrating all forms of language.

Throughout the learning experience the children clearly demonstrated their deep understanding of how words are connected in meaning and structure. 

We started this particular learning journey by rereading a well loved story, Mrs Wishy Washy by Joy Cowley.The children were delighted to read the story to me, which they did with great enthusiasm and understanding.They clearly viewed themselves as proficient readers, by explaining and discussing the underlying ideas and meaning of the story. 

I shared my favourite part of the story, by writing a sentence to demonstrate and model my thought processes, emphasising the word <jumped>. Hence, the starter base for this investigation is <jump>.

The cow jumped in the mud. 

I have also observed  a teacher of another prep class require the children to draw their thinking about the starter base before embarking on the word family activity. A very valuable, authentic assessment of children's understanding and learning!

Concept attainment:

We then dived into the 'bag of words' and pulled out the word    <jumped>, written on a large chart. 

             jumped

"Jumped," shouted the children with glee. 

By ensuring the children had meaningfully encountered this word in a reading and writing context all the children were able to make true sense of the word. 

I modelled how to announce the spelling of <j-u-m-p-ed> by spelling aloud the single letter graphemes and the suffix. This word was placed inside a hoop. The children orally shared their understanding of the meaning of the word through their own life experiences. 

The bag of words also contained <jumped> <jumping> <jumper> <jumps> as well as two others <rolled> and <paddled>.

We then proceeded to pull out further words making decisions together if the word belonged inside the hoop or outside the hoop. Each time we viewed a word I announced the morphemes and graphemes. 

In pairs, the children discussed the words inside the hoop and then shared their hypotheses of why <jumped> <jumping> <jumps> and <jumper> belonged to the same morphological word family but <rolled> and <paddled> did not. The children did this with exceptional focus and interest.

The children recorded their thinking by illustrating the meaning of the words in the hoop. As the children were writing their chosen word, this created further opportunities to model the spelling out strategy.

After recording their thinking the children created a word web to record how the words are linked in meaning and structure. 

 

Again I announced the morphemes and graphemes, reinforcing new terminology and concepts. The children decided they needed to construct additional word webs for <rolled> and <paddled> and I have no doubt that they could accomplish this effectively through a similar inquiry investigation.

Every time I share this activity with children it confirms, consolidates and ratifies the utmost importance of implementing morphology in the early years. Right from the very beginning young children need to fully understand that the primary function of English spelling is meaning.

Now, let's think about the phonological connections 

that are explicitly embedded in this activity.

During this particular SWI lesson the children are consistently revisiting and consolidating the names of 4 alphabet letters 

<j> <u> <m> and <p> 

They are implicitly introduced to four single letter graphemes 

<j-u-m-p>

and the phonemes these graphemes are representing in the base word <jump>

/dʒ/ /u/ /m/ /p/

In the following weeks you could choose another starter base, like <play> and highlight the circumstances of the single letter grapheme <p> in this base word and compare it to the circumstance of the single letter grapheme <p> in <jump>.

The children can investigate and discuss if <p> represents the same or a different phoneme when the <p> is in the initial and final positions of these two base words.

<play> presents a meaningful introduction to the digraph <ay>, a team of letters working together to represent the phoneme long /a/, in the final position.

Additionally, this would naturally lead into an introduction of the six vowel letters, and an investigation, of the importance of these letters in understanding the spelling of a base. Please refer to the blog post The Power of Kinaesthetic Learning for further information regarding the teaching of vowels.

In just one lesson the children have been meaningfully introduced to a variety of important morphological and phonological 

concepts and terminology. 

Starting the learning journey...word families, word webs, matrixes, word sums

Essential Understandings...where to start?

Building essential orthographic understanding in the
early years.

"What are some ways to start teaching structured word inquiry 

with a group of children...?"

A frequently asked question from teachers who are embarking on the critical journey of teaching orthography (morphology, etymology and phonology).

I use the word <critical> with great emphasis, as I believe orthography, and in particular morphology (and etymology), to be the critical 'missing link' in the teaching of literacy in the early years of schooling.

Using significant words to investigate,
from a Unit of Inquiry about materials and their properties.

Although I am particularly interested in provided developmentally appropriate experiences for younger children, the following strategies and activities have been presented to different age groups, ranging from 3 year olds to Middle School students to adults. 

Learning to use resources to independently investigate the
structure, meaning and history of words.

As with all our teaching and learning, the learners' prior knowledge, understanding, age and learning needs are taken into careful consideration to plan the most appropriate and relevant experiences. Consequently these activities are consistently adapted according to the needs of the learner group.

Using significant learning tools like flowcharts, to build understanding of
essential suffixing  patterns.

Here is an example of a structured learning experience to introduce the essential understandings of English orthography.

Starter word: <healthy>

Structured Word Inquiry: A selection of learning experiences

(from 'Starting the Learning Journey' document)

1. Developing a bank of word webs, using free starter bases, to demonstrate the significance of the connectedness of meaning and spelling. 
For example (heal) is the base of (healthy), and is clearly related in meaning, even though there is a pronunciation change in the word (healthy). The spelling comes directly from the base <heal>, hence:

 heal + th + y --> healthy

A 'work in progress' word web created by a Grade 1/2 group to demonstrate the
word family for the base <heal>.

These structured word inquiry activities, such as building word webs, can be effectively embedded in your current Unit of Inquiry. For example, this group of students were investigating the following central idea for this PYP Unit of Inquiry about the human body.

(healthy) was a significant word used throughout the unit.

The students created a base 'pot' to demonstrate
the significance of the base and to teach the
difference between the meaning and spelling of
<heal> , <heel> and <hill>, which have
similar pronunciations.

...and a suffix pot too!

The students are creating morphological word sums for the
base <heal>.

The students created the word sum for <unhealthier>.
un + heal + th + i/y +er --> unhealthier

The word web for (heal), and other related activities, can be shared at an assembly or with other audiences.

The base (heal) jumped out of the base pot!

The students demonstrated the word sum for (healthy), with the base (heal) and the two suffixes (th) and (y), demonstrating the suffix change of the i/y.

These initial, introductory activities help to build a solid foundation for future learning and further exploration. For example, as a teacher you might now decide to:

• demonstrate how the words can be arranged in the form of a matrix. 
• write and spell the word sums.
• focus on the suffixing pattern of i/y.
• investigate homophones (heal) (heel).
• investigate the different phonemes for the diagraph (ea) in (heal) and (health).  
• do a further investigation of the etymology of (heal), looking for etymological markers as a key to the spelling.
  

Real Spelling has posted a very valuable video in the comments section of this post. This video gives the full story of the free base <heal>. With this information and understanding you, as the teacher, can now make better informed choices about what elements to introduce, teach and guide your students. 
As Pete Bower's states "How can we offer learners an understanding of our writing system unless the instruction is informed by an
accurate understanding in the first place?"

As indicated in the learning experience above, you can begin with a starter base already known by the students, with a prepared bank of words,  OR you can...

...start with a group of words (in a bag, pocket or mystery box) with a starter base to be discovered by the students!

starter base <paint>

Start with a bag of words and a blank word web.
In this activity the words are
<painted> <painting> <painter> <repaint>...

The children predict the base as the words are exposed, discussed
and placed on the word web.

As each word is exposed the students discuss the meaning of the word and think about the base.

The students actively participate in the learning.

When all the words have been added to the word web the students are 

asked to make a prediction about the base. Ask the students to share their ideas with a partner.

When the base has been revealed and proven it can be
 recorded on the word web.

And finally illustrated and presented by the students. The students can now create their own word web.

The completed (or maybe, not completed!) word web. 

You can find more information about these learning experiences by clicking on these links: word web collaborative activity; blog post 'Can you teach morphology to Young Children?'; article Starting the Learning Journey