Structured Word Inquiry: Developing literacy and critical thinking by scientific inquiry about how spelling works 1
Structured Word Inquiry The Joy of Understanding Spelling
struct + ure/ + ed → structured in + struct + ion → instruction Peter Bowers & Lyn Anderson Instruction which builds understanding of word structure as a tool for investigating SWI Workshops the the interrelation of spelling an meaning. Jan 30 & Feb 6, 2016 @ The Nueva School
www.WordWorksKingston.com & www.wordsinbogor.blogspot.ca Structured Word Inquiry: Developing literacy and critical thinking by scientific inquiry about how spelling works 2 Guides for Structured Word Inquiry
Two Guiding Principles of Structured Word Inquiry A model of English orthography from www.realspelling.com The primary function of English spelling is to represent meaning. The conventions by which English spelling represents meaning are so well-ordered and reliable that spelling can be investigated and understood through scientific inquiry. Scientific inquiry is necessary to safely guide spelling instruction and understanding. Scientific inquiry is the only means by which a learning community can safely accept or reject hypotheses about how spelling works. Click here for a full draft document expanding on these ideas, including definitions of key concepts and terms.
Process of “Structured Word Inquiry” 1) Prompt learners with an interesting spelling question. (e.g., why
See more on structured word inquiry, and the difference between “teacher-led inquiry” and “inquiry-led teaching” at this link.
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What is crazy -- the English spelling system, or our typical systems for teaching spelling? Consider the frustration experienced by the student in this story. The teacher does the best his training allows as he tries to help his student deal with yet Cursing our crazy spelling system seems like a natural another “irregular” spelling. Imagine the consequences for learning when such response to Robb’s story about the struggle to learn and experiences are repeated over and over. teach reading and spelling in English. It would be so much easier if we just had a reliable, logical spelling system! “Know More Explosions” Ironically, it turns out that our spelling system does meet these exact criteria. Unfortunately this assertion seems Excerpt from a Grade 4 teacher’s email absurd in light of the instruction most of us have received. My program is for junior students identified with behaviour It is important to recognize, however, that the common problems, problems which make their full-time participation assumption of English spelling as an unreliable, in "standard" classrooms problematic for everyone involved. exception-riddled system is a hypothesis that can be Most of our students have ADHD identifications, often coinci- tested. dent with LDs and other difficulties, and virtually all of them The science of spelling: Scientific inquiry of the conven- read more than two grade levels lower than they should. In tions of English spelling provides plenty of evidence that many instances, the students' behaviour difficulties and their language deficits pose a chicken-and-egg question. our spelling system is an extremely reliable and ordered system for representing the meaning of words to English In a guided reading session I was doing with a burly and ea- speakers. (e.g. Carol Chomsky, 1970). ger Grade 4 student reading at PM 9, the student pointed to the work "know" and asked what it said. Knowing my stu- There is obviously much more to spelling than morphol- dents, I prepared him for my answer with "OK, this is going ogy. However, scientific analysis of English spelling makes to blow your mind, but . . . ." When I finished with "It says it clear that we cannot make sense of our spelling system /no/," he didn't miss a beat. He tore the book off the table without morphological understanding. and flung it across the room. And then he started: "It does Orthographic morphology is the conventional system by not f*#!ing say 'no!' " - giving the whole class a language which spoken morphemes are written. Instruction can di- lesson as he tore a path toward the classroom door - "
www.WordWorksKingston.com & www.wordsinbogor.blogspot.ca Structured Word Inquiry: Developing literacy and critical thinking by scientific inquiry about how spelling works 4 Touching on the Research Meta-Analyses & Reviews of Morphological interventions Research has long emphasized the importance of letter-sound knowledge for literacy development (e.g., Adams, 1990; Ray- ner et al., 2001). There is an enormous amount of research showing that instruction which explicitly teaches grapheme- phoneme correspondences and phonemic awareness is more effective that “whole word” based instruction which does not emphasize the internal structures of words. That evidence, however, says nothing about the effect of teaching about mor- phology, or the interrelation of morphology and phonology. Nevertheless, many researchers and research models rec- ommended not addressing morphology until later years. In her seminal 1990 book, Adams wrote, “Although teaching older readers about the roots [base morphemes] and suffixes of morphologically complex words may be a worthwhile challenge, teaching begin- ning or less skilled readers about them may be a mis- take” (p. 152). The following 20 years of research largely behaved as though The best evidence is that we should teach how the writing system there was clear evidence supporting this hypothesis. In 2010 works from the start. See a teacher friendly review of the research meta-analyses of morphological interventions were finally here. conducted (Bowers & Kirby, 2010; Goodwin & Ahn, 2010; 2012) to test that assumption. The exact opposite was found. It makes sense that learning letter-sound correspondences would be facilitated by a fuller understanding of how they operate within Not only did morphological instruction help students in gen- the morphological frame. As linguist Richard Venezky pointed out eral, less able and younger students gained the most long ago, "the simple fact is that the present orthography system from morphological instruction. Devonshire, Morris, & is not merely a letter-to-sound system riddled with imperfections, Fluck (2013) Conducted an intervention with 5-7 year olds that but, instead, a more complex and more regular relationship compared an experimental group with instruction of the inter- wherein phoneme and morpheme share leading roles" (Venezky, relation of morphology, phonology and etymology with word 1967, p. 77). sums and matrices to best practice phonics like instruction. They found significant effects on standardized measures of Teachers need to know about more than morphology to explain reading and spelling for the experimental group. There is no these spellings, but establishing the morphological structure of a research evidence showing that phonology needs to be taught word is a necessary part of that process, even for base words. before morphology.
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Is
Click here for a video of a tutoring ses- sion with a 7-year old investigating the Word Sums for
www.WordWorksKingston.com & www.wordsinbogor.blogspot.ca Structured Word Inquiry: Developing literacy and critical thinking by scientific inquiry about how spelling works 6 The word matrix (www.realspelling.com) The morphological matrix is Interrelation of graphemes a map of the interrelation of structure and and morphemes s meaning of written word families ing The word matrix represents members of an ortho- un ed graphic morphological word family. Such word families in share a connection in both structure and meaning. re quest (Real Selling tutorial films on morphology here.) s • structure: common underlying spelling of the base con Latin Root ion able • meaning: common ultimate etymological origin of the Graphemes comprised of single letters or quaerere ing base 2- or 3-letter teams that represent a pho- ‘ask, seek, gain’ neme. They occur within morphemes. Inclusion of a word in a matrix is tested with a word Possible phonological representations of a The word matrix marks the only feature of an sum. The word sum isolates the constituent mor- grapheme are signaled by circumstances. orthographic morphological family that is stable - phemes (bases and affixes) on one side of the rewrite arrow (marking all morphological suffixing conventions) The diagram above shows three of the the underlying orthographic representation of its possible phonological representations of morphemes. These representations correspond and on the other, the realized surface structure of the the
base spelled base pronounced Word Sums (examples listed by pronunciation of base)
/kwɛstʃ/ quest + ion → question quest + ion + able → questionable
matrix base spelled base pronounced Word Sums (examples listed by pronunciation of base) ing /du:/ do + ing → doing do es
www.WordWorksKingston.com & www.wordsinbogor.blogspot.ca Structured Word Inquiry: Developing literacy and critical thinking by scientific inquiry about how spelling works 7 Alternate investigations of the same word family. Investigate the structure of
Grade 4s investigate the structure of
known known knows knows knowable knowable knowing unknown knowing knowingly unknown unknowingly knowingly knowledge unknowingly knowledgeable knowledge knowledgeable unbeknownst know
know prefixes suffixes un- -ing -n -s -ly -ledge -able
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See next page for a description of how to use the “structured and meaning test” to see clarify this task and for links to related resources.
www.WordWorksKingston.com & www.wordsinbogor.blogspot.ca Structured Word Inquiry: Developing literacy and critical thinking by scientific inquiry about how spelling works 9 Structured Word Inquiry What words are in the middle? Etymological and Morphological Relatives mode L. mod(us) "measure, extent, quantity; proper measure..."
middle milieu (French) mean (as in “average”) meridian
Latin medi(us) "middle, between"
Etymological family Morphological family All the words within the oval (including those represented by the The words represented by the matrix with the bound base matrix) are in the same etymological family because they share
www.WordWorksKingston.com & www.wordsinbogor.blogspot.ca Structured Word Inquiry: Developing literacy and critical thinking by scientific inquiry about how spelling works 10 Etymological and Morphological Relatives of the Free Base Element
Word Sums for
Word Sums for
Paragraph for
WordWorks Lessons! by Peter Bowers, 2007,www.wordworkskingston.com Based on (Ramsden 2001) www.realspelling.com Name______Activity Sheet #1 Lesson #2: Spelling Detectives Word Building: Using a Real Spelling™ Word Matrix When does Suffixing Cause Changes at the Joins? A WORD MATRIX USUALLY ONLY SHOWS SOME POSSIBLE WORDS. YOU CAN OFTEN FIND MORE IF YOU TRY! Rules for reading a word matrix: A) Investigation: Developing a hypothesis al • Read a matrix from left to right. re ing Study the matrix for
7) ______ ______5. Our class’ hypothesis to explain how you know which suffixes may 8) ______ ______force a change at the join:
9) ______ ______
10)______ ______Real Spelling Tool Box Connections 1K - Learning from Love (Learn about the letter
Real Spelling Tool Box™ Connection 12 3E - The base elements
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WordWorks Lessons! by Peter Bowers, 2007,www.wordworkskingston.com Based on (Ramsden 2001) www.reaslspelling.com
WordWorks Lessons! by Peter Bowers, 2007,www.wordworkskingston.com Based on (Ramsden 2001) www.realspelling.com Activity #3 Lesson #2 Continued… Flow Chart for Dropping the Single, Silent
s es ing ed dis un ed please ant hope ful ure less
ing ed s dis agree ment ing able re take en out s ing Example: date + ing ! dating mis be ed es have er Word Sums our (Can) i ing 1. cave + ed ! 11. laze + y ! or (US) en large ed 2. create + or ! 12. rule + er ! ly 3. require + ment ! 13. imagine + ary ! ish be ing 4. smile + ing ! 14. pure + ly ! en ment s 5. rude + ly ! 15 please + ure ! 6. brave + est ! 16. operate + ion ! Real Spelling Tool Box Connections 1D - The effect of suffixes on a single, silent
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Do these activities with guidance of the “Constructing Word Sums Booklet” (click here). Explore this page and this page for more on spelling out word structure. Synthetic word sums: Analytic word sums: 1. Mark suffixing changes on left. 1. Spell out your hypothesis of the structure of the given word without the (See tools for suffixing conventions here and here.) scaffolding of a completed word sum with a partner. 2. Spell out and write out your word structure hypothesis n the right side 2. Test your hypothesis (or hypotheses) by writing out the substructure on of the re-write arrow following the conventions in the “Constructing the right of the word sum. Word Sums Booklet”. Note: To spell out the word structure in the “Analytic Word Sums”, you need to identify whether the starter word is a base, or if it is complex.
Synthetic Word Sums Analytic Word Sums Substructure ! → ! Surface Structure Surface Structure ! → ! Substructure spring → spring reach! →! care + ful + ly → carefully react → spell + ing → does → cute + er → pliers → cut + er → duckling → → act + ive + ity + es spilling → busy + ness → rightfully → busy + body → logically → graph + eme + ic → disruptive → phone + o + log + y → → un + heal + th + y + ly → assistance nate + ure + al + ly → sisterhood → bookkeeper →
Videos of teachers and students spelling out word structure with word sums and working with matrices • The word sum is the basic linguistic tool for analysis of morphological word structure. See Real Spelling tutorial films on this topic here. • Visit the WordWorks YouTube page for many videos illustrating and integrating spelling-out word structure into everyday instructional practice. • See a Skype tutoringwww.WordWorksKingston.com session with a Grade 2 student using spelling out & of www.wordsinbogor.blogspot.caword structure with word sums and the matrix. Structured Word Inquiry: Developing literacy and critical thinking by scientific inquiry about how spelling works 14 From the Matrix to the Word Sum Rules for reading a word matrix: The starting point of making sense of English spelling, and thus the • Read a matrix from left to right. foundational strategy for structured word inquiry is gaining practice building word sums from matrices. • Make only single, complete words from a matrix. • Only build words you can use in a sentence. All of these matrices are taken from the 70 matrices DVD. You can copy and paste any of those matrices to build lessons in minutes. • You don’t have to take an element from every column of a matrix – BUT... • You must not ‘leapfrog’ over a column. • WATCH THE JOINS! Sometimes changes happen where you add a suffix.
Some Challenges Write your word sums that come from these matrices on a separate page. Investigate the matrices to build word sums that... • Produce compound words. • Show each of the suffixing changes. • Force a change in the pronunciation of the base. • That produce complex words that have ‘long vowel sounds’.
Some Questions • Can you find a base with a digraph that can represent more then one phoneme? • What base uses a trigraph? • What base uses a
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www.WordWorksKingston.com & www.wordsinbogor.blogspot.ca Structured Word Inquiry: Developing literacy and critical thinking by scientific inquiry about how spelling works 16 2004 Ramsden www.realspelling.com Melvyn © poly- post- pre- pro- re- red- retro- se- semi- sub- suc- suf- sug- sum- sup- sur- sus- super- syn- sym- syl- sys- sy- tele- trans- tra- tran- ultra- un- with- entries and so. separate separate as hyper- hypo- hyp- in- il- im- ir- infra- inter- intra- intro- male- mal- meta- meth- met- mis- mono- mon- non- ob- o- oc- of- op- para- par- per- peri-
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www.WordWorksKingston.com & www.wordsinbogor.blogspot.ca Structured Word Inquiry: Developing literacy and critical thinking by scientific inquiry about how spelling works 17 are box YES NO writing you English this if US > > ignore i the > y > i or
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Kit 1 Kit 2 Kit 3 Kit 4 Kit 5 Kit 6
The < i / y > relationship The trigraph < igh > Revisiting basic Consonant letter doubling The variable suffix The digraph < ui > A Part 1 2 : vowel letter + < igh > suffixing patterns with polysyllables <-able / -ible >
Grapheme alternatives Signs of words Being more precise: The plural suffix <-(e)s > Words with Prefixes that have < ck > / < k > and from Greek: ‘free’ and ‘bound’ The basic pattern unexpected < h > variable forms B < tch > / < ch >? -1- base elements Constructing plurals Letters < o > and < u >: Consonant letter doubling The letter < n > and Fine tuning of When the base conventions that the suffixing Eponyms with monosyllables graphemes that contain it C or stem changes concern them conventions The functions Homophones 2 The several facets Constructing the plurals The suffixes Heteronyms and of final single Single-element of the digraph < ea > of words with final < o > <-or > <-er > homographs D non-syllabic < e > homophone pairs
The trigraph < igh > The trigraph < ugh > Etymological The base elements Using the apostrophe Plurals -4- Part 1 : consonant and other graphemes project: < sci > and < sign > 2: showing possession Final details E letter + < igh > for the phoneme / f / names of fabrics The phonology Two important families: the The < i / y > relationship The suffixes The suffixes American and of the graphemes ‘wh-words’ and <-ery > <-ary > British spelling Part 2 <-ion > <-ian > <-ity > F < c > < k > and < ck > < them / they / their > <-ory > differences Graphemes for / dΩ /, The orthographic Graphemes When to use the suffix <-t > More about The IPA symbol the suffix <-age >, phonology of ‘long A’ for the ‘long U’ instead of <-ed > compounds system G final < ge > or < dge > Letters < w > and < x > Signs of words Compounding The orthographic Twin Connecting their place in English from Greek: and its components phonology of base elements vowel letters H orthography / f / -2- Free base elements Learning from the spellings The orthographic Double < cc > is rare Portmanteau The grapheme with final < dissect > < disease > phonology of ‘long E’ in English spelling words < ugh > I < f > < l > < s > or < z > < disaster >
Choosing between The twin bases The lessons The suffixes The spelling Learning from final syllabic< le > < cede / cess > of the suffix <-ed > <-er > <-est > <-ist > of numbers < privilege > J and <-al > < sede / sess > Homophones 3 Learning from Learning from the Graphemes for Homophones -4- Homophones that Words from Arabic the spelling of < love > spelling of < was > the phoneme / ʃ / and holorimes K may be complex
The phonology Naming the days Using the apostrophe The suffixes Etymology: words Voiced consonants L of ‘long I’ and ‘long O’ of the week 1: Showing Omission <-y > <-ie > <-ee > to do with stars The shewa These Themes are being re-written These Tool Kits are in TBox2 multimedia format for the Tool Box 2 multimedia format
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Links & Resources Teacher Blogs with Videos, Investigations etc: Wordworks: www.wordworkskingston.com • SWI “Investigations” Resources & videos from Pete on Real Spellers Free resources, images, video clips and descriptions of this instruction in • Dan Allen’s Grade 5 Blog action around the world. • Ann Whiting’s Grade 7 Blog • YouTube videos of structured word inquiry in practice. • Skot Caldwell’s Grade 4/5 Blog • WordWorks Newsletter: Email us at [email protected] • Mary Beth Steven’s Grade 5 Blog to receive our free Newsletter with updates, Word Detective Episodes and frequent extra resources. See a recent example here. • Lyn Anderson’s blog for SWI in the early grades • Teaching How the Written Word Works (Bowers, 2009). This book • Jen Munnerlyn’s LIteracybytes Blog builds on the 20 session intervention study I conducted (Bowers & Kirby, 2010) in Grade 4 and 5 classes. The lessons with the
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