Structured Word Inquiry: Developing and critical thinking by scientific inquiry about how works 1

Structured Word Inquiry (Scientific Word Investigation) The Joy of Understanding Spelling

struct + ure/ + ed → structured in + struct + ion → instruction Peter Bowers, PhD Instruction which builds understanding of WordWorks Literacy Centre, word structure as a tool for investigating 2020 the interrelation of spelling and meaning.

www.WordWorksKingston.com Structured Word Inquiry: Developing literacy and critical thinking by scientific inquiry about how spelling works 2 Guides and some basic terms for Structured Word Inquiry

A model of English from Real Spelling

Guiding Principles of Structured Word Inquiry 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 Explore the Real Spelling Tool Box 2 (on-line) for a remarkable linguistic inquiry. reference to study . Explore the “ Scientific inquiry is necessary to safely guide spelling Album” in the archive of videos learn more about these and many other instruction and understanding. terms and concepts. The film on “Connecting Vowel Letters” is a Scientific inquiry is the only means by which a particularly rich way to make sense of this term that is absent most learning community can safely accept or reject teacher resources. This newly available reference is one you can learn hypotheses about how spelling works. from for the rest of your career.

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Analogy: Immediate families like morphological families kids that share parents ➔ words that share a base element Extended families like etymological families people that share family roots ➔ words that share historical roots

Understanding Word Families Activity from Fiona Hamilton (www.WordTorque.com) for introducing young people to the idea that just like people come in families, words come in families too.

Starts with oval with Fiona’s “immediate family”. Outside are pictures of people -- some related (cousins, grandparents, aunts/uncles etc.). As she discusses, only those people that are related are placed in Images inside the oval share family roots (same etymological family. the oval. Friends are not related, so Outside of oval are just friends -- not “related” -- they do not share family they are not in the “extended family.” “roots” so they are not in the same family

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Some SWI starting points… Student guided choice: Possible general pattern: • Look for common spelling errors and analyze source 1) Start with a word and look for word families of error to pick an orthographic convention (morphology and/or etymology) (morphology, etymology or ) to investigate. Use 4 questions to help guide you. Do you notice • Student Wonder Wall? interesting morphological relatives and/or etymological relatives? What orthographic conventions can be • Other? investigated based on the word family you find? Common strategies for brief investigations • Suffixing changes? • Spell-out-loud to identify - • Interesting grapheme-phoneme correspondences? correspondences. Digraphs or trigraphs? • Try a couple of word sums. • New (base or affix) to investigate? • Other? • Change in pronunciation of grapheme explained by Common strategies for larger investigations morphological or etymological connection? • Collect bank of related words: • Look for interesting meaning connections to morphological and etymological roots that inform - Word Searcher (looking for morphological relatives) understanding of text and/or key concepts being - Etymonline -- find deepest written root and paste studied. into search engine to get etymological relatives. Test with word sums to find which share a base. Teacher chosen: - With both look for useful “foils” that don’t fit, but are close. • What is the reason for your word choice? • What do do with word banks? - Deepening content area knowledge or orthographic knowledge? - What’s in the Family, make word web, - Targeting a big lesson, or just a quick orthographic - From collected words to word sums and maybe lesson? matrix. - Grapheme-phoneme charts?

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, hoping

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Example “word banks” for “What’s in the Family?” activities

Note that each column has most words linked by a common base element, but each also contains “morphological foils” that need to be tested for connections in structure (word sums) and meaning (same historical root -- etymology) to the the base that links the most words. Also note that the actual base linking the words may or may not be included in the list. That is the case in the example to the right with in the ‘box”.

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The Family

1)Box in all the words below like in . 2)Write word sums with help from the matrix

Complex Word Word Sum actor act + or ➔ actor acting react reaction action actively acted

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The Family

1)Box in all the words below like in . 2)Write word sums with help from the matrix

Complex Word Word Sum actor act + or ➔ actor acting act + ing ➔ acting react re + act ➔ react reaction re + act + ion ➔ react action act + ion ➔ action actively act + ive + ly ➔ actively acted act + ed ➔ acted

www.WordWorksKingston.comwww.WordWorksKingston.com Structured Word Inquiry: Developing literacy and critical thinking by scientific inquiry about how spelling works 9 / / /t/ ʃ ʃ /t/ / / shells actor ➔ i u ➔ < t > < sh > act + or shell + s shell The Family / The Family / ʃ ʃ / / www.WordWorksKingston.com www.WordWorksKingston.com action action ➔ ➔ act + ion act + ion act + ion act + ion

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Some examples of classroom morphemic element charts that you can build on. The large one at left includes all the categories I use, but I don’t include all until we have a context for them. For example, the chart for “Some common affixes” may be a starting point that evolves into the bigger one at right. Notice that the small one does not separate consonant and vowel suffixes because this table was used before teaching those concepts. As new understanding grows, the bank of data we show grows. The images below are examples from classrooms in action. Sticky notes are great for showing our work evolve!

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Name ______

/t//t/ /d//d/ //əɪdd// help talk play record ask ed cloud learn float

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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 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 tested. coincident with LDs and other difficulties, and virtually all of The science of spelling: Scientific inquiry of the them read more than two grade levels lower than they conventions of English spelling provides plenty of should. In many instances, the students' behaviour difficulties and their deficits pose a chicken-and-egg question. evidence that our spelling system is an extremely reliable and ordered system for representing the meaning of In a session I was doing with a burly and words to English speakers. (e.. Carol Chomsky, 1970). eager Grade 4 student reading at PM 9, the student pointed to the work "know" and asked what it said. Knowing my There is obviously much more to spelling than students, I prepared him for my answer with "OK, this is morphology. However, scientific analysis of English going to blow your mind, but . . . ." When I finished with "It spelling makes it clear that we cannot make sense of our says /no/," he didn't miss a beat. He tore the book off the spelling system without morphological understanding. table and flung it across the room. And then he started: "It Orthographic morphology is the conventional system by does not f*#!ing say 'no!' " - giving the whole class a which spoken are written. Instruction can language lesson as he tore a path toward the classroom door direct the attention of learners to this concrete - " says /k/ and says /w/, so it does not say f*#!ing representation of the meaning structure of words. 'no' !" How am I supposed to learn this sh*!t when the rules Students can use morphological knowledge gained change? f*#!ing says /k/!" through instruction to define words they were not taught, After the student de-escalated - and being told that but which are morphologically related to words that they says /night/ DIDN'T help, I promised him I'd find out were taught. (Bowers & Kirby, 2010). However, teaching why that word is pronounced as it is. morphology is not only about showing learners how bases Robb and affixes can be used to learn new . Click here for lessons investigating the spelling of inspired by Robb’s story.

www.WordWorksKingston.com Structured Word Inquiry: Developing literacy and critical thinking by scientific inquiry about how spelling works 13 Alternate investigations of the same word family. Investigate the structure of !

Grade 4s investigate the structure of ! 1. Analyze these words with word sums according to the hypothesis that Circle the base Write out the word sum for each word. Spell it out-loud they share the base . (Can you prove all the affixes?) as you write it! Remember to announce the and 2. Represent analyzed words in the Matrix. digraphs, and pause at the plus signs!

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

www.WordWorksKingston.com Structured Word Inquiry: Developing literacy and critical thinking by scientific inquiry about how spelling works 14 Constructing a Matrix from Established Word Sums

In this activity, you have all of the elements provided that are are needed to finish the matrix. Remember the plus sign in the needed for constructing a matrix. Use the template below to matrix corresponds to vertical lines in a matrix. create your own “frame” for a matrix on a separate paper or white board, and then use sticky notes with the affixes in the AFTER you have a matrix that corresponds perfectly to the 4 table and word sums above to decide where those affixes can word sums given, you can look for more relatives and analyze be placed on the matrix, and what horizontal and vertical lines them with word sums to construct a bigger matrix.

Context for SWI Investigation: Today’s instruction is on constructing a matrix from the building block structures of words called “morphemes”

Morphological relationships: The word sums (above, right) are for words built on the base . Etymological relationships: All of these words derive from the Latin root stru(ere), struct(us) for “pile, build, assemble” Orthographic phonology: Note the diagram for the possible phonological associations with the grapheme. It shows the circumstances in which the can spell different . See IPA symbols for the pronunciation of the grapheme in the final of the base:

“structure” the can be pronounced /ʃ/ or /tʃ/ “instruction”the is pronounced /ʃ/ “destructive’the is pronounced /t/ www.WordWorksKingston.com Structured Word Inquiry: Developing literacy and critical thinking by scientific inquiry about how spelling works 15 Studying linguistic word families: Building understanding of the interrelation of morphology, etymology and phonology from the start < p > < l > < ay > / p / / l / /eɪ /

< ay > play

/ eɪ / < ai > plain < a > plane

“orthographic markers” Letters can have jobs other than acting as a grapheme or part of a or trigraph. Some markers can play a phonological role, others play not phonological role at all. Final in The final, non-syllabic of is not a grapheme. It a phonological marker signalling the pronunciation of the previous single vowel grapheme . Final in The final, non-syllabic of is a plural cancelling marker. In this word it functions to prevent being confused with its homophone, the plural . The spelling of countless words like and cannot be understood without the etymological structure of the plural cancelling marker.

/ ɛ / pleasure < ea > / iː / please

/ ʒ / pleasure < s > / z / please

www.WordWorksKingston.com Structured Word Inquiry: Developing literacy and critical thinking by scientific inquiry about how spelling works 16 Structured Word Inquiry Activities... What words are inType the to entermiddle? text Etymological and Morphological Relatives mode L. mod(us) "measure, extent, quantity; proper measure..."

middle milieu (French) medi mean (as in “average”) meridian

Latin medi(us) "middle, between"

Above is an image of work a Etymological family Morphological family kindergarten student did for All the words within the oval (including those represented by the The words represented by the matrix with the bound base fun at home to explain to her matrix) are in the same etymological family because they share share not only that same root, but they also share the parents what she had learned the Latin root ‘medi(us)’ with the sense of “middle, between”. same base element spelled . To test whether a word about the word . Note that is not in the circle (etymological family) because it belongs in this matrix, ensure that is has the same root, and then Note that she used has a different root. construct a word sum linking to the base . and to model word structure. See this and other • See how the words and can share a meaning without sharing a base? stories in WW Newsletter # • When you understand the math concepts of , and , why does it make sense that and 81 HERE. are related by a family that has to do with the idea of “between, middle” but is NOT related? • Which sense, extent, quantity or proper measure, do you associate with the math concept of “mode”?

Click HERE for a video of Pete walking through the concepts of morphological and etymological families with this document.

www.WordWorksKingston.com Structured Word Inquiry: Developing literacy and critical thinking by scientific inquiry about how spelling works 17 "an empty space, vacant place, a void," noun void," a place, vacant space, empty "an This means that when we use this word we are are we wordthis usewe when that means This vacuum vacuum’. vacuum’. ). vain "mt,uocpe,dvi f"fgrtvl related unoccupied,""free, figuratively of," devoid unoccupied, "empty, vacuus

"be empty" (see (see empty" "be Picturing “root” the (etymology” terms and (morphology)“base” vacare vacuum (n.) dig beneath the surface into the history of words in an etymological reference like like reference etymological an in words English of reading are we when that us remind history helps Nueva at class 1 to Grade a need fromWe the image represented. This words of “bases” see do into we but words, of “roots” surface see don’t we text, the of model beneath a draw I When dig from. derived word English current a where see to Etymonline.com to happen do we sometimes that signal to ground the above popping root a show often I this, For English. are they though as use usewe that words non-English actually are that roots see Etymonline: in at this entry for look the word example Latin from space," of "emptiness 1540s, of neuter of use to spelling sametheexactly uses texts Englishin read do wethat entry thethat Notice ‘ italics incited is that root Latinthe as not is This sequence. surprisingthe explains also This Latin. from word loan aas it using word! English , as this is not an uses word that English “no to the convention exception an

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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 and the word sums created from it to • Make only single, complete words from a matrix. ed see if you can discover a consistent suffixing pattern. • Only build words you can use in a sentence. as • You don’t have to take an element from every sign er column of a matrix – BUT... ment Word Sums from Matrix • You must not ‘leapfrog’ over a column. (Draw a line through silent s replaced during suffixing as shown in the second sum.) • WATCH THE JOINS! Sometimes changes happen re de ate ure move + s ! moves where you add a suffix. s move + ing ! moving Build words with your cut out prefixes and suffixes on the base . Once you have built a ing move + ed ! moved word, write the word sum as modeled in 1 and 2. re ed Part A: un move move + er ! mover er move + ment ! movement ment ______re + move + ed ! removed prefix(es)- base - suffix(es) re + move + er ! remover un + move + ed ! unmoved 1) sign + al  signal 2) as + sign + ment  assignment 1. What is the change that sometimes occurs at the suffix join? 3) ______ ______4) ______ ______2. List the suffixes that cause the change: ______3. List the suffixes that cause no change: ______5) ______ ______4. How are these suffixes different from each other? 6) ______ ______7) ______ ______5. Our class’ hypothesis to explain how you know which suffixes may force a change at the join: 8) ______ ______9) ______ ______

Real Spelling Tool Box Connections 10)______ ______1K - Learning from Love (Learn about the letter ) 3A - Revisiting Suffixing (Learn many roles of the single, silent

12 Real Spelling Tool Box™ Connection 3E - The base elements and 8

This and the next page are from the initial lessons from Pete’s teacher resource book Teaching How the Written Word Works.

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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 During Suffixing B) Testing our Hypothesis: Instructions: These matrices build on base words (a one morpheme word - no prefix or suffix) that end with On a separate page, rewrite the beginning of the word sum provided. the letter ‘e’. • • Use the flow chart to identify the correct spelling when fixing the suffix to the base. • Create word sums from a variety of the matrices to test our class hypothesis. (You don’t need to build every possible word from each matrix to test the hypothesis.) • When a silent is replaced by a vowel suffix, cross it out on the left or the “rewrite • Be ready to share interesting discoveries with the class. Any surprising findings, or words arrow” before competing the spelling on the left side of the arrow. whose pronunciation changes when you add affixes?

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) ed en large 2. create + or ! 12. rule + er ! ly ish 3. require + ment ! 13. imagine + ary ! ing 4. smile + ing ! 14. pure + ly ! be 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 7. brave + ly ! 17. smile + s ! 1B - Making plurals - 1- whether to use <-es> or just <-s> 3G - The end of base words or just ? the suffix <-age> (understanding the silent in 8. include + ing ! 18. amaze + es ! 1G - ‘long’ and ‘short’ vowels and the single, silent 1I - Homophones -1- (Make sense of the silent in 9. lone + ly ! 19. amaze + ment ! 1H - Compound words -1- (Does break suffixing conventions? 10. close + ness ! 20 ice + y ! 18 15 Real Spelling Tool Box Connections 3A - Revisiting suffixing (Is <-y> a vowel suffix?)

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Do these activities with guidance of this booklet on “Spelling-out Word Structure” (click here). Explore this document 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 and so much more here. • Visit the WordWorks YouTube page for many videos illustrating and integrating spelling-out word structure into everyday instructional practice. • See a Skype tutoring session with a Grade 2 student usingwww.WordWorksKingston.com spelling out of word structure with word sums and the matrix. Structured Word Inquiry: Developing literacy and critical thinking by scientific inquiry about how spelling works 21 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 to represent /t/ in one derivation, but /ʃ/ in another derivation (the same phoneme commonly associated with the digraph). • What questions challenges could you give your class from these matrices?

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Find a tutorial film on function and content words and additional resources on this topic here. Synchronic etymology: The words above illustrate two ways spelling has evolved to mark meaning with spelling. They are that evolved at the same time (synchronic) to (1) mark connected meanings with connected spellings or (2) distinguish words with no meaning connection but the same pronunciation with different spellings -- “the homophone principle”.

Orthographic etymology: diachronic and synchronic influences on spelling See examples of synchronic etymology above and an example of diachronic Latin root: struere etymology described below. "to pile, build, assemble," Learn more about etymology and how it helps understand the spellings of the words from the examples below from the tutorial films in the “Orthographic Etymology” folder in the Real Spelling Gallery. Gina Cooke’s LEX resources and LEXinars are another rich source for understanding orthographic etymology.

Morphology, etymology and phonology: The slide immediately above and left illustrates the structure of a morphological family as revealed by a matrix and word sums. It also shows how that structure interrelates with phonology. Note the varied pronunciation of the base depending on the word. The pronunciation shift of the grapheme is shown with the grapheme chart. Not only does working with matrices and word sums help us make sense of the morphology and meaning of words -- it helps us understand the grapheme-phoneme correspondences. All of words in the family derive from the Latin Root stru(ere) for “to build”. Diachronic etymology marks connections of meaning and spelling across time (diachronic) back to an etymological origin (root).

www.WordWorksKingston.com Structured Word Inquiry: Developing literacy and critical thinking by scientific inquiry about how spelling works 23 The word matrix (www.realspelling.com) The morphological matrix is Interrelation of a map of the interrelation of structure and and morphemes s meaning of written word families un ing The word matrix represents members of an orthographic morphological word family. Such word in ed families share a connection in both structure and re quest s meaning. (Real Selling tutorial films on morphology con ‘ask, seek, gain’ ion able here.) ing • structure: common underlying spelling of the base Graphemes comprised of single letters or • meaning: common ultimate etymological origin of the 2- or 3-letter teams that represent a base phoneme. They occur within morphemes. Possible phonological representations of a The word matrix marks the only feature of an Inclusion of a word in a matrix is tested with a word grapheme are signaled by circumstances. orthographic morphological family that is stable - sum. The word sum isolates the constituent morphemes (bases and affixes) on one side of the The diagram above shows three of the the underlying orthographic representation of its possible phonological representations of morphemes. These representations correspond rewrite arrow (marking all morphological suffixing the grapheme. Two of these are to what Carol Chomsky (1970) called “lexical conventions) and on the other, the realized surface realized in the words of the matrix spellings.” structure of the word. shown on this page. The pronunciation and connotation of a An “echo” of the denotation of the root meaning of the Note that since the and the morpheme can vary across members of a family. base of any word represented by a matrix can be graphemes in are not in the same The lexical spelling of a morpheme -- that is detected in the connotation of that realized word. The morpheme, there is no digraph in captured by word sums and matrices -- remains denotation of the root meaning of a word is checked this word. stable. with an etymological reference (e.g. etymonline.com).

base spelled base pronounced Word Sums (examples listed by pronunciation of base)

/kwɛstʃ/ quest + ion → question quest + ion + able → questionable /kwɛst/ in + quest → inquest con + quest → conquest re + quest + ed → requested

matrix base spelled base pronounced Word Sums (examples listed by pronunciation of base) ing /du:/ do + ing → doing do es ne /dʌ/ do + es → does do + ne → done

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Is really an irregular spelling? Links to Structured Word Inquiry Videos Typically instruction leads children to believe that is one of many irregular spellings they have to memorize. In contrast, the word Click here for a tutorial video showing is treated as regular. how beginners can use the Word See how the matrix and word sums below make sense of these Microscope to guide an investigation spellings by providing a concrete representation of the interrelation of through a stud of the word . structure and meaning of the and word families. Click here for an inspiring video on Lyn Anderson’s “Beyond the Word” Blog. It ing A morphological matrix for do shows 5-year-old students investigating and es the word and some of its go ne surprising relatives in Etymonline.

Click here for a video of a pre-school class investigating the morphological Word Sums for and word family of the base with a do + ing → doing go + ing → going word web. do + es → does go + es → goes go + ne → gone Click here for an inspiring video / post do + ne → done from a Grade 5 public school with students describing their experience With these linguistic tools, children can be introduced to as learning through structured word inquiry. an ingenious spelling because it marks its meaning connection to its See a WW Update on this post here. base with a consistent spelling. The spelling structure of these word families is a brilliant opportunity to show children why it is useful Click here to see Etymonline author that most letters (graphemes) can represent more than one Douglas Harper discuss an investigation pronunciation. Only in this way could the spelling of and with Pete linking with many use the same spelling of the base! surprising relatives. So rich! Instead of adding it to a list of irregular words, teachers who understand morphology can use the spelling of a word like to Click here for a from Ann Whiting’s Gr. 7 introduce children to the ordered way their spelling system works. humanities class explaining his political thinking through orthographic analysis “Teachers who consider English a chaotic and unprincipled writing of the word . system likely foster a similar view among their students. Such pupils may not look for patterns in the system because they believe that few • Explore a bank of videos of structured word inquiry in exist to be discovered. Teachers who appreciate the can classrooms at this YouTube page. help students find its patterns, fostering a positive attitude about • See the process of SWI investigations (inc. videos) at THIS spelling” ARCHIVE. Treiman and Kessler (2005, p. 133) www.WordWorksKingston.com Structured Word Inquiry: Developing literacy and critical thinking by scientific inquiry about how spelling works 25 Links & Resources On-line Structured Word Inquiry Tools: Wordworks: www.wordworkskingston.com The Word Searcher: A key free tool for collecting words according to Free resources, images, video clips and descriptions of this instruction in surface patterns so that word scientists can investigate the substructure of action around the world. words. This is an invaluable tool for your spelling investigations. • YouTube videos of structured word inquiry in practice. Mini Matrix Maker: A basic tool for typing word sums and turning them into • WordWorks Newsletter: Email us at [email protected] to matrices. See a “how to video” at this link. receive our free Newsletter with updates, Word Detective Episodes and frequent extra resources. See a recent example here. Sound Literacy: This app for the iPad that offers tools for investigating morphemes and graphemes with word sums and matrices. The creator, • Teaching How the Written Word Works (Bowers, 2009). This book Kathy Penn revised this tool after attending a summer course with me and builds on my 20 session intervention study (Bowers & Kirby, 2010) in has studied with Real Spelling for years. Her blog is exceptional too! Grade 4 and 5 classes. The lessons with the and matrices are from that book. Email Pete to order a copy. Teacher Blogs with Videos, Investigations etc: Real Spelling https://www.tbox2.online • SWI “Investigations” Resources & videos from Pete on Real Spellers This is not a spelling program or teaching approach. It a reference that Dan Allen’s Grade 5 Blog explains how English spelling works. • • Ann Whiting’s Grade 7 Blog Spellinars: Study with Real Spelling • Skot Caldwell’s Grade 4/5 Blog LEX: Linguist-Educator-Exchange (LEX grapheme cards and more) Mary Beth Steven’s Grade 5 Blog This blog by Gina Cooke with resources and on-line courses for educators • who trying to make sense of the linguistic structure of words. Some References Real Spellers: www.realspellers.org Bowers, J.S., Bowers, P.N. (2019). A case for why both sides in the ‘reading wars’ This website by Matt Berman (Grade 4 teacher at Nueva School in debate are wrong — and a proposed solution. Washington Post article. Hillsborough, California) is an excellent site for resources and spelling Bowers, J.S., Bowers, P.N. (2018). Progress in reading instruction requires a better discussions from teachers around the world. understanding of the English spelling system. Current Directions in Psychological Beyond the Word: www.wordsinbogor.blogspot.ca Lyn Anderson’s Science 27, 407-412. brilliant blog specializing in SWI in the early years. Bowers, J.S., Bowers, P.N. (2017). Beyond : The Case for Teaching Children the Logic of the English Spelling System. Educational Psychologist, 2, 124-141. Caught in the Spell of Words: See this excellent new website from Lyn Anderson and Ann Whiting. It’s brilliant. Bowers, P.N., & Kirby, J. R. (2010). Effects of morphological instruction on vocabulary acquisition. Reading and Writing: An Interdisciplinary Journal, 23, 515–537. Rebecca Loveless: www.rebeccaloveless.com Rebecca is a teacher, tutor, Bowers, P.N., Kirby, J.R., & Deacon, S.. (2010). The effects of morphological education consultant who is an expert in SWI in the Bay Area. instruction on literacy skills: A systematic review of the . Review of WordTorque: www.wordtorque.com Fiona Hamilton has worked with Real Educational Research, 80, 144–179. Spelling since 2001 as a teacher, principle and now as a consultant based in Chomsky, C. (1970). Reading, writing, and phonology. Harvard Educational Review, Bangkok. See WordTorque for great resources and PD on SWI. 40, 287–309. Language InnerViews for Educators: www.languageinnerviews.com Goodwin, A.P., & Ahn, S. (2010). A meta-analysis of morphological interventions: Scott Mills excellent new website including interviews with language experts, effects on literacy achievement of children with literacy difficulties. Annals of , 60,183–208. rich SWI posts and resources for sale. Henry, M. K. (2010). Unlocking literacy: Effective decoding & spelling instruction. Emily O’Connor: www.advantagemathclinic.com Emily is a math and Baltimore: Brookes. orthography expert. Her Truer Words decks and blog are wonderful. Kirby, J. R. & Bowers, P. N. (2017). Morphological instruction and literacy: Binding Sue Hegland: www.learningaboutspelling.com Sue has a long history phonological, orthographic, and semantic features of words. In K. Cain, D. working in an Orton-Gillingham context and the IDA before encountering Compton, & R. Parrila, (Eds.), Theories of reading development. Amsterdam, NL: SWI. Her website is a rich place for educators to study orthography. John Benjamins Publishing Company.

www.WordWorksKingston.com Structured Word Inquiry: Developing literacy and critical thinking by scientific inquiry about how spelling works 26

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not prefixes not is are list bases, words. Prefixes Prefixes list and their variations are will this “prefixes” cata- cath- cat- circum- com- co- col- con- cor- contra- contro- de- di- dia- dis- dif- di- dys- ec- en- em- epi- eph- ep- eu- ex- e- ef- extra- for- as compound compound and dictionary claimed claimed actually good are A - (OE) (OE) - - elements (Gk) instance, a- a- an- ab- abs- ad- a- ac- af- ag- al- an- ap- ar- as- at- al- amb- amphi- ana- an- ante anti ant- apo be- bene- bi- bin- by- Many For !

www.WordWorksKingston.com Structured Word Inquiry: Developing literacy and critical thinking by scientific inquiry about how spelling works 28 are box YES NO writing you English this if US > > ignore i the > y > i or

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