Students should be taught that words are composed of meaningful parts. Starting students out with the idea of a base is one of the simplest methods to build morphological knowledge. A base is an English word in its most basic form that can have prefixes and suffixes (affixes) added to modify its usage or meaning.
Generally speaking, morphology instruction should be explicit, involving direct instruction of prefixes, suffixes, and bases. Students should learn the pronunciation, spelling, and meaning of these units of language.
Early morphology instruction should focus on inflectional suffixes. These are endings, including -ed, -s, -ing, that don’t change a word’s part of speech, but instead signal a change in tense or number, a comparison, or possession.
As students build more understanding of morphology, they can be explicitly taught additional prefixes, bases, and suffixes. This may be especially helpful in junior, intermediate, and senior grades when phonics instruction has stopped. As words get longer and more complex, phonics and phonemic awareness are no longer fully sufficient to read, spell, and understand words. With morphology instruction, students are able to meaningfully explore the pronunciation, spelling, and meaning of complex words across a variety of content-specific texts.
“The primary purpose of assessment is to improve student learning.”
Growing Success, 2010, p. 28
A variety of sources of insight into students’ application of morphological knowledge can be used as assessment for learning to drive evidence-based explicit and systematic instruction.
Assessing students’ knowledge, understanding, and application of morphology can be measured through reading and writing assessments. Oral Reading Fluency screeners (ORF), typically included in early reading screening, tend to include words with affixes.
In writing, consider using a spelling inventory for assessment for learning. These tools can typically be administered whole class with a list of words. Students’ spelling is scored with a scoresheet that allows for a close examination of their understanding of sounds, spelling patterns, and morphology.
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Le financement de ces ressources est assuré par le ministère de l'Éducation. Veuillez noter que les opinions exprimées dans ces ressources sont celles d'ONlit et ne reflètent pas nécessairement celles du ministère de l'Éducation.
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