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What's it mean?
Derivational relations: a type of word knowledge that more advanced readers and
writers experience
Spelling and vocabulary knowledge grow through the process of derivation
Derivation: from a single base word or word root, a number of related words are derived
through the addition of prefixes and suffixes
Reading
Advanced readers are able to explore the Greek and Latin word elements that
are the important morphemes out of which words are constructed
60 to 80% of words are generated through the combination of roots, prefixes,
and suffixes
Additional layer of word knowledge makes it possible for students to add a
morphological layer to the perception of polysyllabic words
Students in this stage pick up morphemic chunks
Rather than picking up the word morphology in syllables (mor-pho-lo-gy), students use chunks
(morph-ology)
Writing
Expanded vocabulary Voice or
standing in their writing Word
choice
Can be seen through informal
writing
Journal entries
Vocabulary Learning
Growth in domain specific vocabulary increases during this stage
General and content specific knowledge significant vocabulary and conceptual growth
growth in knowledge
Give someone a fish, they can eat for a day. Teach someone to fish, they can eat for a
lifetime.
Word Specific
Gives students
the fish
Generative
Vocabulary
Instruction
Teaches students
how to fish
Concept Sorts
Concept sorts
Help to activate background knowledge and generate interest in and questions about the topic
Develop word specific knowledge
Develop relationships among the concepts that the words represent
Teacher chooses words the students already know (planet, star, moon,
sun)
Adds new words from the unit (asteroid, neutron star, white dwarf)
Students sort words in the following possible ways
a. In or out of our solar system
b. Single bodies or members of a group
c. Generating light or reflecting light
Dictionaries
Get a lot of use in the derivational relations stage
Students should be taught
Pronunciation guides
Multiple definitions
Parts of speech
Word Origins
Students develop a real sense of how words work at this level
Etymology: the study of word origins
Understanding the origin of words can be a powerful key to remembering the
spelling
Knowing that many words come from mythology, literature, and historical
events helps provide background knowledge
Study words that have come in from other countries
Online Resources
Visual Thesaurus
1. Users type in a word
2. The word is then presented in a Thinkmap web that visually displays the
meaning relationships shared by the target word and other terms
3. Students can then click on any word to reveal the definitions, examples, and
new webs of relationships
Vocabgrabber
Analyzes the type, frequency, and relevance of vocabulary words
Visual Thesaurus
In contrast to the two-syllable words in which these errors occur at the syllables and affixes
stage, derivational relations errors occur primarily in words of three or more syllables.
1. Polysyllabic words often unaccented syllables in which the vowel is reduced to the
schwa sound, as in the second syllable of opposition.
2. Several suffixes have different spellings despite similar pronunciations.
3. Other errors occur in the feature known as absorbed or assimilated prefix.
Significant role that morphology plays in the spelling system and in learning vocabulary.
Affixes
They are unable to stand alone when all affixes have been removed. (chron time in
chronology)
Students should begin to explore Latin and Greek word roots in upper
elementary, middle grades, high school and beyond.
When deciding what word roots to teach, an educator should look at the words
that will be most familiar to students or are based on the area of content.
Roots stay in one place in a word, and prefixes and suffixes attach to them.
Cred
Credible, Credence, Incredible
Roots follow basic spelling meanings.
Words meaning similar things are spelled similarly.
Only on occasions will the root change.
Start with greek and latin elements that are most frequent and transparent in words
Sequenced according to the abstractness of their meaning
Examples:
Early in sequence: Greek roots- therm (heat) and photo (light) Latin roots - spect (to look), rupt (burst), dict (speak)
Later in sequence: Latin roots - fer (to carry) in defer or spir (to breathe) in inspiration
Students learn that if base words have ai/ei , the derived word has a spelling of
either a/e.
Students need to see that if the base word can stand alone, it usually has a
spelling of -able.
If the word root cannot stand alone, it usually has a spelling of -ible.
When pairs are examined, students can also see a pattern between suffixes ant/-ance and -ent/-ence
Brilliant/Brilliance, Confident/Confidence
During this stage, teachers and students will also revisit inflectional endings
when the consonants are doubled in words that have more than one syllable.
Committed, Benefitted
Assimilated Prefixes
Prefixes are first studies in the syllables and affixes stage.
Prefixes can often be visually/meaning obvious that can be see seen and
understood.
Word study emphasizes active exploration of words and application of word knowledge to:
Spelling
Vocabulary Development
Analysis of Unknown Words
Initiate word study for advanced readers
You know, when you first learned to read you had to learn how spelling stands for
sounds. Now youre going to be learning how spelling stands for meaning. (288)
Consonant Alternation
Consonant sounds change when suffixes are added to a word
Students learn most when these patterns are presented in a logical sequence
Example: revise, revision; nature, naturally
Example: spect
Respect
Inspect
Spectacular
Speculate
Disrespect
spectacle
Each question is a clue to a new word using the latin root in that category
Placement of Students
Can confirm with the use of the Elementary Spelling Inventory, the Upper-Level Spelling
Inventory will provide more information
Early/Middle
Early
Middle
Late
Most will be in this stage by middle school, some in upper elementary grades
Able to spell most academic vocabulary words that are new correctly
Often confuse assimilated prefixes and certain suffixes
-able/-ible
-ant/-ent
-ance/-ence
Never ending
Progress
Jeopardy Time!
https://jeopardylabs.com/play/Greek-and-Latin-roots-1
Teacher- Directed
Instruction on word study should be ongoing and all day long.
Try to use the words in as many content areas as possible.
Students will get a better grasp on the word if they have a connection ot the
word
Routines
Students should have routines with their words
Notebooks: clarifying spelling, looking into different languages, and new and
interesting words
Short writings with the words
Classroom displays of the words
Continual review of all the words learned that year.
Illustrating word relationship