Helpful Resources for Educators
Creating activities to use in the classroom can be challenging and time-consuming. The resources below offer some activities ‘off the shelf’ and for free. Based on what we know from research, we suspect that these will be effective in teaching children about roots and affixes and supporting their reading development.
Florida Centre for Reading Research | Student Center Activities:
This site has activities divided by grade level and target of instruction.
https://fcrr.org/student-center-activities
This site has activities divided by grade level and target of instruction.
https://fcrr.org/student-center-activities
University of Florida Literacy Institute | Lesson Resources:
This site includes PowerPoint slides and texts on morphology (e.g., reading long words, suffixes and prefixes). There is a paid resource, but the free pp slides and texts are fairly stand-alone.
https://ufli.education.ufl.edu/foundations/toolbox
This site includes PowerPoint slides and texts on morphology (e.g., reading long words, suffixes and prefixes). There is a paid resource, but the free pp slides and texts are fairly stand-alone.
https://ufli.education.ufl.edu/foundations/toolbox
University of Florida Literacy Institute | Instructional Activities:
This site provides instructional activities in areas like phonemic awareness, decoding and encoding, irregular and high frequency words, and others.
https://ufli.education.ufl.edu/resources/teaching-resources/instructional-activities/
This site provides instructional activities in areas like phonemic awareness, decoding and encoding, irregular and high frequency words, and others.
https://ufli.education.ufl.edu/resources/teaching-resources/instructional-activities/
Morphology Matters:
This site provides a good overview of morphology instruction.
https://www.wvced.com/wpcontent/uploads/2019/04/Morphology-Matters-4-1-19.pd
This site provides a good overview of morphology instruction.
https://www.wvced.com/wpcontent/uploads/2019/04/Morphology-Matters-4-1-19.pd
Words Their Way | Word Sorts for Syllables and Affixes Spellers: A classic resource text for elementary and middle school teachers, written by Donald R. Bear, Marcia Invernizzi, Shane Templeton, and Francine Johnston. http://searkinstructionalfacilitation.pbworks.com/w/file/fetch/113058595/wordstheirwayforsyllablesandaffixesspellers.pdf (Note that newer editions are also available for purchase)
Dyslexia Help | Summary Resource on Teaching Dyslexics
Review on teaching about roots and suffixes by expert clinicians!
http://www.dyslexiahelp.umich.edu/professionals/dyslexia-school/morphological-awareness
Review on teaching about roots and suffixes by expert clinicians!
http://www.dyslexiahelp.umich.edu/professionals/dyslexia-school/morphological-awareness
Resources on Individual Morphemes
Here are three sites that give definitions of individual morphemes (e.g., roots and affixes)—because these are not always obvious even to adults! I’m sure you can find others if you google too!
http://www.prefixsuffix.com/rootchart.php ; https://www.affixes.org/;
https://dpi.wi.gov/sites/default/files/imce/ela/bank/L.VAU_Word_Sort_for_Morphological_Analysis.pdf
Here are three sites that give definitions of individual morphemes (e.g., roots and affixes)—because these are not always obvious even to adults! I’m sure you can find others if you google too!
http://www.prefixsuffix.com/rootchart.php ; https://www.affixes.org/;
https://dpi.wi.gov/sites/default/files/imce/ela/bank/L.VAU_Word_Sort_for_Morphological_Analysis.pdf
Online Etymology Dictionary |Resource on origins of words
Useful for kids who are curious about words!
http://www.etymonline.com/
Useful for kids who are curious about words!
http://www.etymonline.com/
Academic vocabulary
Two sites to support teaching, along with Morphology Matters.
https://education.ufl.edu/patterson/files/2020/05/Morphemes-and-Their-Meanings.pdf;
https://www.wgtn.ac.nz/lals/resources/academicwordlist
Two sites to support teaching, along with Morphology Matters.
https://education.ufl.edu/patterson/files/2020/05/Morphemes-and-Their-Meanings.pdf;
https://www.wgtn.ac.nz/lals/resources/academicwordlist
Blevins List
This is a list of the top 20 most common prefixes and suffixes, adapted from Blevins (1998).
Blevins_list.pdf
Blevins, W. (1998). Phonics from A to Z: A practical guide (pp. 182-183). Scholastic.
This is a list of the top 20 most common prefixes and suffixes, adapted from Blevins (1998).
Blevins_list.pdf
Blevins, W. (1998). Phonics from A to Z: A practical guide (pp. 182-183). Scholastic.
Common Morphemes in Scientific Vocabulary
This list, adapted from Nellenbach and colleagues (2014), presents commonly appearing words and morphemes in scientific literature. It is a great resource for upper-elementary or middle school teachers looking to teach academic vocabulary to their students.
Common-Morphemes-in-Scientific-Vocabulary.pdf
Nellenbach, K., Zoski, J., Diamond, J., & Erickson, K. (2015). A graphomorphemic approach to identifying and selecting a set of high utility, stable affixes common to the technical vocabulary of science. Applied Psycholinguistics, 36(6), 1441–1457. doi:10.1017/S0142716414000344
This list, adapted from Nellenbach and colleagues (2014), presents commonly appearing words and morphemes in scientific literature. It is a great resource for upper-elementary or middle school teachers looking to teach academic vocabulary to their students.
Common-Morphemes-in-Scientific-Vocabulary.pdf
Nellenbach, K., Zoski, J., Diamond, J., & Erickson, K. (2015). A graphomorphemic approach to identifying and selecting a set of high utility, stable affixes common to the technical vocabulary of science. Applied Psycholinguistics, 36(6), 1441–1457. doi:10.1017/S0142716414000344
Foundation for Learning and Literacy | Morphology Works
This article was written by our collaborators, Dr. John R. Kirby and Peter N. Bowers (June 2012). It is part of the "What Works? Research into Practice" series, which consists of research summaries that highlight promising teaching practice at the classroom level. Produced by a partnership between the Literacy and Numeracy Secretariat and the Ontario Association of Deans of Education, the articles are written by scholars at Ontario universities who are experts in the field of education.
https://foundationforlearningandliteracy.info/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Morphology-works.pdf
This article was written by our collaborators, Dr. John R. Kirby and Peter N. Bowers (June 2012). It is part of the "What Works? Research into Practice" series, which consists of research summaries that highlight promising teaching practice at the classroom level. Produced by a partnership between the Literacy and Numeracy Secretariat and the Ontario Association of Deans of Education, the articles are written by scholars at Ontario universities who are experts in the field of education.
https://foundationforlearningandliteracy.info/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Morphology-works.pdf
UFLI | Virtual Teaching Resource Hub
On this website, the Literacy Institute at the University of Florida provides free resources for teachers who are learning new ways to teach children foundational reading skills using technology. The website includes many different tools to help with online reading instruction and intervention with children in elementary school.
https://ufli.education.ufl.edu/resources/teaching-resources/
On this website, the Literacy Institute at the University of Florida provides free resources for teachers who are learning new ways to teach children foundational reading skills using technology. The website includes many different tools to help with online reading instruction and intervention with children in elementary school.
https://ufli.education.ufl.edu/resources/teaching-resources/