Morphology and Spelling

Morphology and its relation to Spelling Why, when, and how to incorporate it in literacy teaching. In this article, we are going to examine the role of morphology in relation to spelling, the nemesis of many a student! We will consider its helpful role in developing spelling skills [the why we should utilize this valuable […]

When do I start teaching Morphology?

Want to incorporate morphology into your teaching? – Start here You can incorporate morphology instruction into your program anytime you like. The only thing that holds teachers back is that they worry that they don’t know enough about morphemes and what they mean for spelling, word knowledge and complex subject-specific words – vocabulary. Trust me, […]

CRACKER CUP CHALLENGES: gamifying vocabulary development

When Sally and I wrote the original Word Cracker manual, we included a whole section of whole-class games centered around a perpetual trophy called The Cracker Cup. Teachers have enjoyed playing these games and creative iterations of them since the release of the original Word Cracker Magnet Board back in 2020. One of the most […]

“Whatology?” A Morphology Explainer for School Leaders

So, your teachers are talking to you about teaching morphology. Maybe your response is “whatology?” (like mine would have been when I was a member of a school leadership team). It’s excellent news that your teachers want to be able to be resourced to teach morphology better. In this article, I want to help you […]

What is morphology and how do I teach it at home?

Help! I’m a parent who has heard about morphology as an important part of literacy teaching, but I’m not even sure what the term means! Furthermore, what are these so-called benefits? Will it really make a difference to my child’s literacy development? You may be a homeschooling parent or a parent/carer who wants to support […]

TEACHING SUFFIXES: STARTING WITH THE SUFFIX ‘S’

Teaching the world’s most common suffix The suffix  ‘s’  joins suffix ‘ing’, ‘ed’ and its partner in crime suffix ‘es’ to make up a whopping 65% of all suffixed words. So let’s have a look at how to teach this suffix well, including some background grammatical knowledge that can also be taught while teaching this […]

Sample Lesson -Suffix-s

The student(s) are introduced to the consonant suffix: Student(s) are also introduced to the terms: NOUN: A word for a person, place or thing. VERB: An action, doing or being word. SUFFIX: A letter or a group of letters added to the end of a base word, it changes the meaning slightly. For Playberry© students, this […]

Using the word cracker for intensive tier 3 intervention

Tier 3 Intervention Tier 3 students are those who experience challenges with their literacy development. Generally, these students are taught in a 1-1 or 1-2 teaching ratio. These students are typically slow decoders due to their underlying difficulties. They require the depth and the detail when learning a new teaching point and will often require […]

Teaching morphology in the classroom

Word Cracker resources are built to be used to teach morphology no matter which scope and sequence a school use. However, the Word cracker includes a suggested progression and sequence for teaching morphology in the classroom. Our member’s section has detailed lesson suggestions that provide everything you need to explicitly teach important aspects of morphology […]

What is morphology?

Phonemes and graphemes If you have been teaching reading and spelling in line with evidence, then you’re familiar with the –emes; phonemes and graphemes that make up the –ology that we’ve all become very used to teaching, talking about and assessing – phonology! Phonology is non-by-passable stage of reading and spelling development, but we know […]