Word Cracking terminology
Defining the common terms you’ll see in the Word Cracking Resources In this article, we glossarise the common morphological terms you will see in the Word Cracker manual, other blog posts and videos and on the Online Word Cracker. Before we dive in, we had better explain (for newbie word nerds) why we bother teaching […]
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 […]