Title of Strategy: Polysyllabic Words
Description: This strategy focuses on the idea that the reader needs to be taught to divide unknown, polysyllabic or multi-syllable words into decodable parts or chunks based on his/her knowledge of familiar word patterns such as suffixes, prefixes, and base or root words.
Procedure: This is one way to model the word international.
1. Write on the board: The thinning of the ozone layer is an international problem.
“We are going to look at a big word that is just a little word with a prefix added to the beginning and a suffix added to the end.”
2. Underline nation in the sentence: The thinning of the ozone layer is an international problem.
“Who can tell me this word? Yes, that is the word nation. Let’s look at the prefix that comes before nation.”
3. Underline inter: The thinning of the ozone layer is an international problem.
“This prefix is inter. You probably know inter from words such as interrupt and internal. Let’s look at what follows inter and nation.”
4. Underline al: The thinning of the ozone layer is an international problem.
“You know al from many words, such as unusual and critical.”
5. Write unusual and critical and underline the al. unusual critical
“Listen as I pronounce this part of the word.”
6. Underline and pronounce national: The thinning of the ozone layer is an international problem.
“Notice how the pronunciation of nation changes when we put a-l on it. Now let’s put all the parts together and pronounce the word—inter nation al. Let’s read the sentence and make sure international makes sense.”
7. Have the student read and confirm that ozone thinning is indeed a problem for many nations to solve.
“You can figure out the pronunciation of many big words if you look for common prefixes (inter), common root words (nation), and common suffixes (al). Prefixes and suffixes help you figure out what the word means or where in a sentence we can use the word. The word nation is a noun that names something. When we describe a nation, we add the suffix al and have national. The prefix inter often means between or among. Something that is international is among many nations. The Olympics are an international sporting event.”
Cunningham, Patricia M. Phonics they use: Words for reading and writing. New York: HarperCollins.
Description: This strategy focuses on the idea that the reader needs to be taught to divide unknown, polysyllabic or multi-syllable words into decodable parts or chunks based on his/her knowledge of familiar word patterns such as suffixes, prefixes, and base or root words.
Procedure: This is one way to model the word international.
1. Write on the board: The thinning of the ozone layer is an international problem.
“We are going to look at a big word that is just a little word with a prefix added to the beginning and a suffix added to the end.”
2. Underline nation in the sentence: The thinning of the ozone layer is an international problem.
“Who can tell me this word? Yes, that is the word nation. Let’s look at the prefix that comes before nation.”
3. Underline inter: The thinning of the ozone layer is an international problem.
“This prefix is inter. You probably know inter from words such as interrupt and internal. Let’s look at what follows inter and nation.”
4. Underline al: The thinning of the ozone layer is an international problem.
“You know al from many words, such as unusual and critical.”
5. Write unusual and critical and underline the al. unusual critical
“Listen as I pronounce this part of the word.”
6. Underline and pronounce national: The thinning of the ozone layer is an international problem.
“Notice how the pronunciation of nation changes when we put a-l on it. Now let’s put all the parts together and pronounce the word—inter nation al. Let’s read the sentence and make sure international makes sense.”
7. Have the student read and confirm that ozone thinning is indeed a problem for many nations to solve.
“You can figure out the pronunciation of many big words if you look for common prefixes (inter), common root words (nation), and common suffixes (al). Prefixes and suffixes help you figure out what the word means or where in a sentence we can use the word. The word nation is a noun that names something. When we describe a nation, we add the suffix al and have national. The prefix inter often means between or among. Something that is international is among many nations. The Olympics are an international sporting event.”
Cunningham, Patricia M. Phonics they use: Words for reading and writing. New York: HarperCollins.