Knowledge of how prefixes, suffixes, base words, and Greek and Latin word roots combine is the engine that generates students’ learning about thousands of words. This presentation shares ways to support morphological development at the high school level. Presenters: Kenneth McKee and Elizabeth Swaggerty.

1. Morphology:
Start your
Engines!
Kenneth McKee
Buncombe County Schools
Elizabeth Swaggerty
East Carolina University

4. https://kahoot.it/#/

5. Word Tiers
Tier 1 Tier 2 Tier 3
Basic words
that require
little to no
instruction.
Precise or
sophisticated
words that
appear across
domains.
Low-frequency
words that
appear in
specific
domains.
Book, girl, sad,
run, etc.
Adjust,
translation,
depend,
structure, etc.
Allegory,
monarchy,
hypotenuse,
mitosis, etc.

6. Academic Language: Bricks & Mortar
Bricks = Tier 3 -
Technical words
specific to a discipline
Mortar= Tier 2 -
General but
sophisticated words
used to communicate
complex thoughts
(process or test words
& phrases, idioms)

7. Tier 2
Knowledge

8. Generative Morphology
Prefixes
Suffixes
Roots
Students generate “known” words to link to “new” words.

9. Impact of Explicit Generative Vocabulary Instruction on
10th Grade Biology Students’ Tier 2 Vocab Knowledge
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
PreTest Class Mean Posttest Class Mean
General Academic Vocabulary Knowledge

10. Let’s do this!

11. genotype
Definition: the genetic makeup of an organism
or group of organisms with reference to traits.
Although we cannot visibly see all of our traits
physically (phenotype), they can be found within
our DNA (genotype).
(gen) o (typ)e

12. Morpheme Web Activity
“gen” – birth, kind

13. So, how
did we get
here?

14. Generative Vocabulary Routine
1. Introduce/define a morphologically complex
content word.
2. Prompt students to break down words into
morphemes.
3. Introduce the target morpheme, and explain
how it relates to the meaning of the content
word.
4. Have groups of three or four students generate
all the words they know that include the
morpheme.

15. Generative Vocabulary Routine
5. Circulate to prompt groups who need help.
6. Use a whole-class format to discuss words
and create the class morpheme web.
7. While discussing words, emphasize the
spelling-meaning connection. Identify “false”
roots by “taking the route back to the root.”
8. Extend students’ word knowledge by
introducing new words and their meanings to
the web.

17. Inquiry Activities

18. M. E. E. P.
Morpheme
(prefix, root, or
suffix)
Examples
(from students)
Explanations
(whole class or
small group)
Picture
(individual
student
association)
Mal- -Draco Malfoy
(Harry Potter)
-Malificent
(Sleeping
Beauty)
-Malpractice
-Malevolent
Bad
Pens-,
pend-
Cap-

19. Dinner Party
Find the “guests” who have place
cards similar to yours. Sit down at a
table for your “dinner party.”
Discuss what you have in common.

20. Work
backward

21. Word
Hunting

22. Games!
uncw.edu/EdGames

24. Brainburst
1. Select a root. Set a timer for two minutes. Each
team generates as many words as possible
derived from that root.
2. When timer goes off, each group draws a line
under their last word and counts the total
number of words.
3. The group with the longest list reads the list
aloud. If any other group has the word, it is
crossed oof from all lists. Any words that are not
on a nother list are crossed off.

25. Brainburst
4. Each group in turn reads any words that have
not been called to determine if he or she has
a unique word. Disputes can be settled with
the help of a dictionary.
5. The team with the most unique words are
the winners of the round.

26. References
Bear, D. R., Invernizzi, M., Templeton, S., & Johnston, F. (2012).
Words their way: Word study for phonics, vocabulary, and
spelling instruction. (5th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ:
Pearson.
Beck, I. L., McKeown, M. G., & Kucan, L. (2002). Bringing
words to life: Robust vocabulary instruction. New York, NY:
Guilford.
Coxhead, A. (2000). A new academic word list. TESOL
Quarterly, 34(2), 213-238. doi:10.2307/3587951

27. References
Flanigan, K., Templeton, S., & Hayes, L. (2012). What’s in a
word? Using content vocabulary to generate growth in
general academic vocabulary knowledge. Journal of
Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 56(2), 132-140. doi:10.1002/
JAAL.00114
Kieffer, M. J., & Lesaux, N. K. (2010). Morphin into
adolescents: Active word learning for English language
learners and their classmates in middle school. Journal of
Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 54(1), 47-56. doi:1598/JAAL.
54.1.5
National Governors Association Center for Best Practices &
Council of Chief State School Officers. (2010). Common
Core State Standards for English language arts and literacy
in history/social studies, science, and technical subjects.
Washington, DC: Authors. Retrieved from
http://www.corestandards.org/ELA-Literacy/W/9-10

29. Elizabeth Swaggerty swaggertye@ecu.edu
East Carolina University
Kenneth McKee kennethcmckee@gmail.com
Buncombe County Schools
TWEET:
@kennycmckee
@swaggerty
#NCRA14
#morphology