Structured Literacy in the Science Classroom - Part 2 (Morphology)

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The Sharpened Vision of the International Dyslexia Association promotes Structured Literacy in every classroom everywhere and around the world, but how does that apply to subjects like science for the upper grades? 

It's challenging to envision a high school chemistry teacher dedicating time to work on decoding or phonics, so how do those educators incorporate Structured Literacy into their curriculum without sacrificing precious instructional time?

One avenue for promoting Structured Literacy and the Science of Reading in every classroom is through the development of morphological awareness. 

Earlier this month, at the end of my Structured Literacy Symposium on Vocabulary and Background Knowledge for California's Tri-County Branch of IDA, one of the participants shared a personal story from her years of teaching experience.

When she was a middle school general education science teacher, she had little understanding of Structured Literacy. Even so, she was actively incorporating a Structured Literacy approach. When an unfamiliar word appeared in the science lesson, rather than asking students to memorize the textbook definition, she broke down the word into morphological units and initiated a discussion about connecting base elements, prefixes, suffixes, and Greek combining forms to terms already familiar to the class. 

By connecting unknown words to known words, she drew on what students already understood about the word. This practice aligns with the strategy of utilizing background knowledge to create student-friendly definitions, as outlined in Bringing Words to Life: Robust Vocabulary Instruction by Beck, McKeown, and Kucan. 

In my August BLOG post, I shared their three Tiers of Vocabulary - not to be confused with the Multi-Tiered Systems of Support in the diagram below. Please read that blog post for more information about Tiers of Vocabulary.

Using morphological awareness to teach vocabulary in upper-grade science classes is a logical choice that supports both the curriculum and Structured Literacy.  Many scientific terms originate from Greek and Latin. This emphasis also aligns well with a Structured Literacy approach, as illustrated in the Infographic below.

 (courtesy of the IDA at https://dyslexiaida.org/infographics/) 

Examining the "Who" section of the infographic, general education classroom teachers can effectively utilize morphology instruction with both average-performing students and those who may require additional support. Specialists, such as reading teachers and speech-language pathologists, can also do a deeper dive into that same vocabulary when they meet with students in small groups or 1:1 for Tier 3 support.

Examining the "What" section of the Infomap, morphological awareness requires critical thinking and fosters growth in both vocabulary and background knowledge.

"How" a teacher approaches the teaching of morphology may incorporate several elements of both direct/systematic and mastery-oriented strategies.

As an example, when teaching a word like subaquatic, which may not be automatically generalizable to other subjects, focus on the morphemes that do appear across subject areas and are related to words the student already understands. These types of conversations are engaging, require students to draw on background experience, and incorporate morphological problem-solving. After introducing the word, introduce the parts.

SUB = UNDER: submarine, subtract, substitute, submit, suburban.

AQUA = WATER: aquarium, Aqua Man

TIC = A suffix that turns a word into an adjective that describes a quality or characteristic: fantastic, aromatic

Then, encourage students to think of other words containing those elements. If they watch crime shows, they may be interested to know that an unsub is an "unknown subject" or an unidentified perpetrator. Although the word "subaquatic" may not transfer easily across topic areas, the word "subject" certainly does.

A visit to etmonline.com reveals that ject means to throw. Sub+ject therefore means to throw under, bind under, or that which lies beneath. That meaning makes sense when thinking about the king's subjects, or how a younger brother might subject his older brother to a barrage of silly jokes. It takes a bit more imagination to consider math as a subject that lies beneath, but in that context, it might make sense to think of the student throwing themself under, or submitting to a course of study.

Once you have a list of "sub" words, make a matrix like the one below, created with Mini Matrix Maker at 

www.neil.ramsden.co.uk/spelling/matrix.

After exploring the Word Sums, students can create sentences or answer questions based on the shades of meaning of the various words.

Last week, I explored the subject of Structured Literacy in the Science Classroom with a look at Haiku and Syllable Structure. Check it out for more ideas on how to use Structured Literacy in the science classroom.

Sign up for my newsletter to receive activities for my ongoing COR (Components of Reading) series HERE. 

Structured Literacy in the Science Classroom - Part 1 (Haiku and Syllable Structure)

The International Dyslexia Association promotes the concept of "Structured Literacy in Every Classroom," but that can be challenging to address when teaching upper-level science courses to students in general education.  

A fun way to incorporate science vocabulary, Structured Literacy, and the Science of Reading is to practice syllabication and phonological awareness using a haiku. 

Haiku is a form of poetry originating in Japan that is based on the number of syllables per line. A haiku consists of three lines of poetry with a 5-5 syllable structure. Poems can be on any topic, but themes often revolve around the beauty of nature and the seasons.

snow gently falling (5)

a candle in the window (7)

riding home at night (5)

I was in a middle school library teaching a workshop to students on Haiku when we brainstormed the topic of winter. We made lists of words in five columns related to the number of syllables in each word. Then, students used those words to create haiku poems.  A general education science teacher who happened to be walking through the library stopped to watch as the students worked excitedly to create their poems. 

"I could do this in my science class using science vocabulary," the science teacher told me. 

Haiku is often used with young students to promote writing because it is simple, words are sparse, and it doesn't require rhyme. Additionally, grammar and punctuation are not considerations. The children's author, Laurie Halse Anderson, speaks about her struggles with dyslexia in a Reading Rockets interview and shares how she had her first positive experience with writing when a second-grade teacher introduced her to haiku because she could choose the words she knew how to spell. See my 2020 blog post about Children's Authors with Dyslexia.   

In my book, Story Frames for Teaching Literacy: Enhancing Student Learning Through the Power of Storytelling, Chapter 10 is about "Poetry: Exploring the Power of Language and  Story Through Verse." In that chapter, I discuss using haiku to create mini book summaries. The one below is based on Six Dots: A Story of Young Louis Braille, written by Jen Bryant and illustrated by Boris Kulikov

In a cold, damp school

Louis Braille, blind and alone,

Created a secret code

I am currently working on a poem about the invention of glass for an upcoming book for my HOT ROD series (Higher Order Thinking through the Reading of Decodables). The beginning of the poem starts with a haiku:

Sand, soda, and lime

Copper oxide turns it green

Watch the melting time

Here is an adaptation of my haiku writing process, which can be used for any grade level with any subject:

A. Research a Topic: I started with the Roman Era of Glass. 

B. Take Notes: I focused on the process of making glass and how silica (sand), soda, and lime were the key ingredients, with various oxides used to change the color of the final product. I also listed the different types of vessels made from glass (jars, lamps, cups, plates, flasks) and the most popular images used to decorate the glass (pigs, fish, sandals, and so forth).

C. Make a list of keywords and terms: From my notes, I compiled a list of words I thought would fit best into a poem. 

D. Create a Syllable Chart: Next, I put words and phrases into categories based on the number of syllables. 

    1 - pig, fish, mug, plate, vase

    2 - garlands, inflate, Roman

    3 - Medusa, manganese, drinking cups

    4 - copper oxide, floral patterns

    5 - bottles in bird shapes, bake it in a kiln

 E. Make a list of phrases: I added more 5-syllable phrases to the list above and then used words from the rest of the list to create 7-syllable phrases: use a bit of manganese, there's Medusa on a flask.

F: Organize the lines: Next, I arranged and rearranged the lines to come up with a 5-7-5 structure. 

F. Play with the pattern: Along the way, I played with the number of syllables if I came across a line that didn't quite fit. This process of adding or taking out words is a wonderful activity for practicing phonological awareness. Students must repeatedly think of phrases, count the syllables, analyze the number, and make adjustments. I had to follow that process when trying to come up with a 7 syllable line about manganese:

For purple, you need manganese (8) Manganese will give you purple (8) For purple, add manganese (7).  I finally settled on the last two lines below, both with 7 syllables, which I added to the haiku shown earlier to make a tanka, a form of poetry with the syllable structure 5-7-5-7-7.

Sand, soda, and lime (5)

Copper oxide turns it green (7)

Watch the melting time (5)

Use a bit of manganese (7)

for purple perfume bottles (7)

Because this poem is part of a decodable book that includes only sound a syllable patterns previously taught, there were many key terms I had to avoid because they involved vowel teams - blow, blue lead, beads - or c pronounced as /s/ or /sh/ in circus, century, bracelet, ancient. I also avoided words with silent letters like design. Consequently, another step for me was to find synonyms for words that did not fit the Scope and Sequence - pattern for design and inflate for blow.

Students working at Level 4 of the HOT ROD series have learned closed syllables (fish, pig, mug), open syllables (Roman, spiral), Silent e (plate, vase), and R-controlled syllables (garland, copper). Find the Scope and Sequence of the series HERE and watch this blog for more news about my new poetry book.

Sign up for my newsletter to receive more free activities for my ongoing COR series HERE. Stay tuned for news about the release date for Cars, Codes, Balloons, and Guterburg: Poems about Inventions.