Making and Breaking Words

Rationale: This strategy builds vocabulary knowledge based on a student’s prior knowledge of words. It is an on the spot device that is useful for word building. Through this activity, students will be able to develop and build upon their phonemic awareness, phonological awareness, phonics, encoding and decoding words. Students will be able to make and manipulate words by their letters and sounds. Research shows that student’s increased abilities in all of these areas will help them learn to read and write more successfully. Through this activity students are working with onsets and rimes, which helps build phonological awareness. They are manipulating sounds in words which help in building phonemic awareness. Students will develop letter and sound relationships which helps build phonics knowledge.

Time:

This activity is meant to be short in length. You can have it be as short as two minutes and as long as five minutes. According to research, two to three minutes is ideal.

Materials:

Magnetic letters

Store bought versions

Index Cards

And many more…Be creative!

Markers or any other writing utensils

Procedure:

  • Students will build a word family, such as, “cat” with letter manipulatives.
  • After reading the word, the student will identify the onset and rime (differ vocabulary based on level)
  • The student will place one hand on the onset and one on the rime. Then he/she will slide the word apart and put it back together while saying the word.
  • The student will then create new words that belong to the same family and repeat the activity. As the students master this activity, include higher-level thinking examples. (Example: use of digraphs, blends, and nonsense words)

Classroom Variations:

  • Whole group activity
  • Partner work
  • One-on-one with teacher
  • Learning centers

Information for Teachers:

  • It is important to DEMONSTRATE, DEMONSTRATE, DEMONSTRATE!
  • Use consistent language throughout the implementation of the activity
  • Useful for an on the spot review of a pattern or for a student who is failing to recognize letters and sounds.
  • Start with increased support and eventually give less support

Examples

-at-an-ook-ad-ake-am

-ot-ock-ing-it-est-ight

AND MANY MORE….

References:

Free Reading (2008). Making and Breaking Words. Retrieved July 27,2009. Website: and Breaking Words

McAndrews, Stephanie L. (2008.) Make and Break Words. Diagnostic Literacy Assessments and Instructional Strategies . pg. 85. ow+to+make+and+break+words+(literacy)&source=bl&ots=ptx bvCIg_&sig=O3vTda8LvByUbVNjt0LScrry4_E&hl=en&ei=r5hcSsytCIj M56Wta4C&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1

Osborne, Dawn (Fall 2000). Communicating How Words Work. The Running Record.

(13, 2), 10-12.

Dickinson, D., & Neuman, S. (2003). Handbook of Early Literacy Research. The

Guilford Press. (339-340)

Algozzine, B., Barnes, E., Marr, M., & McClanahan, T. (2008) Strategies and Lessons

for Improving Basic Early Literacy Skills. Corwin Press. (132)