Topic: Word structure

These resources cover the internal structure of words, including how words can be built up from smaller meaningful parts, and ways in which words can change their form in order to mark grammatical distinctions.

Spelling - Syllables, consonants, vowels

Goals

  • To increase student awareness of the sound sequences in one syllable words.
  • To highlight that there is not a one-to-one correspondence between sounds and letters.
  • To practise dividing words into syllables.

Lesson plan

In this lesson, students will work through three activities. The first two involve categorising words according to syllable structure and number of syllables, while the third activity is a class competition requiring students to draw on their vocabulary knowledge.

Spelling - Syllables, consonants, vowels: Activity 1

Vowel and consonant sequences

Here are five patterns of vowel (V) and consonant (C) sound sequences in words with one syllable.

  • CV: go, though
  • VC: up, inn
  • CVC: ban, mine
  • CCV: slow, true
  • CVCC: mint, mined

Instructions:

Subject-Verb Agreement

In this lesson, students select the correct verb to compose an acceptable sentence.

Goals

  • Practise composing sentences with appropriate Subject-Verb agreement.
  • Identify acceptable patterns in Standard English.

Lesson Plan

The teacher explains that today, we will select the correct verb on the smart board, to construct acceptable sentences.

Subject-Verb Agreement: 'Be' verbs

Telephones
are
is
am
really weird.

Synonymy (Stein)

Plan

Please note: there are two pages of activities for this lesson.

Activity 1

Start by explaining the meaning of the term synonym. For an example, ask learners to think of some synonyms for the word 'argument'. 

In the next slide, show the two possible examples. Ask learners if these two words have the exact same meaning or if there are any subtle differences. Try asking learners in what situations they would/would not use each word.

Synonymy (Stein)

Lesson

Activity 1

A synonym is a words that has the same, or a very similar, meaning to another. 

Take for example the word argument.

How many words can you think of that have the same or a very similar meaning? 

For the word argument, some synonyms are quarrel or row.

The words quarrel and row have the same general meaning.

Synonymy (Stein)

Lesson

Activity 5

Just like with nouns, there are also many synonyms which are adjectives. These have the same, or very similar, meanings to each other, and are used in different contexts.

What does the term adjective mean? What examples can you think of? Can you think of any synonyms?

Find the synonymous adjective in these two sentences:

Texting language

In this lesson, students explore the features of texting language, from a linguistic perspective.

Goals

  • Discuss texting language from a linguistic perspective.
  • Define some key linguistic terms relevant to texting language.

Lesson Plan

Part 1

Texting language: Activity

Text 1 Text 2

Hey Gems,how ru?How was last nite?Hope u had a gd time..;)I herd the party was rele bad…ppl had an awful time!I guess I shud b glad I didn’t go afta all…tbXx

Free Msg; Our records indicate you may be entitled to £3750 for the accident you had. To apply free reply CLAIM to this message. To opt out text STOP

Verb endings

In this activity we will look at suffixes which change adjectives and nouns into verbs. This process is a part of derivational morphology

Words

This lesson looks at words and word-formation and is designed for KS1 students.

Goals

  • To explore the definition of the notion 'word'. 
  • To explore how words are formed and understand some word-formation processes.
  • To explore how words create meaning.

Lesson Plan

Start the lesson by asking your students to discuss what a ‘word’ is. It's a surprisingly tricky thing to define! 

Next, display the following words on the board:

Compounds: Break apart the words

Break down each of the following words into its meaningful parts. Label each part as either a prefix, a suffix, or a lexical base (a part which can typically be used as a word on its own).

Example: unkindness: un- (prefix) + kind (lexical base) + -ness (suffix)

You can check your work by pressing the buttons to see the answers.

Identify the word formation process

Identify the word formation process by clicking the correct answer.

Y6 GPaS Test: Forms of 'be'

Select the correct form of be:

Y6 GPaS Test: Forms of 'be': Advanced

Select the correct form of be:

Y6 GPaS Test: Modal verbs and adverbs expressing modal meaning

Read each of the following examples carefully. Which kind of word indicates modal meaning (e.g. 'obligation', 'necessity', 'possibility', etc.)? A modal verb or an adverb?

Y6 GPaS Test: Present or past tense?

In each of the following examples, indicate whether the highlighted verb is in present or past tense:

Y6 GPaS Test: Select the pronouns

In each of the following examples, select the pair of pronouns that correctly fills the blanks:

Y6 GPaS Test: Select the verb form

Select the correct verb form for each example.

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