As I continue my learning journey with Structured Literacy, I’ve been reflecting on the shifts that have had the biggest impact on my teaching.
Read about Shift # 1 here.
Today’s post focuses on Morphology Instruction—a powerful way to strengthen vocabulary, decoding, spelling, and comprehension for all learners.
Morphology is the study of prefixes, suffixes, and base words—has been one of the most powerful shifts in my literacy block. Understanding how words are built helps students decode, spell, and most importantly, improve comprehension. Students build their “bank” of prefixes, suffixes and base words (these expectations can be found in the Ontario curriculum), each year. In fact, morphology instruction begins in Kindergarten!
Rather than relying on memorization, students learn to break words apart, look for meaningful chunks, and use these patterns to figure out unfamiliar vocabulary. This is especially supportive for our Multilingual Language Learners (MLLs).
Morphology aligns naturally with Structured Literacy through:
- Word building and word sums
- Decoding multisyllabic words
- Teaching vocabulary intentionally
- Making connections across content areas
Benefits I’ve Noticed in My Classroom
Since adding explicit morphology instruction, I’ve noticed:
- Improved comprehension—students understand more because they analyze words (i.e., reading for meaning)
- Stronger decoding and spelling of longer words
- More academic language (Tier 2 words) used in oral and written language
- Increased confidence when encountering unfamiliar words
Morphology instruction is also an equity move because it provides an explicit, systematic approach where all students learn morphemes together. By teaching morphemes directly, we give every learner access to the building blocks of English.
