#58: How to Teach Morphology in Early Elementary without Overwhelming Your Students with Sarah Paul
When Morphemes Spark Magic in a First Grade Classroom
It was in my second year of teaching first grade that I realized something huge. One of my students asked, “Why does ‘jumped’ have that ‘ed’ at the end?” And before I could answer with my usual phonics explanation, I paused—because I knew there was more to it. That moment unlocked something big: teaching morphology early isn’t an extra—it’s essential.
In this episode of The Science of Reading Formula, we’re joined by Sarah from Snippets by Sarah—a veteran literacy expert with over 136,000 followers on Instagram—who’s on a mission to help teachers introduce morphemes in meaningful ways as early as kindergarten. If you’ve ever wondered when or how to start teaching prefixes, suffixes, and bases, this is the episode (and post) for you.
What Is Morphology—And Why It Belongs in PreK–3 Classrooms
Sarah walks us through her journey from reading interventionist to morphology advocate, sharing how morphology transformed her instruction and her students’ confidence. Here’s what you need to know:
- Morphology = the study of meaningful word parts (like prefixes, suffixes, and bases).
- It’s not just a vocabulary tool—it supports decoding, spelling, fluency, and comprehension.
- Kids already use morphological knowledge orally (think: “fastest” or “cookies”)—we just need to make it visible and explicit.
The big idea? Don’t wait. Start early. Morphology isn’t something we save for older kids—it’s a foundation we can build from the start.
How to Teach Morphology in Early Elementary: Practical Tips
Sarah offers practical, doable ways to weave morphology into your daily instruction—even with your youngest learners or struggling readers. Here’s how:
1. Start Small (and Oral)
Use familiar words like “cats” or “jumped” and talk about the suffixes out loud before students even write them. Kindergarteners can learn that adding “s” means “more than one.”
2. Use Word Sums
Turn words into puzzles:
RE + ACT + ION = reaction
This helps students visually break words into parts and understand how they work.
3. Go on Morpheme Hunts
Read a decodable or guided reading book and hunt for morphemes. Ask: What part do you recognize? What might it mean?
4. Introduce the Term “Base” Early
Instead of saying “root word,” use the term “base.” It’s more accurate and helps students understand how words are built.
5. Connect Morphology to Spelling
Understanding suffixes like -ed and -ing gives students clues for spelling tricky words and decoding unfamiliar ones.
In This Episode, You’ll Discover:
- Why morphology isn’t just for big kids (and when to start teaching it)
- The difference between a base and a root (and why it matters)
- How morphology supports struggling readers and reduces cognitive overload
- Easy ways to integrate morphemes into everyday instruction
- How to foster word curiosity through word sums and exploration
Bringing It All Together
Morphology instruction isn’t just a nice-to-have—it’s a powerful tool for helping PreK–3rd grade students become confident readers and writers. Sarah reminds us that our students already know more than we think—our job is to shine a light on that knowledge and give it structure.
The beauty? You don’t have to know all the answers. Morphology instruction can be playful, exploratory, and yes—even fun.
Want More Support? Join The Science of Reading Formula
Ready to dive deeper into strategies that align with research and actually work in real classrooms? Join us inside The Science of Reading Formula—your go-to membership for practical, evidence-based literacy tools designed for PreK–2nd grade teachers.
LINKS
Sarah Paul Website / Instagram
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