Is understanding a compound word

Editor’s Note: This blog post is part of an ongoing series entitled “Effective Literacy Lessons.” In these posts, we provide a brief summary of the research basis for an approach to teaching reading or writing skills, and an example of how a teacher might “think aloud” to model what students should do in completing portions of the lesson. The intent of these posts is to provide teachers a starting point for designing their own effective literacy lessons.

Research Basis

Morphological knowledge, or the ability to identify and manipulate the smallest units of meaning within a word, contributes to students’ abilities to read and understand words as well as comprehend texts (Deacon, Francis, & Tong, 2017; Levesque, Kieffer, & Deacon, 2017). One approach to developing students’ morphological knowledge is by explicitly teaching them to identify and determine the meaning of compound words (Ramirez, Walton, & Roberts, 2013). Compound words are those that are formed by combining two or more words to create a new word, so examining the parts can support determining the overall meaning of the compound word. 

Lesson Materials

For Teachers:

• Scripted purpose, introduction, and modeling
• Plan for guided and independent practice
• List of two-syllable compound words. Possible sources of compound words include the following:
  • 1,000 examples of compound words from EnglishStudyHere
  • 150 examples of compound words from TurtleDiary.com
• Compound Word Meaning Graphic Organizer (see Supplemental Resources for Teachers)
• If You Were a Compound Word (Shaskan, 2008)

For Students:

• Compound Word Meaning Graphic Organizer (see Supplemental Resources for Teachers)
• List of two-syllable compound words

Instructional Sequence

Lesson Appropriate for Second Grade

This is an introductory lesson that focuses on teaching students to read and understand compound words. This level of instruction is appropriate for students who have mastered reading and writing one-syllable words, including those formed with consonant blends (e.g., bl, dr, spl, tr), consonant digraphs (e.g., ch, ph, sh, th, wh), and vowel digraphs (e.g., ae, oa, ee, ie, ou).

1. Establish the Purpose

Teacher script: Being able to read and understand longer words is important to comprehending the books and other texts we read. When we come across a long, unfamiliar word, we can look for parts of the word that we already know to help us. Today, we are going to learn a strategy for reading and understanding compound words. This strategy will help you be a better reader who can figure out new compound words on your own when you see them in a text.

2. Introduce the Concept

Teacher script: A compound word is two or more single words combined to create a new word. Sometimes, we can figure out the meaning of the compound word by using what we know about the individual words that make up the compound word. Today, we will learn to use a graphic organizer to help us read and understand compound words.

3. Check for Understanding

Teacher script: What is a compound word?

Possible student responses include:

• A compound word is two or more single words combined to create a new word.
• Compound words can be broken apart into two words.

4. Introduce the Graphic Organizer

Project the Compound Word Meaning Graphic Organizer (see Figure 1 below and Supplemental Resources for Teachers) on the projection screen.

Figure 1. Compound Word Meaning Graphic Organizer

Teacher script: We will use this graphic organizer to break apart compound words so that we can read and define them. First, we will write the compound word in the box at the top that says “Compound Word.” Next, we will divide the compound word into its two parts. These parts should be words that you recognize. We will write the first part in the box that says “First Word” and the second part in the box that says “Second Word.” Below each word part, we will write the meaning of those words. In the last box at the bottom, we will rewrite the compound word and a definition of the compound word. We will use the definitions of the two word parts to help us come up with the definition of the compound word.

5. Model Using the Graphic Organizer

Project the following sentence: “The blue jay landed in the birdbath.”

Teacher script: I need to read this sentence. I know most of the words, but the one at the end is long and unfamiliar to me. “The blue jay landed in the…” To help me figure out the last word, I am going to start by looking for any words I already know. I know that compound words are when two or more words are put together to create a new word and meaning, so I am going to write this word in the first box on the graphic organizer.

Project the graphic organizer and write the word “birdbath” in the top box.

Teacher script: I can see two words I know in this compound word: “bird” and “bath.” In the box labeled “First Word,” I am going to write the word “bird” and the meaning of “bird” below that. For example, I could define this first word as “an animal with feathers and wings.”

Write the definition in the graphic organizer.

Teacher script: In the box labeled “Second Word,” I am going to write the word “bath” and its meaning below that. For example, I could define this second word as “a container with water to wash a body.”

Write the definition in the graphic organizer.

Teacher script: Because I can see two words that I know in this compound word, I can put the two words together to read the word: “birdbath.” Now that I can read the word, I am going to write it again in the bottom box of the graphic organizer. Next, I can use the definitions of the two words I already know to help me understand the meaning of the compound word. If I put the two definitions together, I could define “birdbath” as: a container with water where animals with feathers and wings can wash their bodies.”

Write the definition in the graphic organizer.

Teacher script: I am going to read the whole sentence: “The blue jay landed in the birdbath.” I want to check that I understand the sentence by explaining it with the meanings of the words. The blue jay has feathers and wings that allowed it to fly to the birdbath, so it is a type of bird. It landed in a container of water to wash its body.

Figure 2. Sample for Modeling Use of Compound Word Meaning Graphic Organizer

6. Guided Practice Using the Graphic Organizer

Distribute copies of the graphic organizer to students. Project the sentence: “The sunshine dried the blue jay’s wings.”

Teacher script: Here is another sentence in the same story. I bet you know most of the words in the sentence, but there is another long word. “The ­­­­________ dried the blue jay’s wings.” Let’s see if we can figure out the word by looking for parts we already know. First, let’s write the word in the box at the top of our graphic organizer.

Project the graphic organizer and write the word “sunshine” in the top box. Prompt students to write the compound word on their copies of the graphic organizer.

Teacher script: If this is a compound word, it will have words you already know in it. Tell me what two words you see.

Call on students and provide positive or corrective feedback as necessary.

Teacher script: In the box labeled “First Word,” write the first word “sun.” Then, turn to your elbow partner to discuss what this word means.

Write the word on the projected graphic organizer. After 1 minute, call on students to define “sun” and provide positive or corrective feedback as necessary.

Teacher script: Beneath the “First Word,” let’s write our definition: the star in the sky that gives light and heat to the earth.

Write the definition in the graphic organizer and have students write it as well.

Teacher script: In the box labeled “Second Word,” let’s write our second word, “shine.” Then, turn to your elbow partner to discuss the meaning of the second word.

Write the word on the projected graphic organizer. After 1 minute, call on students to define “shine” and provide positive or corrective feedback as necessary.

Teacher script: Beneath the “Second Word,” let’s write our definition: “to give off bright light.”

Write the definition on the projected graphic organizer and have students write it as well.

Teacher script: Because we know the two words in this compound word, we can put them together to read the new word: “sunshine.” Say it with me: “sunshine.” Say it one more time: “sunshine.” Now that we can read the word, let’s write it again in the bottom box of the graphic organizer.

Write the word on the projected graphic organizer and have students write it on their graphic organizers as well.

Teacher script: Next, we can use the definitions of the two words we already know to help us understand the meaning of the compound word. Turn to your partner and discuss how you might put the two definitions together to define our compound word “sunshine.”

After 1 minute, call on students to define “sunshine” and provide positive or corrective feedback as necessary.

Teacher script: Let’s write our definition of the compound word “sunshine” on our graphic organizer: “the bright light from the star in the sky that heats the earth.”

Write the definition in the graphic organizer and have students write it as well.

Teacher script: Let’s read the whole sentence: “The sunshine dried the blue jay’s wings.” We want to be sure we understand the sentence now, so turn to your partner and come up with a way to explain the sentence with the meanings of the words.

After 1 minute, ask students to explain the sentence with the meanings of the words.

Possible student responses include:

• The blue jay’s wings were probably wet from the birdbath. It used the bright light and heat from the sun to dry the water off its wings.

Figure 3. Sample for Guided Practice Using the Compound Word Meaning Graphic Organizer

Continue Defining Compound Words in Guided and Independent Practice

Provide students two or three more opportunities to complete the graphic organizer in partner groups by offering sample sentences containing compound words.

On a subsequent day, read aloud the storybook If You Were a Compound Word (Shaskan, 2008). During the read aloud, ask students to identify the compound words as they are encountered in the story. Write each compound word on the board for the students to see and ask them to determine the word parts before blending the parts to say the word. After the read aloud, ask students to work in pairs to define the compound words from the story using the graphic organizer. Students who demonstrate 90% or higher accuracy when defining new compound words using the graphic organizer are ready for independent practice identifying, reading, and defining compound words.

Concluding the Lesson

To conclude the lesson, review the concept of a compound word and why it is an important part of becoming a skilled reader. Ask students to describe the process of using the graphic organizer when reading and defining a compound word in a text. Eventually, students should be able to understand the meaning of compound words without using the graphic organizer. Plan to gradually remove this support by asking students to start completing portions orally and only using the organizer when a compound word is particularly difficult.   

Supplemental Resources for Teachers

Compound Word Meaning Graphic Organizer

With this graphic organizer, children can identify and define the two words that were combined to make a compound word and use that information to define the compound word.

References

Deacon, S. H., Francis, K., & Tong, X. (2017). The relationship of morphological analysis and morphological decoding to reading comprehension. Journal of Research in Reading, 40, 1-16. doi:10.1111/1467-9817.12056

Levesque, K. C., Kieffer, M. J., & Deacon, S. H. (2017). Morphological awareness and reading comprehension: Examining mediating factors. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 160, 1-20. doi:10.1016/j.jecp.2017.02.015

Ramirez, G., Walton, P., & Roberts, W. (2013). Morphological awareness and vocabulary development among kindergarteners with different ability levels. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 47, 54-64. doi:10.1177/0022219413509970

Shaskan, T. S. (2008). If you were a compound word. C. C. Jones (Ed.). North Mankato, MN: Picture Window Books.

The final type of compound words are hyphenated compounds. These are words that — just like closed and open compounds — are frequently used together. The hyphen connects these words, so they function as one unit.

Scientists are big into molecular compounds, and there is something kind of magical about them. You can start with a couple of atoms of hydrogen, add another atom of oxygen, and bada bing: water. Two distinct elements come together to create something entirely different.

It’s exactly the same with words. Well, maybe not exactly the same, but English is such a flexible, creative language that it’s filled with compound words—and new ones are popping up all the time to suit our ever-changing world. Some useful compound words recently added to Merriam-Webster are clickbait, photobomb, binge-watch, humblebrag, and spit-take.

So what is a compound word? How do you know whether it should be a closed compound, a hyphenated compound, or an open compound? What about compound sentences? We’ll look at all of these in this post.
 

When two (or occasionally, three) words work together to express a single idea, that’s a compound word. Compound words can be open, closed, or hyphenated, and they can function as nouns, adjectives, or adverbs. English is full of preexisting compound words—or you can make up your own to suit the situation.

No one at the Star Trek convention really appreciated my Klingon-librarian costume.

The lung-collapsing dead-flower stench of my aunt Penelope’s perfume was headache-inducingly strong.

What is an open compound word?

An open compound word is two separate words (without even a hyphen to link them) functioning as a single idea.

When we were in high school, we regularly ate French fries, hot dogs, and ice cream with peanut butter as an afterschool snack.

What is a hyphenated compound word?

A hyphenated compound word is a term composed of two (or more) words connected by a hyphen. Like other compound words, a hyphenated compound can be a noun, adjective, or adverb.

The gun-toting, card-carrying FBI agent hid her angst well.

What is a closed compound word?

A closed compound word is a single word constructed of two or more other words. Most closed compound words were once open or hyphenated, but continued use solidified them—made them a single unit. Today’s open or hyphenated compounds are tomorrow’s closed compounds.

The moonlight coming through my bedroom window is so bright it outshines my flashlight.

Every afternoon, she wrote another story in her notebook; my favorite is the one about the starfish who loved rainbows and strawberries.

How do you know whether a compound word is open, hyphenated, or closed?

There’s really no trick to this! You look it up in a dictionary (like Merriam-Webster). Compound words evolve over time, so what was once black-bird is now blackbird, and what was once a web site is now almost always a website.

Don’t worry if you find dictionaries contradicting each other! Not every dictionary agrees on which compounds are open, hyphenated, or closed. Some offer health care and voice mail, for example, as two words, but others hyphenate or close those same compounds. In such cases, you’re free to use the spelling you prefer, except if you’re supposed to be following a particular style guide.

For example, the Chicago Manual of Style (CMoS) says that when a compound modifier comes before a noun, it’s never wrong to hyphenate it, since it can aid readability.

The seventy-year-old professor despaired for the dull-witted students in her late-afternoon class.

But (Chicago goes on to say) when compound modifiers follow the noun, leave them unhyphenated (even if they’re hyphenated in the dictionary).

The professor, who was almost seventy years old, couldn’t understand why her students were so dull witted by late afternoon.

What is a compound noun?

Compound words can be nouns, adjectives, adverbs—and even verbs (like pole-vault or double-click). In each case, they can be open, hyphenated, or closed. Compound nouns are perhaps the most common type of compound word. Here are some examples of compound nouns (some closed, some open, some hyphenated).

Susan’s grandmother, my mother-in-law, had a skylight above the bookcase in her living room that let in rainwater.

Watch out for the sometimes-unusual plurals of hyphenated compound nouns.

The workmen fixing the two merry-go-rounds in the local park typically catcalled all passersby, but they stopped once our attorneys-at-law sent them a warning.

What is a compound name?

A compound name is essentially a compound proper noun—a multiword term (often an open compound, though not always) that names a single entity.

Like Popeye, Black Panther gets at least some of his powers from eating his greens—in his case, the heart-shaped herb. But I bet Superman liked Cheez-Its better.

What’s important here is that these proper nouns are always preexisting compounds, so if you’re turning an open compound name into part of a compound modifier (see more about compound adjectives and adverbs below), you’ll need to use an en dash rather than a hyphen.

My new World War I–era cloche didn’t really go with anything in my New York–style wardrobe, so naturally I had to go shopping.

 

 

What is a compound adjective?

A compound adjective is a single adjective made up of more than one word—and it’s often a compound noun (or even compound name) being used to modify another noun. According to CMoS, it’s never wrong to hyphenate multiword adjectives when they precede a noun, even if they’re familiar open compounds like high school.

High-school students often have more brain-draining homework than college students.

My silly-voiced sister found her calling in advertising.

When a compound name functions as an adjective, there’s no need for a hyphen.

Penny was thrilled to win Dolly Parton tickets.

The Los Angeles weather is typically hot and sunny.

As touched on above, when a compound adjective follows a noun, the hyphen is usually not necessary.

Georgia is a well-read academic.

Georgia is well read.

I found a useful list of low-calorie cocktails.

I found a useful list of cocktails, all of them low calorie.

Remember that compound adjectives made from an adverb ending in –ly plus an adjective are never hyphenated. The -ly is enough of a signal that what follows is meant to be read together with the preceding word.

Sarah’s short-tempered grandfather griped about her recital, calling it a really dull concert.

Sarah’s grandfather, always short tempered, griped about her recital, describing it as really dull.

What is a compound adverb?

A compound adverb looks like a single word but (closely examined) is actually made up of two or more words working together to function as a single adverb. They’re often rather old fashioned, and they can sound stuffy and pompous so are best used sparingly: notwithstanding, nevertheless, heretofore, albeit, and so on.

Phrasal adverbs are very similar to compound adverbs, and they’re rather more useful.

I scattered rose petals here and there.

The newly married couple walked arm in arm.

Joseph goes running every day.

What is a compound sentence?

And here’s the bonus section (because the last thing we want to do is compound anyone’s confusion about compounds)!

Compound sentences are grammatically unrelated to compound words, but that still doesn’t answer the key question: What is a compound sentence? A compound sentence is when two or more independent clauses, each with its own subject and verb plus attendant objects and phrases, are joined with a coordinating conjunction (one of the FANBOYS: for, and, nor but, or, yet, so). Here, the key thing to remember is to always include a comma after the first independent clause and before the conjunction.

I read this blog post about compound words, but they didn’t explain about compound sentences, so I had to keep on searching.

My son’s story about the strawberry-loving starfish was really cute, so I sent it to my sister, and she loved it too.