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This article forms part of a collaborative article written by Ann Whiting and Lyn Anderson. To view the full article click on this LINK.

The Cycles of Life: an orthographic study

Recently my reflections on the gracious death and the beautiful birth of close family members, astonishingly falling on the same day, evoked some poignant teaching memories of guiding young children with their study and ultimate discoveries of the ' cycles of life'.

Whether it be the study of seasonal changes through the lifeline of trees, an arbour of oaks or chestnuts that swathe us with their crisp fallen leaves and fascinating seeds or the evergreen pine that doesn't ever seem to change;

or the sensations of caressing the soft greens and yellows of the mountain meadows; or the discoveries of the strong, remarkable plants of the hot humid tropics;

or the close scrutiny of the jelly-like membranes of an egg and the excitement of chicks hatching in our organic garden;

All momentous signs of the 'cycles of life'.

And so we embark on an orthographic journey, concurrently with our deep study of ' there are many cycles that affect life on earth'.

We really like the word cycles and select this word to study deeply ; to investigate its orthography through the three domains of morphology, etymology and phonology.

What is cycle? What is cycle not?

These questions are pondered and deliberated on consistently throughout the study, guiding our quest for understanding.

We revisit the questions often with our students listening carefully how they communicate and articulate their understanding through the learning experiences that inspire and provoke.

A cycle is not linear, straight or fixed. A cycle is not irregular but may have irregularities as our current weather patterns reveal.

A cycle is circular, constant and infinite. We keep returning to the beginning but is there a beginning point?

'Cycles are everywhere in nature. They can occur over the length of a day, a season, a year, or longer.' ( )

"A bicycle, that goes round and round...," exclaims a 4 year old leads to an enthusiastic conversation amongst the children as we determine which of the bike's components goes round and round.

Everyone has something to say because bicycles are part of our world.

We plant conceptual 'learning seeds' as the children closely inspect the various mechanical parts of the bike. Through close observation the children sketch the bicycle with a range of art materials.

We scribe the children's thoughts and plant important orthographic 'learning seeds' as we announce aloud the orthographic structures of bicycle and bike.

We announce aloud the orthographic structure of <re+cycle +ed> as we scribe the children's thinking. We specifically announce 'replace the final non syllabic with the vocalic suffix <-ed>.

We ask the children to think about the meaning relationship between <cycles> and <recycled>.

Through these experiences we provide opportunities to build an understanding of the free base element <cycle>. We carefully note the children's deepening understanding as they verbalise their ideas and thoughts and through conversations that occur in the learning environments. We especially note the changes that occur for the non-native English speakers and those that struggle with our language as they encounter new and unfamiliar lexicon.

We begin to discover words that belong in the same family. As we extract words from the word bag the students hypothesize which words may be or may not be in a family. We announce aloud the structure of each word as it is revealed and discussed.

The children notice that the words all share a common base element. We hypothesize <cycle> .

The children illustrate the words collaboratively and our word-web begins to grow, as does the children's understanding, each time we encounter it.

Later we revisit these words to provide evidence that they do belong in the same family.

Stories are made of words and every word has a story.

Cycle as a noun was attested in the late 14c. It is derived from Greek kyklos , 'any circular body, circular motion, cycle of events', indirectly via Late Latin cyclus,

ultimately able to be traced back 5,500 years to a Proto Indo European root *kwel-(1) "to revolve, move, round".

This ancient root has produced, amongst a myriad of other interesting connections, distant etymological relatives such as collar, colony , pulley and wheel.

In 1883 specifically referring to riding a bicycle.(Etymology Dictionary)

We use images to share the etymological journey of cycle with the children. We want them mostly to understand that it derives, indirectly, from Greek kyklos.

The children ask about the spelling of <k> in the Greek word. We show how the word is spelled in Greek κύκλος. We talk about how a medial in a base element is a reliable sign that the word has derived from Greek. <y>

On another day we share the story of Cyclops, literally 'round eyed'. The children have discovered the story in the library and of course they wish to know more.

How is it Built?

We return to the selection of words we have hypothesized sharing the free base element <cycle> . We model the assembly of the word sum, announcing aloud the written elements, pausing at the morphemic boundaries and announcing any suffixing changes. We find evidence of all the elements we have constructed.

As we begin to construct the matrix the children assemble the word sum on small white boards or in their word inquiry journals.
We write the word sum for each complex word before we add further elements to the matrix. We continually refer to the word-web to select words to place on the matrix.

The simultaneous actions of writing and announcing aloud ensures the "c-y-c-l-final non syllabic e ... ing is rewritten as c-y-c-l-replace the e ... ing, cycle".
internalization of all the elements.

We do this over a period of time, throughout the day, during the week focusing on one or two word sums at a time. The children take their matrix home to share with their family. We continue to explore the subtle differences between each word that share the free base element <cycle> .

The children choose to add to their matrix and build further words.

Simultaneously we continue our deep study of cycles in nature. We decide to focus on the cycle of day and night to appreciate and realise the motion of the earth orbiting the sun.

Phonology
With our knowledge of the morphology and etymology well embedded, we now embark on a study of the phonology of <cycle>, to investigate the significant graphemes and phonemes that bring further sense and meaning.

We know that morphology and etymology drive phonology and therefore we can only investigate a word's phonology within the domains of morphology and etymology.

The phonology of the free base element <cycle>:

the single, final, non syllabic <e>

As we hoped, the children are questioning and discussing the different functions of the single letter grapheme <c> in the initial and medial positions of < c y c le>.

It is necessary for the children to understand:

the same grapheme can and will represent different phonemes and

the same phoneme can be represented by different graphemes.

The orthography of <c> provides the relevant learning opportunity to deepen these critical phonological principles. We study and analyse the single letter grapheme <c> which can represent two different phonemes /s/ and /k/ .

The linguistic terminology: grapheme, phoneme, IPA, angle brackets and slash brackets naturally occur in our everyday discourse.

As with all our quests, we need to ensure the learning community understands the meaning of the words we will use to analyse phonologically.

The children take part in the trading game to communicate the meaning of their word. The children trade words and move to another partner.

Through this collaborative task the children encounter many words, building and deepening their personal lexicon. We deliberately partner ourselves with children who need support to understand their initial word. After this the children support each other.

The children collaboratively illustrate the words and return the words to the word bag.

During the next encounter the children select a word from the word bag and identify the position of the grapheme <c> in their word. We discuss the circumstances of this grapheme: initial, medial or final?

We guide the children through a concept attainment quest.
The children place their word on the Venn diagram as directed by us. Their role is to think about our thinking.

"How interesting that cycle and circle are placed in the overlap!"

We revisit the phonological analysis over a number of days so the children have time to ponder on the placement of the words.

When we reconvene as a group the children discuss and share their hypotheses.

We decide as a learning community that the single letter grapheme <c> is representing either /s/ or /k/ or both in the case of circle and cycle.

During the next weeks we revisit the We revisit the phonology of <c> so that the children develop their understanding of grapheme choices. We encourage the children to add other words to the growing collection as they encounter them in books or when writing.
vowel letters and learn how to the pathways of each letter. The children especially enjoy scripting the beautiful ligature of the vowel letter < y>. script

We plant further phonological ' learning seeds' so the children will encounter other phonemes represented by the single letter grapheme <c> ; or other graphemes that represent the phoneme /k/.

We are left with many questions as we continue our orthographic study.

Throughout our quest we read and revisit Jeannie Baker's stunning literary text

We wonder why the author has chosen the title Circle.

We feel and see the cyclic nature of the bar-tailed godwit's annual journey in the text.

"Are they etymologically related?"

We would like them to be related, but we know we need to provide evidence...

This study is an ebb and flow, a cycle , it's cyclical, we are continually returning to our quest to deepen our learning and those of our students.
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To view the full article please click on this . This will take you to Ann and Lyn's new Blog,LINK . Ann and Lyn are collaborating to demonstrate the power of studying orthography with the very young and our eldest students, explicitly embedded in the realms of meaningful and inspirational learning contexts.

Caught in the Spell of Words

Caught in the Spell of Words

stories are made of words and words are made of morphemes

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This article forms part of a collaborative article written by Ann Whiting and Lyn Anderson. To view the full article click on this LINK . The Cycles of Life: an orthographic study Recently my reflections on the gracious death and the beautiful birth of close family members, astonishingly falling on the same day, evoked some poignant teaching memories of guiding young children with their study and ultimate discoveries of the ' cycles of life'.

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Etymonline - Online Etymology Dictionary

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The online etymology dictionary (etymonline) is the internet’s go-to source for quick and reliable accounts of the origin and history of English words, phrases, and idioms. It is professional enough to satisfy academic standards, but accessible enough to be used by anyone.

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Experiments in English morphology, inspired by Real Spelling

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Real Connections: MEANING, STRUCTURE, RELATIVES, PRONUNCIATION

... such a valuable and interesting word to investigate at the beginning of the school year...

I love that this word has a non-phonemic letter to demonstrate that not all letters in an English word will represent pronunciation.

I love that this word explicitly demonstrates that the primary function of English spelling is to represent MEANING, not pronunciation.

I have been working with a group of young students whose previous spelling instruction has primarily been based on thinking that spelling represents sound.

"Time to change their thinking by explicitly demonstrating and investigating

how the English spelling system really works."

I want the children to be able to spell <friend> accurately from the very beginning of the school year but more importantly I want them to know why it is spelled this way; I want them to understand that not all letters in a word are there to represent pronunciation; I want them to know that some letters are etymological markers which give us important clues about the spelling. I want the children to be on a learning journey of discovery and understanding...

How did I choose <friend> for investigation?

This was a central word as part of the initial discussion and development of the class essential learning agreements early in the school year, in conjunction with many others like: <respect> <safety> <collaboration>. All ripe for future word investigation and inquiry!

From the beginning of the school year the children were consistently challenged to think about the how and why of words. We constructed many word families using words from the first PYP Unit of Inquiry. They were introduced to important terminology; base, suffix, prefix, meaning, structure.

After only one month the children are already beginning to analyse/synthesise words based on this growing understanding.

We presented two questions:

1. What does it mean? Predictably the children discussed the idea of 'friendship' connected to their personal experiences.

2. What is the structure of the word? The majority of the children hypothesised <friend> as the base. Predictably one child presented <fri> (as in <fry>) which led to an important discussion about meaning and how <fry> has no meaning connection to <friend>.

Consistently, I observe children needing this fundamental concept to be revisited over and over again to help them fully understand the importance of both meaning and structure as the key to the connection.

The first activity was a think/pair/share. Individually, the children wrote one or two (or more) words related to the word <friend> on a piece of paper. This was an initial assessment piece to ascertain the children's present understanding of how words are related in meaning and structure. The children then collected further words, to add to their original list, by sharing with each other. They moved from partner to partner until they had collected an extended list. It was incredibly exciting to watch the children actively discussing and trading each other's words.

I had the absolute joy of overhearing one student tell another student (who offered <fri> and <end> as two related words) that they couldn't belong in the family of <friend> "
because they didn't have the same meaning or the same spelling." He then proceeded to give the other student clear evidence by providing his three words (friendly, friends and befriended) to demonstrate what he meant. No need for adult intervention here...Max had certainly provided the necessary teaching. I shared this observation later as we revisited the fundamental concept of how words are related in meaning and structure.

Can you see how valuable this initial activity is in terms of assessing children's understanding throughout the learning process?

The other valuable part of this activity is the expectation that all children will actively participate, regardless of where they are on their learning pathway; and the opportunity to learn from each other, as demonstrated above, cannot be underestimated.

As a whole group, we shared and recorded the words on a word web. I explicitly stated, every time, how the words were related in meaning and structure; and how new words were constructed.

What did you do to construct this word <friendly>?

...consistently asking the students to clarify and provide evidence...

How do you know <-ly> is a suffix?

A student, who currently speaks very little English, had the job of extracting words from a word bag, to check if there were others we could add to the current word web. I placed two words for provocation in the bag: <fried> and <Friday>. The children suggested that both <fried> and <Friday> couldn't belong in this word family because they didn't have the same meaning. We decided to leave these words off the word web until we had provided some evidence. You will notice that even though I knew, as a teacher, that <Friday> was related, that I didn't share this information at this particular time on their learning journey. My goal was to guide them to their own understanding of this relationship.

However, I did ask the question "I wonder what Friday means?" to challenge their thinking and hopefully jog their previous learning about the days of the week. One student suggested that Friday was named after Frigga! "I know her!" counteracted many of the other children.

The following day I related the historical 'story' of 'friend' by linking the word to 'Friday' and 'Frigga'.

We studied images of the Romans and the Germanic peoples, explaining how the days of the week evolved through history. The children could clearly see the connection between Friday and Frigga.

I modelled how to use the Word Origin Dictionary to discover further important historical information about 'friend'. For many this was new.

<friend> was written on a post-it note to indicate where in the dictionary it was located. A child was selected to open to the page and locate the word <friend>.

I summarised the relevant information highlighting the diachronic meaning; 'loving' Old English ' freond'; Proto Germanic 'frijand'.

The children were now able to ascertain a clearer connection with 'Friday' and 'Frigga'.

The <i> is present to show its meaning connection to <Friday> and historical connection to 'Frigga', the Germanic Goddess of love.

Of course this is not the full etymological story of the word <friend>. You can trace its history way back from the PIE root 'pri' meaning 'to love'. One student has recently discovered that <free> is related too!

A closer investigation of the structure of words and the 'spelling out' strategy

In subsequent lessons we investigated the structure of each of the words from the word web. Beginning with a blank matrix we gradually added the appropriate affixes to construct new words.

I explicitly modelled the construction of the word sum, demonstrating the 'spelling out' strategy, critical for internalisation. The children practised constructing the word sums on individual whiteboards.

I briefly introduced how to identify and check for any changes. "Stop, check for changes, change the y to an i" as in this word structure: < friend> + < ly/i> + <er> --> friendlier

For now, I only needed the children to understand that there might be a change caused by a suffix. Investigation of the <i/y> suffixing convention would happen in the future.

During the next few days we constructed additional words, writing the word sum to demonstrate the underlying structures. You may notice that the matrix is not completed and it won't be for sometime. This 'work in progress' is an indication of the children's learning journey; an understanding that we could add, change, modify the matrix and word web as our learning deepens.

Throughout the process one student consistently wanted to know how could we add <Friday> to the matrix. He had developed a hypothesis that <fri> was the base, based on the structure of <Friday> Fri + day --> Friday

I had this blank matrix ready to demonstrate his hypothesis. We will revisit this matrix and discuss how it could be constructed at another time. It is there for provocation, thought and discussion.

The following week the children independently constructed word sums from a variety of matrices.

I can assure you by this stage all the children are spelling <friend> accurately and they know why there is an <i>!

You will notice that the matrices are different, varying in complexity. At times I choose the matrices for the children, other times they choose. One student added to the complexity of his matrix, demonstrating his own deep understanding of the underlying structures of words.

The children chose words to write in sentences or illustrate to show the meaning; they constructed words at home to teach their families.

We have been revisiting the structure of words by constructing large word sums to identify the morphemes and graphemes in the base and the underlying changes.

What about pronunciation?

Throughout the whole learning process the children were introduced to 'tasting and feeling' phonemes. We have started to look more carefully at what is happening in our mouth and throat as we sequence the important phonemes in a word.

Learning is a journey; a journey of discovery and connections...and so our journey continues!

You can go to Real Spelling, Toolkit2 Kit2 ThemeL Naming the Days of the Week, for the full story of <friend>.

and Pete Bowers Word Works Spelling Out Word Structure

If you happen to be using my blog please drop me a line and let me know what you think,

what you would like to see, what you enjoyed!

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Real Connections: MEANING, STRUCTURE, RELATIVES, PRONUNCIATION ... such a valuable and interesting word to investigate at the beginning of the school year... I love that this word has a non-phonemic letter to demonstrate that not all letters in an English word will represent pronunciation.