Roots based spelling/vocab program? Is there one...?

[simka2]

Is there a roots based spelling and vocabulary program out there that would be good for 3rd and 4th grade?

 

Is there something that combines these into one program? With spelling rules, or do I need to look for 2 seperate programs?

 

I hope that made sense ;)

[simka2]

anyone? :)

[ElizabethB]

M.k. Henry's Words. It breaks words up by origin and combines spelling and vocab/word study. You can buy it through ProEd.

Edited May 21, 2010 by ElizabethB

[nansk]

I like the samples of 'Roots and Fruits' (link). It is a non-consumable vocabulary program using Greek and Latin roots and prefixes, but the intro says that it covers spelling through games and activities.

[LittleHouseHomeschool]

If you are reading quality literature aloud to your children, and they are reading themselves, they are assimilating much vocabulary without the extra work of a workbook.

 

I'd spend the mental energy on spelling and then begin vocabulary in middle school. It worked great for us. When you do hit middle school, the Vocabulary for Enjoyment series by AMSCO (found at Hewitt Homeschooling) teaches by root words, and hits all major vocabulary concepts.

 

I don't know about you, but vocab workbooks prior to middle school were met with dread and angst. But reading aloud was a highlight of our day.

[ElizabethB]

I wish Words had sample pages--it's really fun, my remedial students love being able to tell their parents they can read long Greek and Latin words.

 

There is one exercise in particular that my daughter also enjoyed, you build your own Greek words given common beginning and ending forms. (I'm not working my daughter through this, but she can join along when she wants to during my classes for groups of remedial students.)

 

It's not a drudgery, workbook program, it's meant to be taught from a whiteboard to a class or one-on-one, although the new version does have some reproducible worksheets you can print out and use.

 

The main focus is on spelling in the context of word origin, but there are also some fun vocab/root study exercises.

 

http://www.proedinc.com/customer/ProductView.aspx?ID=989&sSearchWord=words

[deeinfl]

how about Word Roots by Critical Thinking co.

 

You can see them at CBD. :)

 

Dee

 

 

ps or English From the Roots Up cards...

[Lori D.]

Because English is a language that has incorporated words from SO many languages -- and hence, so many variant phonetic patterns for spelling similar sounds -- it is a very difficult language to teach via a roots perspective. (In contrast, that perspective could work very well for a language such as French or Spanish in which each letter and vowel pattern has only one spelling and pronunciation.) As a result, typical elementary grade spelling programs for English focus on teaching spelling from a more phonetic and vowel sound/vowel pattern perspective to try and cover the (many!) different ways to spell the same sound.

 

Spelling through "roots": If by "roots" you mean "word families", "phonetic families", or syllables, you might want to look at something like Natural Speller (word families, such as "-able" words: table, capable, reliable, etc.); Phonetic Zoo (phonetic word "families" -- ex: the different ways long A words can be spelled makes a phonetic "family"); Megawords (vowel patterns and syllabication rules for single syllables and then how to apply to multisyllable words); or even Sequential Spelling (building larger words from small words by adding letters; syllables; additional word to make a compound word; prefixes; suffixes or endings -- such as: at, bat, batter, battery).

 

 

One way to include vocabulary into your spelling at this elementary age might be through making your own individualized weekly spelling lists by going through "The ABCs and All Their Tricks", which covers all the phonetic sounds and letter groupings that make up all the ways to pronounce all the sounds of English words, plus lists of words as examples at different levels of difficulty (vocabulary!). So, for example, you are covering the various ways to spell long A words, as well as including vocabulary words that are new to your student.

 

 

Generally, spelling turns into more of a vocabulary study once those vowel patterns are fully understood -- usually somewhere between 6th-10th grades (although some students *never* really grasp these patterns, and others seem to intuitively know how to spell from birth). At the point at which students understand the spelling patterns, spelling gives way to a vocabulary emphasis: learning new words, with how to spell them correctly as part of learning the new vocabulary.

 

 

Vocabulary during the elementary years is generally absorbed through context: speaking and hearing people speak; reading on their own; and especially hearing books read aloud. (Our younger DS has a learning disability with spelling -- still can't spell at 16yo, but has always had an off-the-charts advanced vocabulary because we always used a wide vocabulary when we spoke to our DC, and because of all the read alouds we've done.) Some students also enjoy learning vocabulary through a workbook (ex: Wordly Wise) or informal vocabulary collection (ex: Vocabulary Cartoons), or even a computer program. In my opinion, learning vocabulary through a roots program is of the most value, because a single root can give you the "key" to maybe as many as a dozen other words, as a student can use the roots learned to help decipher new words. A roots program can very successfully be used with young elementary students (ex: English From the Roots Up -- volume 1 can be used with grades 2 or 3 and up). We used EftRU very informally as more of a game for several years in the elementary years so it didn't feel like "more school".

 

While I am certainly no expert (and of course, I don't know your children and how they learn!) ... I would be reluctant to suggest teaching spelling to a child under grade 6 through a vocabulary or roots perspective unless I was VERY sure they had a thorough understanding of phonetic spellings, vowel patterns, and how adding suffixes/endings can change spelling. Just my 2 cents worth! BEST of luck in finding what works best for your family! Warmest regards, Lori D.

Edited May 22, 2010 by Lori D.
added info

[sleepymommy]

Because English is a language that has incorporated words from SO many languages -- and hence, so many variant phonetic patterns for spelling similar sounds -- it is a very difficult language to teach via a roots perspective. (In contrast, that perspective could work very well for a language such as French or Spanish in which each letter and vowel pattern has only one spelling and pronunciation.) As a result, typical elementary grade spelling programs for English focus on teaching spelling from a more phonetic and vowel sound/vowel pattern perspective to try and cover the (many!) different ways to spell the same sound.

 

Spelling through "roots": If by "roots" you mean "word families", "phonetic families", or syllables, you might want to look at something like Natural Speller (word families, such as "-able" words: table, capable, reliable, etc.); Phonetic Zoo (phonetic word "families" -- ex: the different ways long A words can be spelled makes a phonetic "family"); Megawords (vowel patterns and syllabication rules for single syllables and then how to apply to multisyllable words); or even Sequential Spelling (building larger words from small words by adding letters; syllables; additional word to make a compound word; prefixes; suffixes or endings -- such as: at, bat, batter, battery).

 

 

One way to include vocabulary into your spelling at this elementary age might be through making your own individualized weekly spelling lists by going through "The ABCs and All Their Tricks", which covers all the phonetic sounds and letter groupings that make up all the ways to pronounce all the sounds of English words, plus lists of words as examples at different levels of difficulty (vocabulary!). So you are covering the various ways to spell long A words, as well as including vocabulary words that are new to your student.

 

 

Generally, spelling turns into more of a vocabulary study once those vowel patterns are fully understood -- usually somewhere between 6th-10th grades (although some students *never* really grasp these patterns, and others seem to intuitively know how to spell from birth). At the point at which students understand the spelling patterns, generally spelling gives way to a vocabulary emphasis: learning new words, with how to spell them correctly as part of learning the new vocabulary.

 

 

Vocabulary during the elementary years is generally absorbed through context: speaking and hearing people speak; reading on their own; and especially hearing books read aloud. (Our younger DS has a learning disability with spelling -- still can't spell at 16yo, but has always had an off-the-charts advanced vocabulary because we always used a wide vocabulary when we spoke to our DC, and because of all the read alouds we've done.) Some students also enjoy learning vocabulary through a workbook (ex: Wordly Wise) or informal vocabulary collection (ex: Vocabulary Cartoons), or even a computer program. In my opinion, learning vocabulary through a roots program is of the most value, because a single root can give you the "key" to maybe a dozen other words, as a student can use the roots learned to help decipher new words. A roots program can very successfully be used with young elementary students (ex: English From the Roots Up -- volume 1 can be used with grades 2 or 3 and up). We used EftRU very informally as more of a game for several years in the elementary years so it didn't feel like "more school".

 

While I am certainly no expert (and of course, I don't know your children and how they learn!) ... I would be reluctant to suggest teaching spelling to a child under grade 6 through a vocabulary or roots perspective unless I was VERY sure they had a thorough understanding of phonetic spellings, vowel patterns, and how adding suffixes/endings can change spelling. Just my 2 cents worth! BEST of luck in finding what works best for your family! Warmest regards, Lori D.

 

Thank you, your post has been very helpful to me!

[ElizabethB]

M.K Henry's words first teaches the things Lori mentioned, then it breaks up words by their origin and teaches roots, prefixes, and spelling patterns within each major group--Anglo Saxon, Latin (includes French and Spanish words for the most part, most Romance words go back to Latin at some point), and Greek.

 

Like I said, I do wish there were samples, it is an amazing resource, there is a lot of information in there, "Words" and "The ABCs and All Their Tricks" are my 2 favorite English language resources.

 

It is meant for at least a 3rd grade student.

 

Edit: No samples I could find, but here is a blog post she wrote: http://vocablog-plc.blogspot.com/2010/02/morphemes-structural-clues-for-word.html

Edited May 22, 2010 by ElizabethB

[nansk]

I would be reluctant to suggest teaching spelling to a child under grade 6 through a vocabulary or roots perspective unless I was VERY sure they had a thorough understanding of phonetic spellings, vowel patterns, and how adding suffixes/endings can change spelling.

 

Thank you! I would agree with this and this is what I'll do with my dd.

[alexia]

Like I said, I do wish there were samples, it is an amazing resource, there is a lot of information in there, "Words" and "The ABCs and All Their Tricks" are my 2 favorite English language resources.

 

It is meant for at least a 3rd grade student.

 

Edit: No samples I could find, but here is a blog post she wrote: http://vocablog-plc.blogspot.com/2010/02/morphemes-structural-clues-for-word.html

 

I was searching for spelling/vocab. book .....and now they have samples. It looks great!

http://www.proedinc.com/Downloads/12626pp40-42.pdf

[ElizabethB]

I was searching for spelling/vocab. book .....and now they have samples. It looks great!

http://www.proedinc.com/Downloads/12626pp40-42.pdf

 

It is great!

 

And, that sample is from early on--the words get tougher at the end as they start working on Greek and Latin words and their roots. Now, I just wish they had a few sample pages from the end of the book!

[morosophe]

English from the Roots Up is a classic that focuses on Latin and Greek.

 

I disagree with the thought that teaching roots is useless in English. You need to find roots that are so integrated into the language that they are used prolifically... but they certainly exist.

[marcyg]

We are big fans of Word Roots by Critical Thinking Co. It is a bit less expensive through Rainbow. There are available in consumable workbooks, flash cards, or dvds.

[Guest HCoffman]

There are "Introduction," "Table of Contents," and "Sample" links for this book on the publisher's website

 

http://www.proedinc.com/customer/productView.aspx?id=989

 

It is at the bottom of the product information page.

Edited January 11, 2012 by HCoffman

[*~Tina~*]

Words by Marcia Henry..I have an extra copy of this that I was planning to list on the FS board...pm me if interested :D her materials are exceptional!

[ekarl2]

I'm VERY impressed with Word Build from Dynamic Literacy. I've used the Critical Thinking text as well as English from the Classical Roots. WB is MUCH more thorough and smart. It starts around 2nd grade.