Phonics Interactive Literacy Journal- Compound Words

What are Compound Words?

Compound words are formed by combining two or more words to create a new word with a distinct meaning. Teaching compound words explicitly is important as it helps students understand the relationship between individual words and how they can come together to form a new word. It also enhances vocabulary skills and improves reading and writing abilities.

Compound Word List for Beginning Readers

Here is a list of common compound words that are suitable for beginning readers:

Compound Word List

Why is using Structured Literacy and Orton Gillingham strategies helpful for teaching compound words?

Using structured literacy and Orton Gillingham strategies to explicitly teach how to read compound words offers several benefits:

These methods provide a structured and systematic approach to teaching compound words, breaking down the complex task into smaller, more manageable parts. Incorporating multi-sensory techniques such as visual, auditory, and kinesthetic elements can help reinforce learning and improve retention of compound word reading skills.

Other benifits include helping students decode and recognize words to improve independent reading of compound words.

Structured literacy and Orton Gillingham strategies focus on developing phonemic awareness, which is crucial for decoding unfamiliar compound words by recognizing individual sounds and blending them together.

Through structured literacy instruction, students can expand their vocabulary by learning how to break down compound words into their smaller words, thereby enhancing their overall reading comprehension.

Overall, the use of structured literacy and Orton Gillingham strategies provides a comprehensive and effective approach to teaching students how to read compound words, leading to improved literacy skills and confidence in reading.

How can students be taught to read compound words in a fun way?

I enjoy developing fast-paced games to assist students in their learning process. Teaching compound words lends itself well to visual matching and puzzle-style activities, as compound words are formed by combining two smaller words.

Below is a game I designed for my students to enhance their skills in reading compound words. I provide them with gems, a die, and laminated versions of all these materials. Additionally, my TPT page features a bundle for compound words that includes game cards and visual aids to complement this game.

Compound Word Game

What are other compound word reading activities?

Word scrambles: I provide students with a series of letters that, when unscrambled, form a compound word using all the letters. Initially, students are tasked with constructing smaller words from the letters, culminating in the assembly of the final compound word at the conclusion of the lesson.

Mix and Match: Utilizing index cards or printable cards from my TPT bundle, compound words are divided into their smaller parts. The cards are then shuffled and spread out, prompting students to reassemble them like a puzzle.

Compound word puzzle: By using compound word visuals, students attempt to piece together pictures to create the compound word depicted on a larger card.

Please visit my Teacherspayteachers.com page for more activities. I'll update with the link soon.