Alright then. You all have been really helpful to me thus far in creating a curriculum for teaching fourth graders morphology. So, I'm hoping for some expert input as to how I can get the students (these students are second language English, first language Spanish, so we have an advantage there as far as Latin roots go) to connect the literal meaning of the word to the dictionary definition. An example is thus: concoction Con = with, coquer = to cook (Fr.), -tion= a state of being.

Now you and I can couple that literal meaning with the dictionary definition, which is: to make a combination with crude materials.

My goal is to teach my fourth graders to do what I do when meeting a word I don't quite know: pick it apart, and using morphology, and, while employing context clues gather the meaning, or approximate meaning of the word, and then go on reading. I am seeking to bolster comprehension here.

I'd like any and all ideas about how I can get my students to see the relationship between the literal meaning of a word and it's dictionary definition, especially when the two are quite dissimilar on the surface.

Last edited by Bigwig Rabbit; 03/29/08 10:32 PM.