Module 5 - Suffixes and word endings

Introduction

This mnemonic refers to three ways in which adding suffixes beginning with vowel letters to written English words affects the last letter of the stem word. They are mutually exclusive, that is, they cannot occur together at the same point in the same word.

Objectives

1. Children recognise that suffixes change the meaning of a word. This change in meaning is systematic and can be applied to many other examples.

2. The children understand that under some conditions the addition of an ending

   1. the last consonant in the word is doubled (mapping)

   2. the <e> is dropped at the end (writing)

   3. the y becomes an >ie> (tried, babies)

Materials

• Blackboard or whiteboard

• Chalk or marker (blue, red and green)

Materials of/for students:

• Exercise books

• Pens or pencils (blue, red and green) 

The explanation

1) Double (consonant-doubling)

This concerns when to double a word-final consonant letter when adding a suffix beginning with a vowel letter.

The state the consonant-doubling rule neatly we need the conventions that <C> means ‘any single consonant letter’, <C*> means ‘any consonant letter except those that never double’, namely <h, j, q, v, w, x, y>, and <V> means ‘any single vowel letter’.

Then the main consonant-doubling rule is:

1. In one-syllable words ending <CVC*>, double the final consonant letter before any suffix beginning with a vowel letter;

2. In two-syllable

verbs ending <CVC*>, double the final consonant letter before any suffix beginning with a vowel letter if the last syllable of the stem is stressed or if (in British but not US spelling) the last letter of the stem is <l>.

Otherwise, do not double the final consonant letter.

 This rule mainly applies to the verb endings <-ed, -ing>. 

2) Drop (<e>-deletion)

The rule for dropping a word-final letter <e> when adding a suffix is:

In words which end in <e> preceded by a consonant letter, drop the <e> before suffixes beginning with a vowel letter, EXCEPT that, if the consonant before the <e> is <c> pronounced /s/ or <g> pronounced /ʤ/, do not delete the <e>.

This rule also mainly applies to the verb endings <-ed, -ing>.

3) Swop (<y>-replacement)

This rule applies to both plural nouns and singular verbs.

The rule for replacing a word-final letter <y> with <i> when adding a suffix is:

DON’T change the <y> if the preceding letter is a vowel letter, e.g. playing, or if the suffix is <-ing>, e.g. crying.

Otherwise, in words which end in <y> preceded by a consonant letter:

• change the <y> to <ie> before <-s>, e.g. tries;

• change the <y> to <i> before other suffixes, e.g. tried.

Activities

Following are instructions given by the teacher:

Let's get started with learning about suffixes. Suffixes are little bits that we can add to the end of words to change their meaning or make new words.
Imagine that words are like building blocks, and when we add a suffix to a word, it's like adding an extra block to change its shape or purpose. Suffixes are like magic blocks that create new words!

A suffix is something that we add to the end of a word that changes its meaning.

There are many different types of suffixes, but I'll teach you about a few common ones:

1. -ful: This suffix means "full of" or "having." For example, if we add -ful to the word "joy," we get "joyful," which means full of joy. Another example is "careful," which means being full of care.

2. -less: This suffix means "without" or "not having." For example, if we add -less to the word "hope," we get "hopeless," which means without hope. Another example is "helpless," which means not having help.

3. -er: This suffix can mean "person who" or "more." For example, if we add -er to the word "teach," we get "teacher," which means a person who teaches. Another example is "bigger," which means more big.

Now, let's use some examples to make it even clearer:

1. If we take the word "care," we can add -ful to it to make "careful." It's like putting an extra block at the end of "care" to create a new word that means being full of care.

2. Let's take the word "help." By adding -less to it, we make "helpless." It's like adding an extra block at the end of "help" to show that there is no help.

3. Lastly, if we have the word "run" and we want to describe someone who runs, we can add -er. So "run" becomes "runner," just like adding a block at the end to show that this person is a runner.

To help you remember how suffixes work, you can create your own suffix block game! Write down different roots words on cards, and then think of suffix cards to add to them. Match the root words and suffixes to create new words and see how their meanings change.

Remember, suffixes are like magical blocks that can transform words into something new, whether they make words happier with -ful or change them by making them slower with -less! Keep exploring and trying out different suffixes, and you'll become an expert word builder!