Lexicology: Language Instruction in Vocabulary, Spelling, & Morphology

Hours: 3-5

Audience: K-8 teachers, specialists, special educators

PD Description: How do vocabulary, spelling, and morphology all connect? How does one impact the other? How can we teach students the rules of language to help them better understand how to comprehend and spell, even our youngest readers? We will explore all these questions and more during this PD, which is designed as a multipath experience. Choose to just attend a half-day event in person, or choose to deepen your understanding through a multimedia book study of your choice this summer and a follow up meeting. The choice is yours! If you have ever thought, “English is so crazy!” then this PD is for you, as we break down why it might not be so crazy after all, and what we can do about it. Participants will dig into instructional strategies they can immediately apply in their classrooms.

Course Objectives:

• Understand how phonology, morphology, and orthography impact the English language.

• Identify why students make spelling mistakes and how we can build student understanding of language to positively impact spelling.

• Increase our awareness of “rules” and “exceptions” to minimize oversimplifications and generalizations.

• Add tools to our mental toolbox for increasing efficacy of core curricular vocabulary, phonics and spelling instruction.