Ep. 202: Big Words for Young Readers with Heidi Anne Mesmer

Heidi Anne Mesmer discusses her book Big Words for Young Readers. She emphasizes the importance of teaching young readers to decode and understand words with multiple syllables and morphemes. Heidi Anne highlights the need to teach morphemic concepts early on and provides recommendations for teaching different types of morphemes at each grade level. She explains that morphology, the study of word parts, is a crucial component of reading comprehension and vocabulary development. Mesmer provides practical strategies for teaching morphology, such as teaching the morphological principle and using activities like 'Make It Big' to build students' confidence in creating big words. She also emphasizes the need for explicit instruction in morphology from an early age and highlights the benefits of using cognates and word chains to support multilingual learners. 

Takeaways

• The book Big Words for Young Readers focuses on teaching young readers to decode and understand words with multiple syllables and morphemes.
• Syllables are sound units, while morphemes are the smallest units of sound that carry meaning in a word.
• Teaching morphemic concepts early on can help students distinguish the meaningful parts of words.
• There is no strict scope and sequence for teaching morphemes, but it is important to consider the frequency and applicability of different types of morphemes at each grade level. Teaching morphology is essential for developing reading comprehension and vocabulary skills in young readers.
• Strategies like teaching the morphological principle and using activities like 'Make It Big' can help students understand and create big words.
• Explicit instruction in morphology should be integrated into phonics instruction from an early age.
• Cognates and word chains can be effective tools for supporting multilingual learners in developing their morphological knowledge.

Resources 

• Big Words for Young Readers and the entire Scholastic Science of Reading in Practice book series! 
• Monsters PI

We answer your questions about teaching reading in The Literacy 50-A Q&A Handbook for Teachers: Real-World Answers to Questions About Reading That Keep You Up at Night.

Grab free resources and episode alerts! Sign up for our email list at literacypodcast.com.

Join our community on Facebook, and follow us on Instagram, Facebook, & Twitter.