Transform-a-Verb
Enhancing Students' Understanding of Inflectional Endings
Stage of Literacy Development:
Stage 1: Beginning LiteracyStage 2: Consolidation / Fluency
Ages:
4-8
Grade Range:
K 1st 2ndFood Groups:
Primary: Spelling & Word Study, Writing Conventions
Secondary: Vocabulary
Activity Description
Preparation:
-
Select 5-10 verbs or root words that can have inflectional endings
- For example, “cook” as in “cooking”, “cooks”, and “cooked”; “wear” as in “wearing” and “wears”; or “jump” as in “jumping”, “jumps” or “jumped”
Implementation:
-
Have students list the inflectional endings they have learned
- You may need to review the meaning of “inflectional endings” and stress that these are parts added to the end of verbs that transform their spelling and meaning in a consistent way
- For example: -ing, -ed, -s or –es
-
Review how each inflectional ending is used
- For example, -ed can be used to indicate the past tense, and -s or -es are used in the present tense for the third person singular
-
Write a root word (a verb) on the chart paper and ask students to determine which inflectional endings can be applied to the word
- Go through each inflectional ending and have students indicate if it makes sense when applied to the word
- Once an inflectional ending is successfully applied, have students use the word in a sentence
- Write the newly created word on the chart paper
- Invite a student to underline or circle the inflectional ending with a different colored marker
- Repeat steps 3 through 6 for all root words
Adaptations For
English Language Learners/ESL:
- Provide visual representations of root words whenever possible
LD/Reading & Writing Difficulties:
- Ensure that the various kinds of inflectional endings are displayed throughout the activity
- To provide a more visual component, write each root word 4 times and add an inflectional ending to each, striking out the instances in which the inflectional ending does not apply
Cultural Appropriateness & Diversity:
- Ensure that the root words selected are meaningful to all students
Related References
Evidence: Mountain, L. (2005). ROOTing out Meaning: More Morphemic Analysis for Primary Pupils. The Reading Teacher, 58, 742-749.
Activity Objective
The goal of Transform-a-Verb: Enhancing Students' Understanding of Inflectional Endings is to provide students with an explicit review of how the meaning and spelling of verbs can be transformed by adding different inflectional endings.
What You Need
Prep Time:
2-5 minutes - Select 5 to 10 verbs that can have inflectional endings
Task Time:
10-15 minutes - Students identify the various inflectional endings
- Teacher presents a root verb and students determine which inflectional endings can be applied to the verb
Materials Required:
Teacher:
- Chart paper
- Markers
What You Do
Teacher Role:
Facilitator:
- while students add inflectional endings to verbs
Direct instruction:
- when reviewing inflectional endings and reinforcing how and when they are applied to verb
Student Grouping:
Whole class:
- throughout activity
Assessment Ideas:
- Write anecdotal comments during or immediately after the activity implementation
Quick Tips
Activity Extensions:
- Have students select one of the root words and incorporate it into a writing exercise
a. Encourage students to apply the various inflectional endings to the root word as many times as possible
b. Indicate that students' writing can be silly in nature as the goal is simply for them to practice using the inflectional endings as often as possible
- Teach inflectional endings for nouns as well as verbs
a. For example, adding "s" means that there is more than one of something or adding an apostrophe-s means that something belongs to someone
Additional Comments:
- This activity is best implemented when students have already learned about the meaning of different inflection endings and have experience applying them to words.
- The explicit nature of this instruction is particularly helpful for ELL students who may benefit from being explicitly taught how inflectional endings are used in English. This activity also incorporates a valuable oral language component that benefits ELL students.
Other Adaptations/Modifications:
- Provide students with mini whiteboards and markers or paper and pencils so that they can add inflectional endings to words themselves
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