ABSTRACT
The traditional way of teaching parts of speech is by stating definitions: A noun is a person, place, or thing. A verb expresses action or state of being. An adjective modifies a noun. An adverb modifies a verb, adjective, or other adverb. The ability to recite a definition and identify the most prototypical nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs is nowhere near the level of understanding that students need to be able to communicate about language. While it can be said that nothing deflates the confidence of a reader like big words, it can also be said that nothing builds intellectual self-esteem more than achieving a sense of mastery over them. Morphological awareness-mastery over big words-facilitates fluency in reading and precision in writing. Morphology charting is actually much easier to understand when one see it, rather than when someone tries to explain it. Only by learning how words are formed and reformed can children learn to read fluently.
