Break Apart Big Words

Decode unfamiliar multisyllabic words by combining letter-sound knowledge, syllable patterns, and morphology.

How the lesson starts: Break Apart Big Words

All aboard!
All aboard! Conductor Nia drives the Word Train. Her puppy helper, Bolt, reads the station signs. Today some long words roll in. Bolt's ears droop. Nia smiles. Every long word is just small cars hooked together.
Three cars
Nia hooks up the cars. Re, plus play, plus ing. Replaying! The front car is a prefix. The middle car is the base word. The back car is an ending. Now try un, fair, ly. Unfairly!
Leave the spare car
Let's build disagreement. Read the whole word first. It starts with dis. Then comes agree. Then ment. The station also left a spare car: re. Re is not in disagreement, so it stays on the side track.