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Step 7: Adding Endings & Schwa (ə)

Adding Endings Visual
Schwa Poster

Adding Endings Adding Endings Visual


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Definitions

Adding Endings Definitions:
Base Word: The base is the main word without adding anything to the beginning or end of the word. For example “tie” is the base word for: tied, untie, retie, and tying. “Soft” is the base word for softly, softer, and softest.
A Suffix is a group of letters that has meaning and when added to the end of a base word changes that word’s meaning. For example the suffix -ed changes the base word word “paint” to mean it happened in the past. The suffix -ly changes soft to describe how you are doing something.

Teaching Videos

3 Sounds for -ed
Adding Endings
Spell with -ed

PowerPoints and Google Slides PowerPoints for teaching short vowel words CVC Google Slides Icon

For the formatting of PowerPoints to be correct, click FILE, then DOWNLOAD, and download in Microsoft PowerPoint.

PowerPoint from -ed video
PowerPoint from Adding Endings video
PowerPoint from -ed spelling video

Tips Tips

It is important to explain that the ending -ed means that something already happened.  The tricky part is that the ending -ed says three different things at the end of words: /d/, /t/ or /ĭd/.

-ed says:
/d/ after a voiced sound like the /b/ in grabbed
/t/ after an unvoiced sound like the /p/ in stopped
/ĭd/ after the letters d or t like the word planted

Sample Bundle


Practice Reading Practice Practice Reading


Busy StudentSpelling and Reading with Suffixes instructions, lists, activities and games

Adding Endings Bundle! Bundle

Adding Endings Bundle: Double or drop rules, 3 sounds of -ed

This list is in an order to teach these skills in:

1 Teach: Adding Endings to Base Words That End in a Vowel visual, directions and list

2 Intro: Adding Endings to Long and Short Vowel Words directions and list
Adding Endings With Short and Long Vowels list
-ed Says /t/, /d/, or /id/ -ed Word List by Sound
– -ed Says /t/, /d/, or /id/ -ed Flashcard Sort Using these sort cards have students sort the -ed words under the correct heading /d/, /t/ or /id/.
Doubling rule guided practice Doubling Rule Practice adding endings to cvc words activity
Doubling rule activity adding endings to cvc words Draw My Puppy activity
Doubling rule game adding endings to cvc words Spinner game
– Read and Spell list cvc and vce with endings -ed, -er, -ing, -y, Dinner
– Read and Spell list any syllable with endings -ed -ing -er -est -ly Lovely Endings
Endings Game in sentences Hoping to Hop

3 Teach adding endings on words that end with y directions and list

4 Teach adding -s or -es directions and list

Advanced Endings including -tion, -sion, -cial, -tious -cient, -tient, -ture, -cious, -xious, -cion, -xion, -age found below at the end of the Schwa section.
These are also found on the Huge Words page. Check out the BUNDLES for these endings!

Spelling Review Lists icon Add -ing to words

Morphology – building words with meaningful chunks. While learners start to become more comfortable with longer words and word parts, it is a good time to practice noticing that words are be built by adding prefixes and suffixes to a base word. This is the beginning of the study of morphology. Morphemes are the smallest units that have meaning (ie. incoming has 3 morphemes: in, come, ing).

Finding Morphemes and Making Words With Long Vowel Cheater Chunk -igh:
Click here for the -igh says the long /i/ sound worksheet.
Directions: Highlight the -igh chunk in each title word. For the words below the title word, underline the title word and highlight the additional morphemes. (The title words on this page are each a single morpheme.) See Picture.

Schwa ə Schwa Poster


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The goal is to notice the schwa sound in words, not read all the schwa words at this point. Have learners be detectives and find schwa sounds in words.

A good strategy is to read these materials to your learner, point out the word with a schwa sound, and ask the learner to identify where the schwa sound is.

*Changing a vowel sound to a schwa sound is a very common way to figure out an unknown word that does not sound right the first time.*

Definitions

Schwa Definition:
– The Schwa (Ə) sound is /ŭ/ (short ŭ sound) and sometimes its sound almost disappears altogether. It is represented with this symbol: Ə. Any vowel or vowel combination in any syllable might have a schwa sound and say /ŭ/. Examples are the letter “e” in the word “the” and the letter “o” in the word “mother.” The a schwa sound can often be found in the unaccented syllable of multiple syllable words. Examples are the vowel sound in the second syllable of the word “second”, and the second and third syllables of the word “elephant.”

Teaching Videos and Written Stories

Written Story

Schwa Story as told in video

Posters/Visuals Poster with short vowels

Posters/Visuals Poster with short vowels

PowerPoints PowerPoints for teaching short vowel words CVC

Once open, click FILE, then DOWNLOAD, and download in Microsoft PowerPoint for the formatting to be correct.

  • PowerPoint: Schwa as in teaching video

Sample Page


Practice Reading Practice Practice Reading


Schwa BUNDLE! Bundle

Schwa words Bundle

Green Star: Growing, Grades 1-2Schwa Beginning Bundle Schwa words

Word and Phrase Lists Lists icon

See Highlighting Word Lists.

Draw a schwa symbol (Ə) over the schwa sound in each word. The goal is to hear the schwa sound, not necessarily real all these words.

Green Star: Growing, Grades 1-2Schwa 25 Most Common Ə Words list
Green Star: Growing, Grades 1-2Schwa 25 Most Common Ə Words and Phrases
Green Star: Growing, Grades 1-2Schwa Ə Phrases with the 25 Most Common Ə Words

Often Used 2+ Syllable Schwa words:
Green Star: Growing, Grades 1-2Schwa Mega Soda (When the letter a is alone as the first syllable in a word it is often a schwa.)
Green Star, Pink Plus: Grades 1,2 and/or intervention, challengeSchwa 48 Common Ə Words list challenge

Spelling Lists icon

The goal is to notice the schwa sound in words learners are already spelling.

* One way to remember challenging schwa words is to use a ‘spelling voice’. Pronounce the word the way it would be pronounced if the vowel sound was stressed, or the word followed the rules. (Many of us learned to spell Wednesday this way, by pronouncing it “wed” “nes” “day”). Schwa word examples: about = /ā bout/, mother = /mŏth er/ etc.

Advanced: * Vowels are often schwa sounds in unaccented syllables. Often a derivative of a word with a different syllable accented will have the vowel pronounced correctly and help with spelling. For example the a in “human” can be heard in “humanity.”

Full Page Stories with Lists Full Page Stories with Lists

Play detective!   While reading keep a lookout for schwa words.  How many can you find?

Green Star: Growing, Grades 1-2Schwa list and story Young Puppy
Green Star: Growing, Grades 1-2Closed CVC and Schwa multiple syllable list and story The Strict Top Ninja

ADVANCED: Multiple Syllable Words With Schwa Endings

-tion, -xion, -cion, -sion, -xion, -cial, -tious, -cious, -xious, -cient, -ture, -age
(These are also found in Step 10)

Learners are ready to move on to Step 7 without being able to read any of the challenge words below.

TionEndings

Schwa endings Bundles

Green Star, Pink Plus: Grades 1,2 and/or intervention, challengeChallenge Schwa -al Endings Bundle -al multiple syllable words
Green Star, Pink Plus: Grades 1,2 and/or intervention, challengeChallenge Schwa -ally Endings Bundle -ally multiple syllable words
Green Star, Pink Plus: Grades 1,2 and/or intervention, challengeChallenge Schwa -tion Endings Bundle -tion multiple syllable words
Green Star, Pink Plus: Grades 1,2 and/or intervention, challengeChallenge Schwa -sion Endings Bundle -sion multiple syllable words
Green Star, Pink Plus: Grades 1,2 and/or intervention, challengeChallenge Schwa -ture Endings Bundle -ture multiple syllable words
Green Star, Pink Plus: Grades 1,2 and/or intervention, challengeChallenge Schwa -ous, -ious Endings Bundle -ous, -ious multiple syllable words
Green Star, Pink Plus: Grades 1,2 and/or intervention, challengeChallenge Schwa -age Endings Bundle -age multiple syllable words
Green Star, Pink Plus: Grades 1,2 and/or intervention, challengeChallenge Schwative Endings Bundle -tive multiple syllable words bundle

Schwa endings individual sheets

Pink Plus: intervention, challengeChallenge Schwa Endings -ti si ci xi say sh teach and practice sheet
Pink Plus: intervention, challengeChallenge Schwa Endings –tion wordlist
Pink Plus: intervention, challengeChallenge Schwa Endings -ture wordlist
Pink Plus: intervention, challengeChallenge Schwa Endings -cial wordlist
Pink Plus: intervention, challengeChallenge Schwa Endings -age words and phrases: Some Words Don’t Act Their Age
Pink Plus: intervention, challengeChallenge Schwa Endings tion, -cial, -sion, cient, -ture Common words with endings
Pink Plus: intervention, challengeChallenge Schwa Endings Lists by ending and syllable type -sion, -tion, -tious, -cious, cial, -xious, -tient, -cient, -cion, -xion

Lists

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