| What is the effect of training on teaching about morphemes? |
|
|
|
|
Research taster
When teachers participated in continuing professional development (CPD) on literacy teaching, including gathering information about morphemes and the connections between meaning, spelling and grammar, they started to include teaching about morphemes in their spelling lessons. Their pupils made impressive gains in spelling achievement compared with others whose teachers did not attend the course. One teacher was trained but did not have time to use the morphology materials immediately. During this first term, her pupils’ spelling improved no more than other children’s in the same year group. When she used the morphology materials in the spring term, her class made significant spelling gains compared to a control class and to their own progress in the previous term. 
Your evidence
You might like to work with a colleague to reflect on and become more aware of your knowledge of spelling structures, morphemes and their meaning. Or you may wish to assess your own feelings of competence about your subject knowledge in this area. You could list various aspects of ‘word-level’ teaching and make a note of which areas you feel competent to teach and which you feel uncertain about. You could share your feelings with a colleague you trust – perhaps you are being too self-critical, or perhaps you have missed out some areas? Moving forward Having identified your level of confidence and knowledge about this area, you are well placed to decide whether you might benefit from professional development within it. If you feel you need more support, what opportunities exist for CPD that match your needs? Could you work with colleagues to develop your expertise? If you are confident about your knowledge in this area, could you devise a practical programme of CPD for less confident colleagues? Find out more  TLRP Research Briefing no. 14 Why morphemes are useful in primary school http://www.tlrp.org/pub/documents/no14_nunes.pdf The full project is The role of awareness in the teaching and learning of literacy and Numeracy in Key Stage 2 (2001 – 2004) by Prof. Terezina Nunes, Prof. Peter Bryant and Dr. Jane Hurry. The project website is at: http://www.tlrp.org/proj/phase11/phase2h.html Hurry, J. & Parker, M. (2004) The role of awareness in the teaching and learning of literacy and numeracy at key stage 2, TLRP Annual Conference, (Cardiff, November). Available at: http://www.tlrp-archive.org/cgi-bin/search_oai_all.pl?pn=15&no_menu=1&short_menu=1 |
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|
