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📘 The flower is taller than you

Look at a sunflower in a garden: its huge yellow head lifts above you. Its name is sun plus flower: two little words joined to make one new word.

5
lessons
~25 min
to learn
Adults
level
Start the course →

What you’ll learn

  1. Two words become one thingHear that a compound word is two words joined together, and tell a true compound from a lookalike such as carpet.Sunflower is sun plus flower. Football is the Year 1 first example. Carpet fails Reading Rockets' meaning test.
  2. Spell each half as itselfSpell playground, farmyard, bedroom, and blackberry by writing each half as it would be on its own.The Year 1 appendix lists five: football, playground, farmyard, bedroom, blackberry. No letters dropped. No letters added.
  3. Split them to read themRead a compound by dividing between the two smaller words, then blending the two beats.Reading Rockets cuts backpack and bathtub at the join. Sunset is two beats. Grasshopper is a Florida puzzle word.
  4. Guess from the two little wordsUse the meaning of each half to predict what birdhouse, lighthouse, housefly, and bookshelf mean.Grade 2 asks for that guess. A birdhouse is a house for birds. A housefly is a fly around the house. The last half is often the kind of thing.
  5. Hunt them in the houseSpot closed compounds at home, notice that ice cream can keep a space, and sort true compounds from prefixes and lookalikes.Ice cream is still two roots. Toothbrush and rainbow follow the Year 1 rule. Tonight, open a notebook and look for the glue.

Questions this course answers

Sunflower is a compound word. What are the two little words inside it?

England's Year 1 appendix says compound words are two words joined together. Sunflower is sun plus flower. Each half is a word you already know.

Name the kind of word

The Year 1 appendix: compound words are two words joined together. Each part of the longer word is spelt as it would be if it were on its own.

Match each Year 1 compound to its two halves

Those four sit on the Year 1 appendix list with bedroom. Each half is spelt as it would be on its own.

Put the steps for reading a new compound in order

Reading Rockets says divide between the two smaller words. Then use the meaning test so you do not cut carpet into car and pet. Then blend.

Why is carpet not a true compound word?

Reading Rockets: to be a true compound, each smaller word must carry meaning in the context of the word. A carpet is not a pet for your car.

How many example compound words does the Year 1 spelling appendix actually list?

The appendix lists five: football, playground, farmyard, bedroom, blackberry. Other compounds exist. Those five are the printed examples.

Grounded in trusted sources

  • UK Department for Education, English Appendix 1: Spelling — Year 1 Compound words: two words joined together; each part of the longer word is spelt as it would be if it were on its own; example words football, playground, farmyard, bedroom, blackberry. Year 1 also lists sunset among words of more than one syllable, https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5a7ccc06ed915d63cc65ce61/English_Appendix_1_-_Spelling.pdf
  • UK Department for Education, Glossary for the programmes of study for English — a word that contains two or more root words is a compound (e.g. news+paper, ice+cream); compound examples include blackbird, blow-dry, bookshop, ice-cream, https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/238985/English_Glossary.pdf
  • Common Core State Standards Initiative, CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.2.4.D — use knowledge of the meaning of individual words to predict the meaning of compound words (e.g., birdhouse, lighthouse, housefly; bookshelf, notebook, bookmark), https://www.thecorestandards.org/ELA-Literacy/L/2/4/d/
  • Reading Rockets, Phonics: In Practice — in a compound word, divide between the two smaller words (back/pack, lamp/shade, bed/room, bath/tub, work/book); to be a true compound, each smaller word must carry meaning in the context of the word (carpet is not a compound), https://www.readingrockets.org/reading-101/reading-101-learning-modules/course-modules/phonics/practice
  • Florida Center for Reading Research, Compound Word Puzzles (P.057) — the student will form compound words; puzzle pieces include pop + corn, grass + hopper, foot + ball, apple + sauce, https://fcrr.org/sites/g/files/upcbnu2836/files/media/PDFs/student_center_activities/k1_phonics/k1_morpheme_structures/k1_p057_compound_word_puzzles.pdf
  • UK Department for Education, National curriculum in England: English programmes of study — Year 1 word reading includes words of more than one syllable that contain taught GPCs; Year 1 spelling applies the guidance in Appendix 1, https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-curriculum-in-england-english-programmes-of-study/national-curriculum-in-england-english-programmes-of-study

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