Inflectional endings include words with ing, ed, es/s and est at the end. Here are some examples:
- s as in cats
- ing as in swimming
- ed as in missed
- es as in catches
- est as in fastest
Inflectional endings are a group of letters that change the meaning of the word. Inflectional endings can help us determine if the event occurred in the past (The dolphin flipped) or present (The dolphin is flipping). In terms of nouns, inflectional endings can help us determine if there were one (as in cat) or many (as in cats). They can help us determine if the wolf was merely fast or the fastest in the pack.
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When do kids learn inflectionalendings?
Kids learn inflectional endingsat different times, depending on the curriculum. Some kids begin to learninflectional endings as early as kindergarten. However, most kids learn to readinflectional endings at the end of first grade or beginning of secondgrade.
If you have a strugglingreader, make sure you teach inflectional endings explicitly and systematically.Teach most single-syllable phonics sounds before you teach inflectionalendings.
Struggling readers often havethe most difficult time with inflectional endings. This is why I advocateteaching most phonics sounds before starting inflectional endingsinstruction.
Get through: short vowels,consonant blends, silent e, long vowels, and r-sounds before teachinginflectional endings. Kids with significant reading struggles are often heldback on the same phonic sound because they can’t master inflectional endings.This can keep them on low-level decodables for too long. You don’t want yourstudent to experience a reading stasis.
However, if you teach mostphonics downs first, struggling readers will learn to read inflectional endingsat a faster rate.
What does ed say?
The inflectional ending edmakes several sounds:
- ed as in missed (takes on /t/ sound)
- ed as in saved (takes on /d/ sound)
- ed as in rested (takes on /id/ sound)
When you teach ed teach allthree of the above sounds at once.
How do I teach inflectionalendings?
Inflectional endings aredifficult to master. Students are often unsure of what to say for the vowelsound. The following words show why inflectional endings are confusing forstudents:
hiding versus hitting
Why is the i in hiding long andthe vowel in hitting short?
hoping versus hopping
Why is the vowel in hoping longand the vowel in hopping short?
waved versus wagging
Why is the vowel in waved longand the vowel in wagging short?
Are you beginning to see thepattern? Here’s the rule:
If there’s one consonant in the middle the first vowel is long.If there are two consonants in the middle the first vowel is short.
- 2 consonants in middle= first vowel is short
- 1 consonant in middle= first vowel is long
However, there are still wordslike sailed, peeking, and glowed that contain vowel units. So how do you teachall this?
Kids learn best when you ask them a series of questions. We know from cognitive science that learning must be effortful in order to stick. Thus, after you teach inflectional endings explicitly, learn how to correct your student.
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How do I correct inflectional endings?
Here’s a script on how tocorrect inflectional endings:
- Text: tapping
- Student says: taping
Teacher: (points to middle ppconsonants) How many consonants are in the middle [between the vowels]?
Student: 2
Teacher: Does that make thefirst vowel long or short?
Student: short
Teacher: (points to /a/) Firstvowel sound?
Student: aaaaa [as in apple]
Teacher: From thebeginning.
Student: tapping
Do you see how you need toguide your student? Telling your student the correct vowel pronunciation doesnot facilitate learning. Guiding your student, through a series of questions,however, does result in learning. Here’s another sample:
Correcting inflectional ending mistakes sample #2
- Text: peeked
- Student says: pecked
Teacher: Do you see a vowelunit?
Student: yes
Teacher: (Underlines vowel unit/ee/.) What’s the sound?
Student: ee [as in see]
Teacher: From thebeginning.
Student: peeked
Correcting inflectional ending mistakes sample #3
In case you want more practice, here’s another example on how tocorrect inflectional ending mistakes:
- Text: smiled
- Student says: spilled
In this case, you need to guideyour student through several corrections.
Teacher: (Underline the blendsm.) Say the sounds.
Student: ssssmmm
Teacher: From the beginning.
Student: sm
Teacher: (points to middle ppconsonants) How many consonants are in the middle [between the vowels]?
Student: 1
Teacher: Does that make thefirst vowel long or short?
Student: long
Teacher: (points to /i/) Firstvowel sound?
Student: i [as in item]
Teacher: From thebeginning.
Student: smiled
Eliciting the answer throughquestions is key.
Making corrections with ed
The ed ending makes several sounds. If your student says the wrong one, get her to experiment with the others. Here’s a sample script:
Correcting inflectional ending mistakes sample #4
- Text: skipped
- Student says: skippid
Teacher: (underlines ed ending)What other sounds does /ed/ make?
Student: /t/ and /d/
Teacher: Let’s tryanother.
Student: skipped
If your student still makes amistake, try the last ed sound.
What are inflectional endings?
Inflectional endings arecommon. They change the grammar of the word. After kids master manysingle-syllable sound units, they’re ready for inflectional endings.
Do you have a struggling reader? If so, your student may still need decodable texts while he’s learning inflectional endings. That’s okay. Keep him on phonics books until he’s had significant practice with inflectional endings. Oftentimes, if students learn the most common single-syllable sound units and inflectional endings, they are ready for those level one books found in bookstores and libraries.
Systematic phonics books can teach your struggling reader the most common sound units.
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