1.2.B.iv
The Standard
using knowledge of base words to decode common compound words and contractions
Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills for English Language Arts and Reading · The student develops word structure knowledge through phonological awareness, print concepts, phonics, and morphology to communicate, decode, and spell.
Teacher's field guide
What This Standard Means
What Students Need to Do
- Students find familiar words inside longer words and use those parts to read the whole word. They also connect forms such as can't and I'm to the words they represent.
What Mastery Looks Like
- Students split words such as bathtub into bath and tub, then blend the parts to read the whole word. They read common contractions and explain which letters the apostrophe replaces.
Common Misconceptions
- Students may treat a compound word as one long, unfamiliar word instead of finding two smaller words. They may ignore the apostrophe or think it marks a pause rather than missing letters.
How to Assess It
- Give students sunset, backpack, can't, and I'm. Ask them to read each word, mark its smaller parts, and say the full words represented by each contraction.
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Give pairs word cards such as sun and set, then have students join them, read the new word, and sketch its meaning.
Ask students to explain how cannot becomes can't, then write one sentence using can't correctly.
Play a matching game where students pair compound words with their two parts and contractions with their full forms.
Read the note, “We can't play outside, so put your raincoat in your backpack,” and identify words that help follow the directions.
Keep exploring
Related Standards
- 2.2.C.iii
spelling compound words, contractions, and common abbreviations;
- 2.2.B.iv
decoding compound words, contractions, and common abbreviations;
- 3.2.A.iii
decoding compound words, contractions, and abbreviations;
- 5.2.A.iv
decoding words using advanced knowledge of the influence of prefixes and suffixes on base words; and
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