Orthographic Inquiry in the Classroom: Working Etymologically

The following extract is taken from PETAA Book The Alphabetic Principle and Beyond...Surveying the Landscape, edited by Robyn Cox, Susan Feez and Lorraine Beveridge, published in 2019. This piece is from a chapter section contributed by Lyn Anderson and Ann Whiting.

Our learning community is comprised of young students (four-, five- and six-year-olds). There is a wide range of learners in our class – those who are beginning to interact with the text, to those who are working independently when reading and writing. This class includes students who speak English as a first language and as an additional language (EAL). Some EAL students are competent in communicating in English while others are new to the language. All members of the learning community, including teachers, study how the oral and written language works through a process of scientific inquiry as described in the classroom vignette below. This process of uncovering the meaning, sense and order of their writing system motivates and facilitates learning to read and write. 

Words are in the mainstream in our classroom where orthographic inquiry is a vital part of the current learning and everyday discourse. Morphology frames the understanding of etymology and especially phonology. As you follow the orthographic journey of these young students, you will understand that orthographic phonology can only be fully understood by studying the morphology and etymology of the word (Venezky, 1967, 1999; Chomsky & Halle, 1968).

The Learning Context

Our orthographic journey begins within the learning context of this classroom study: There are many cycles that affect life on earth. We read Jeannie Baker’s Circle (2016) to begin the conceptual and orthographic understanding of
‘cycles’ , starting with the question:

T: ‘What word best captures the heart of this story?’

The learning community suggests a host of words such as cycles, journey, birds, Godwit, migration. We select a key word, cycles, central to the text and the unit of inquiry. At the same time, we will study the orthography of ‘cycle’ through the three components: morphology, etymology and phonology. By investigating the word ‘cycle’, the students will learn significant orthographic conventions and principles that apply to all words. Deliberately embedding orthographic inquiry brings a deep understanding of the sense and order inherent in English orthography. This enriches the themes and concepts of our study. Our quest for understanding will take us full circle.

Working Etymologically

Please note: significant work has already been undertaken with the class when the teachers introduce the etymological story of the word 'cycle' The full teaching and learning sequence is covered in The Alphabetic Principle and Beyond...Surveying the Landscape.

Every word has an etymological story. A word’s etymology reveals its roots with the journey into present-day English impacting its morphemes and choice of graphemes. We use images and reveal the etymological tree to share the journey of cycle through time.

Cycle as a noun, was first attested (documented) in writing in the late 14th century. It derives from the Greek word kyklos, meaning ‘circular body, motion, cycle of events’. This root and its more distant ancestor produced a large family of words. Words such as cyclamen and cyclone are etymologically related to cycles; they share a common root, not a common base element. There is an echo of circularity throughout all these words (see Harper’s Online Etymology Dictionary at https://www.etymonline.com).

We find another distant relative when we share the story of Cyclops, literally ‘round-eyed’. We discuss how < ops > is related to optical and optometrist with a denotation of ‘eye’. The children have discovered the story in the classroom library and are eager to know more.

As the children look at the etymological journey of cycle, they ask about the < k > in the Greek root kyklos. We examine how the word is written in the Greek script as κύκλος. The children also notice that the medial < y > has travelled throughout its etymological journey. Their questions and observations indicate that now we can tell them a medial grapheme < y > in a base element, such as < cycle >, is a reliable sign that the word has Greek origins.

Even though we are working etymologically, the students notice some phonological aspects:

S: The single letter grapheme < l > has always been there.
S: The < y > is there in Latin.
T: Notice that we spell ‘cycle’ with the final, non-syllabic < e >.

Excitement builds as the children and their families collect other words with a medial < y >: gymnastics, mystery, hydrate. They find these in books, in our written statements, on signs and in their own writing. We begin a chart that builds over time and discover all these words are Greek in origin.

The children also notice and ask important questions about the letter < y > in other positions: year, my, happy, key, play. Some students notice a significant phonological feature – the letter < y > can be a single letter grapheme < y > or part of a digraph: < ey > < ay > < uy > < oy >, or the suffix < -y >. We draw attention to the graphemes and phonemes:

T: I’m noticing the initial grapheme < y > is representing the phoneme / j / in the base element < year > but the final grapheme < y > of < my > represents / ʌɪ /. The grapheme < y > can represent different phonemes.

Although we are working etymologically, we plant important phonological ‘learning seeds’ for future investigation. Phonology is part of a complex system and so is not treated in isolation in this instructional approach. The orthographic phonology (grapheme–phoneme correspondences) of a word can only be understood within the morphological and etymological constraints (Chomsky, 1970; Venezky 1970, 1999). With this etymological knowledge, we return to the morphological component.