108. Making Phonics Richer with Multiple Meaning Words

What if one of the richest language opportunities in your literacy block is already hiding inside your phonics word list? Even the simplest decodable words can carry surprisingly rich meanings. A word like “cap” might be something you wear on your head, the top of a bottle, an action you perform when you cover something, or even part of the phrase “no cap.” Simple to decode doesn’t necessarily mean simple in meaning. In this episode, I share a few simple ways to intentionally sprinkle meaning into the decoding and spelling practice you’re already doing.

Key Takeaways:

  • Why multiple-meaning, or polysemous, words offer such rich opportunities for language development
  • Why a quick contextual sentence during decoding or dictation is so important
  • How “Word of the Day” and/or Multiple-Meaning Word Anchor Chart get students noticing interesting words across the school day
  • Even while sprinkling in meaning, it’s still essential to keep the pace and offer repetitions students need during phonics
  • It’s unnecessary to explore every potential meaning at once

We know explicit & systematic phonics helps students unlock the code, but meaning gives them something worth unlocking.

Want to go Beyond Phonics?

Join Beyond Phonics Club: A Membership Community with Michelle Sullivan & Sarah Paul (Logos Literacy Academy)

Inside the Beyond Phonics Club, Michelle Sullivan and Sarah Paul have created ready-to-use lessons and resources, including lessons targeting multiple-meaning words, that help you expand phonics into richer work with meaning, morphology, vocabulary, grammar, and comprehension in mind.

Go beyond phonics – without leaving phonics behind!

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