2. When to Teach Suffixes

We begin teaching suffixes starting in kindergarten! As you teach closed syllables and your kids learn to read words like hat, pig, and rug, you can teach your students about the suffix '-s', giving them access to hats, pigs, and rugs.

Below you'll find the Reading Universe Phonics Continuum. You'll notice that suffixes are listed at the very end, but you'll actually be teaching them throughout your phonics instruction.

Most suffixes are introduced in first grade, but consider the needs of your students. If they are seeing words with the suffix '-ed' in their decodable text — teach it! If they are wanting to write verbs with the suffix '-ing' in their writing — teach it!

There is not one way to introduce prefixes and suffixes, and many programs will teach these in a different order. That's okay, as long as students learn affixes (prefixes and suffixes) that they will see, or hear, in text.

Introducing suffixes opens up a large amount of words that students will be able to decode. And they need to be explicitly taught, just like all the phonics skills. So as you move through the phonics continuum, consider adding suffixes to your instruction each time they've mastered a new skill:

• Closed Syllables
  After teaching closed syllables, introduce the suffix '-s', like in the words cats, dogs, cups, and bats.
• Glued Sounds
  After teaching glued sounds, introduce the suffix '-ing', like in the words swinging, jumping, falling, and singing.
• Consonant Digraphs
  After teaching consonant digraphs, introduce the suffix '-es', like in the words lashes, crashes, dishes, and fixes.
• FLoSS(Z) Spelling Rule, Digraphs, Blends, and the '-ck' Spelling Rule
  After teaching these four cumulative skills, introduce the suffix '-ed', like in the words packed, landed, passed, and missed. Quick links to: FLoSS(Z) Spelling Rule, Consonant Digraphs, Blends, and the '-ck' Spelling Rule.
• 'y' as a Vowel
  After teaching 'y' as a vowel, introduce the suffixes '-y' and '-ly', like in the words chilly, badly, and dusty.
• Magic 'e'
  After teaching magic 'e', introduce the suffixes '-ful' and '-less', like in the words hopeful, thankful, helpless, and careless.
• R-Controlled Vowels
  After teaching r-controlled vowels, introduce the suffixes '-er' and '-est', like in the words surfer, burner, darkest, and sharpest.

In this skill explainer we explain how to teach ten of the most common suffixes, but your instruction does not end there! As your students progress as readers, they'll encounter more advanced suffixes, such as '-able', '-ible', '-ous', '-tion', and many more. You will follow the routine we have outlined to explicitly teach and practice adding these suffixes to base words, which will prepare your students to read them and understand their meanings. 

Before students start learning suffixes, they should already know:

• All consonant and vowel sounds
• How to read closed syllables
• The term base word