2. What Do My Students Need to Know About a Word?

To successfully read, spell, and use a word, students need to understand all the layers of language that make up that word. 

The Word Knowledge Network™️, as you can see below, is a graphic representation of the many linguistic components of a word — phonology, orthography, morphology, semantics, and syntax. Each of these components is essential and contributes to vocabulary instruction and learning.

The Word Knowledge Network™️ is reprinted with permission from 95 Percent Group (opens in new window).

Let's look at the word plant through the lens of all the layers of language as illustrated with the Word Knowledge Network. 

The word plant is made up of five sounds. We can listen to the word plant and segment it into those sounds: /p/, /l/, /a/, /n/, /t/. We can also blend the sounds to say the word plant. Segmenting and blending individual sounds — called phonemes — are essential skills to spell and read. Being able to hear and feel how the sounds are formed is essential to establishing sound-symbol correspondences (also known as sound-letter correspondences).

Each sound in a word is represented with a letter or letter combination called a grapheme. The sounds /p/, /l/, /a/, /n/, /t/ are spelled with the letters 'p', 'l', 'a', 'n', 't'. Sometimes a sound is spelled using two letters. The /k/ sound in the word pack is spelled with 'ck'. (See the '-ck' Spelling Rule Skill Explainer.)

Syllables are words or parts of words with a single vowel sound. The vowel sound in plant, which is both a word and a syllable, is short 'a'. Plant is also part of longer words like planting and transplanting. Recognizing these word parts helps you figure out new words more quickly.

Semantics is the study of word meanings. The meaning of a word is impacted by the way it is used in context. Many words have multiple meanings; context is essential to determine which meaning to use. For example, the word plant can mean a living thing that grows in dirt and turn sunlight into food, a place where manufacturing happens, or to place a seed or bulb in the ground to grow. Each meaning fits into a conceptual category — types of living things, types of building, or actions. Categories help us organize and remember words.

Most words have synonyms, which are words that mean the same thing. One of the meanings of plant is almost the same as factory. Many words have antonyms, which are words that mean the opposite. Harvest is the opposite of plant. 

Morphology is the study of meaning units. These units — base words, roots, prefixes, and suffixes — can be combined to create new words. For example, plant is a morpheme (base word). Its meaning can be changed by adding suffixes: planted, plants, or plant’s. Adding the prefix 'trans–' (meaning to move from one side to another) to plant creates the word transplant (to move something from one place to another). 

To determine the meaning of a word, we need context. Phrases, clauses, and sentences provide context. The other words and the order of the words helps us to determine meaning. For example, the sentence, "The plant is growing in the pot," helps us determine the meaning of plant. Knowing the meaning of plant also helps us understand that what is in the pot is living.

We also use context to understand the intended meaning of words with multiple meanings. In the sentence, "The plant bloomed in the spring," the word plant is the subject and tells us what is doing the action. But in the sentence, "He planted the seeds in his garden," planted is the action, or what he (the subject) did.