Word Endings Magic

Curriculum Context

Learning Area: English
Curriculum Level: New Zealand Curriculum Level 1 (Years 0–1)
Strand: Language – Reading, Writing
Key Competencies:

• Thinking: noticing patterns in words (suffixes)
• Using language, symbols, and texts: understanding how simple suffixes change meaning
• Managing self: participating in a small group and taking turns
• Relating to others: working collaboratively

---

Session Overview

This guided reading session for four Year 0–1 students will focus on introducing and exploring the suffixes -ed and -ing through shared reading and mini interactive activities. Students will begin to recognise how these suffixes relate to time (past/present) and actions, and apply them in reading and oral language.

Duration: 10 minutes
Group Size: 4 students

---

Learning Intentions

Students are learning to:

• Recognise and read words with -ed and -ing endings.
• Understand the meaning and time (tense) that these endings convey.
• Use the suffixes when speaking and reading simple sentences.

---

Success Criteria

I can:
✔ Say a word with -ed or -ing at the end.
✔ Find words with -ed or -ing in a story.
✔ Say whether the word means something that already happened or is happening now.

---

Resources Needed

🧾 Short printed mini-book or a digital slide story (e.g., “The Jumping Frog”)
🔠 Flashcards with base words (e.g., play, jump, walk, paint)
🧲 Word-ending magnets or suffix labels (-ed, -ing)
🎤 Stuffed toy or puppet for “suffix detective” role-play
✏️ Whiteboard or mini whiteboards for children

---

Session Breakdown

🕐 0:00–1:30 | Warm-Up: Sound Detective

• Greet the students and introduce the puppet/stuffed toy as the “Suffix Detective”.
• Say: “Suffix Detective has heard lots of sneaky word endings. Can you help him figure out what has happened in these words?”
• Show one flashcard at a time (e.g., “jump”) and ask:
  • “What happens when I add -ing?” (jump → jumping)
  • Have one student say the new word.
  • Repeat with -ed (jump → jumped).

🎯 Focus: Hearing the difference between a verb and its suffix version.

---

🕐 1:30–5:00 | Shared Reading: “The Jumping Frog”

• Introduce a short 4-page story featuring actions with -ed and -ing endings (teacher-created printable or display).
• Read aloud with children, stopping to highlight words with -ing and -ed.
  • e.g., “The frog jumped on the rock. Now he is jumping into the pond.”
• Ask questions:
  • “When did the frog jump?” (Help them notice -ed signals ‘it already happened’)
  • “Is he jumping now?” (Highlight -ing)
• Have each child “read” a sentence or phrase with support.

🎯 Focus: Recognising tense markers in context.

---

🕐 5:00–8:00 | Word Building Game: Build-a-Word

• Use flashcards with base verbs.
• Provide magnetic suffix tiles (-ed, -ing) or laminated endings for children to add.
• Prompt students:
  • “Let’s make 'painted'. What word did we start with?”
  • “Now let’s write ‘painting’. Is it happening now or already done?”
• Children say the full word and share a sentence:
  “I painted a picture.” / “I am painting now.”

🎯 Focus: Combining base word with suffix and using it orally in a sentence.

---

🕐 8:00–10:00 | Quickfire Challenge & Reflection

• Puppet asks: “Can you tell me if this is ‘happening now’ or ‘happened before’?”
• Say or show a word (e.g., “walking”, “played”).
  • Children give thumbs up for now, hands on heads for before.
• Reflect with students:
  • “What do we notice about words ending in -ed?”
  • “When do we use -ing words?”
• Praise effort, give each student a power word card (with e.g. “jumped”, “helping”) to keep for their reading folder.

🎯 Focus: Reinforce learning, repetition and quick response to consolidate.

---

Teacher Notes

• This brief, engaging session balances oral language, phonics, and comprehension.
• Designed to match emergent learners at Curriculum Level 1 who are beginning to explore how words change meaning through simple morphology.
• Flexible emergent text (simple with repetition, e.g., frog jumping/feeding/splashing) allows easy adaptation with local contexts or interests (e.g., kapa haka actions, pet stories).
• Integrating puppets or student-created characters deepens engagement and supports ākonga who may need confidence support.

---

Extension / Next Steps

• Include action games where children physically act out “jumping”, “clapping”, “washed” etc.
• Add -s as a future mini-focus (e.g., talks, plays).
• Incorporate suffix learning in their writing by encouraging “I am…” or “I …ed” sentence starters.

---

Assessment Opportunities

📌 Formative – Observe students for:

• Accurate pronunciation of suffixes
• Understanding of when the activity is happening
• Ability to construct and apply suffixes in spoken language

📌 Record observations using a simple anecdotal note format with individual checklists for each suffix

---

Final Thought

This micro-lesson brings rich literacy learning into a joyful, fast-paced 10-minute slot grounded in the New Zealand Curriculum’s emphasis on meaning, language structure, and learner agency. It’s tactile, meaningful, and customised for ākonga – ensuring they see themselves as capable readers and thinkers from the very start.