1. All Logophiles Welcome: Why Phonics, Morphology, and Vocabulary Matter

Hello, hello! Wow, I can't believe this moment is finally here! Welcome to the very first episode of The Literacy in Color Podcast. Honestly, it feels surreal to be saying that. This podcast has been a dream of mine for about two years, and here we are, making it happen! Huge shoutout to my good friend Sara Marye from The Stellar Teacher Company for planting the seed and giving me the nudge to take this leap into podcasting.

And get this—what makes today even more special? This episode is launching on my birthday! I’m officially stepping into 37, and while birthdays in your 30s can sometimes feel a little more routine (I mean, mom brain does make me forget my age now and then!), today feels different. It feels like a moment to honor purpose and passion. There’s something powerful about celebrating the day you entered the world, and I truly believe each of us is here for a purpose.

That’s exactly how I want to start this journey—by reminding ourselves that we’re here for a reason. If you’re tuning in, chances are you’re an educator, and you’re passionate about making a difference. In your role, you have the unique opportunity to change lives: your students’, their families’, and quite frankly, even your own. When teaching feels overwhelming or the work feels thankless, always remember that bigger picture—the why behind what you do.

And my purpose? In a nutshell, I want to be a mover and shaker in helping end the literacy crisis. The nitty gritty version? I want to help elementary teachers feel like word level masters - in using words, understanding words, teaching words and so on… so that they can show up confidently in their classrooms and make the biggest impact possible. Because when teachers feel empowered, students thrive.

So, today, I want to dive into why phonics, morphology, and vocabulary matter so much in our classrooms. These aren’t isolated concepts; they’re interconnected pieces of the literacy puzzle, and when we bring them together, we give our students the best chance at success.

I’m a self-proclaimed ‘word nerd,’ fascinated by language. Whether it’s phonics, morphology, or vocabulary, I love diving into the intricacies of how words work because I believe deeply that knowing a word—really knowing it—opens up a world of understanding. And sharing that knowledge with educators is like a ripple effect. When you, as an educator, understand how words work and how to teach them, you’re not just giving students skills—you’re giving them confidence and understanding. And when we do that, we’re not just teaching literacy, we’re making GREATER impact..

That being said, in today’s inaugural episode, we’re rolling out the red carpet for all my fellow logophiles - literally, lovers of words. So, if you consider yourself a "word nerd" or want to become one, you're in the right place. We’re going to dig into why phonics, morphology, and vocabulary are essential components of literacy instruction, and more importantly, why they should be taught in an integrated way.

So you might be thinking, of course Michelle, I know phonics, morphology, and vocabulary matter. I’m doing all the things. But, let’s talk about it!

The first thing I want to do is define our terms! And since I’m a big word nerd, I like to use morphology to really understand these concepts.

So, let’s start with Phonics.

It comes from the Greek root <p-h-o-n> meaning sound – and the suffix -ic, meaning “having to do with”. Having to do with sound.

Essentially, Phonics is about the relationship between sounds and the symbols, or letters, that represent them.

For example, in Phonics, you learn that the grapheme “igh” represents the long I sound, like in “light”. It’s all about connecting the written symbols, or the graphemes, with their corresponding speech sounds, or their phonemes.

Next up, Morphology! We have the Greek <m-o-r-p-h>, meaning form, or shape - and then <l-o-g-y> meaning “the study of”. So, morphology is the study of meaningful units, or morphemes, within a language, as well as how these units are combined to create words.

For instance, take the word “unhappiness” - You can break it down into the prefix u-n-, meaning “not”, the base word “happy”, and the suffix -n-e-ss, which is a word forming element, showing a quality or state. The state of not being happy.

This is a really primary example, but guess what, with even a more sophisticated knowledge of morphemes, even the word happy can be further broken down. Tobe honest, I was mind blown when I learned this one… but we have the base element “h-a-p”, meaning chance, luck, fortune, or fate ,— and the suffix -y. Happy… What’s up with the double P? We’ll, we needed to use the doubling rule! We see the base element <h-a-p> in other related words, like happen, haphazard, or even mishap. Cool right? (Or is it just me?)

Finally, let’s break down Vocabulary. This term comes from the Latin “vocabulum”, which in turn comes from “vocare”, meaning “to name, or call”. It’s the same root as words like “vocal”, “vocation”, and even “invoke”. Think - what do we call things?

Vocabulary encompasses ALL the words we know and use in the world… everything from simple everyday words to more complex academic language. We’re using vocabulary to call things things.

So, while phonics, morphology, and vocabulary focus on different aspects of language - they do share one critical focus: word-level work.

So, what do some of our SOR models have to say about these three aspects of literacy?

When we look at the Big 5 - or the 5 Pillars of Literacy that the National Reading Panel identified should be at the core of effective literacy instruction, we have: Phonemic Awareness, Phonics, Fluency, Vocabulary, and Comprehension. So, check, check, - Phonics and Vocabulary are some of the main stars of the show here.

If we consider the Simple View of Reading and Scarborough’s Reading Rope, Phonics would fall under Word Recognition, while Vocabulary supports Language Comprehension - both essential for reading comprehension - skilled reading. But here’s the question: Where does Morphology fit in?

This is where the Active View of Reading offers a more nuanced perspective. It introduces Morphological Awareness as one of the Bridging Processes; it overlaps between word recognition and language comprehension. Even prior to the release of the Active View, I’d always say that Morphology lives in both camps - it aids in word recognition with more efficient decoding – AND it strengthens language comprehension by targeting a deeper understanding of word parts - which ultimately builds vocabulary and even syntactic awareness.

And as well-versed teachers, despite seeing these terms all the time and sorta kinda understanding what they mean, what implications does this have on our instruction?

One of the flaws I’ve noticed with the Big 5 is that many people believe these 5 core elements are their own isolated components within a literacy block… when in reality, there should be an interweaving… they should be interconnected.

So, if your instruction feels disjointed, or that perhaps you feel like you're teaching in disconnected silos, I want I want to give you THREE reasons why you should be a logophile - and truly love the interconnection between teaching of phonics, morphology, and vocabulary!

So, Reason #1 is that teaching students to DECODE words is not ENOUGH.

If I had a dime for everytime I heard someone equate the Science of Reading with “Just Phonics”… I feel like I’d be swimming in change! Does anyone remember DuckTales when they do that - or am I dating myself?

Phonics - and foundational skills in general are getting a lot of attention, and rightfully so, because hey, that's something that our nation’s children collectively are struggling with.

However, here’s where the misinterpretation lies: some people think that once students can decode words, our work is done. But decoding is only one part of the reading puzzle.

While phonics teaches students to break words into sounds and recognize patterns, decoding is just the beginning. If students stop there, they’ll miss out on understanding why words mean what they mean and how they’re connected to other words.

Morphology—understanding how words are built with—takes decoding further by helping students grasp meaning. And vocabulary ensures that students don’t just read the word, but know it deeply, understand its context, and can apply it in their writing and speaking.

In short, decoding gives students access to words, but morphology and vocabulary open the door to understanding language in all its complexity. This trio doesn’t just teach students to read—it teaches them to know and love words, making reading richer and comprehension stronger.

Reason #2 on why you should be a logophile - Comprehension Begins at the WORD level.

Every sentence, paragraph, and text is made up of individual words. If students can't read and understand individual words, it will be impossible for them to comprehend sentences, paragraphs, or larger texts.

If the purpose of reading is to construct meaning, how good are decoding skills if we don’t understand what we’re reading? Deep word knowledge doesn’t just help students read—it fuels reading comprehension at every level.

Reason #3 is that Word Knowledge is Multifaceted!

I want you to get philosophical here - what does it mean to know a word? It’s not as simple as yes, I know that word and no I do not know that word… because we need to think more deeply about what KNOWLEDGE is.

If you have Phonics Knowledge, you can literally decode a word. Is that enough? Do you KNOW that word?

How about vocabulary knowledge, though?

Do you know what it means in isolation? In context? What about multiple meanings? Can you just identify the words meaning, or can you use and apply it as well?

Let’s take the simple CVC word. L-a-p… We can read the word lap, plain and simple…

Sure, you can decode it.

Maybe, your meaning processor, right away thinks of a baby sitting on her mommy’s lap… or running a lap around the park.

…Let’s incorporate morphology - she ran laps… multiple laps… or the cat lapped it up… triggering that it happened in the past…

…but this is a multiple meaning word. Consider a less common use - The dog may lap up water… or the cat laps up milk…

How about figurative language? I don’t live in the lap of luxury.

Think of phonics, vocabulary, and morphology as different lenses through which students understand words. Phonics teaches the sound-symbol relationships. Morphology helps students see the meaningful parts within words. Vocabulary expands on the meaning of those words. By integrating these, students get a more complete understanding of our language, rather than isolated skills that feel disconnected.

When we focus on teaching phonics, morphology, and vocabulary in isolation, our literacy instruction can feel disconnected. But when we make meaningful connections across word-level work, we build a deeper, more complete understanding of words. By strengthening word-level knowledge, we're laying the groundwork for stronger reading comprehension and overall language proficiency. So, let’s move away from teaching in silos and instead, weave these critical elements together to empower our students.

Be sure to download my FREE Guide: Phonics and Morphology Terms EVERY Teacher Needs to Know, linked in the show notes, to help you on your journey. I’ll see you next week!