Compound Words | Award Winning Compound Words Teaching Video | What is a compound word? - YouTube

Introducing Compound Words at GrammarSongs by Melissa. You have learned about

many parts of speech in the English language and how they work together when

you read, speak, or write. You have also learned that contractions are words used

in the English language. Two words are shortened to make one word and a special

mark called an apostrophes stands in place of the missing letter or letters.

So, what is a compound word? More importantly how can understanding

compound words make me a better reader. Let's get started! A compound word is a

combination of two or more words that function as a single unit of meaning. Huh?

What? Let me show you! Take the word mailbox for example. It's a compound word

made up of two nouns put together... "mail" and "box." The two words go together to

form a new word with a different meaning, "mailbox."

But, unlike a contraction, none of the letters are left out and replaced by an

apostrophe. The compound word "mailbox" contains all the letters from the word

"mail" and all the letters from the word "box." So a compound word is like two words

glued together! Yes! Two nouns! Well, compound words can be made up of

two nouns, but they can also contain words from other parts of speech as well.

Many compound words ARE made up of combined nouns. For example, "star" and "fish"

make the compound word "starfish," and "cup" and "cake" make the compound word "cupcake."

Compound words can be made up of combinations of other parts of speech.

The verb "play" can be combined with the noun "ground" to form the compound word

"playground," and the adjective "hot" can be combined with the noun "dog" to make the

compound word "hotdog." Oh, okay! The important thing about compound words is

that once the two words are glued together,

their combination creates a whole new meaning. Take hotdog for example.

Something that is hot can be spicy or quite warm in temperature, and a dog is

an animal that we prize and love as a pet, but putting the two words together

makes a food we eat! This could be quite confusing for people learning to speak

English. I love hotdogs, but I never thought about that!

The other important thing about compound words is to recognize them when you read.

The butterfly flew to the sunflower. Since two words are glued together,

compound words appear longer than many other words. Don't let compound words

intimidate or scare you when you are reading. Look for the smaller words

inside the big word to make reading easier, like "butter" and "fly," or "sun" and

"flower." Exactly! Let's read a short story together and look for compound words. We're

ready! Let's do it!

We'll read each word and if we see a big word, we won't get scared. It may be a

compound word. Right! We can look for the smaller words inside. I want to read! Okay!

My family took a trip to the beach. We saw.... uh-oh! Okay, don't get scared.

Let's look for smaller words within the big word. Do you see any smaller words

inside this big word? Hmm... I see the word "life" and the word "guard." Very good! "Life guard is a compound word made up of the words "life" and "guard" A lifeguard is

someone who keeps swimmers safe at the beach. May I read next? I want to turn? Of

course! We made a big.... uh....! Okay, don't get scared.

Let's look for smaller words within the big word. Do you see any smaller words

inside this big word? I see the word "sand" and the word "castle." Very good!

Sandcastle is a compound word made up the words "sand" and "castle." People make

sandcastles at the beach. My turn! Okay! In the water,

we saw a..... uh-oh! Okay, don't get scared. Let's look for smaller words within the

big word. Do you see any smaller words inside this big word? Hmm.... I see "jelly"

and "fish." Excellent! "Jellyfish" is a compound word made from the words "jelly"

and "fish" A jellyfish is an unusual type of ocean animal people can see at the

beach. Hooray! You've earned a trophy for

learning about compound words. Thank you for joining me at GrammarSongs by

Melissa.