Common Suffixes (-ing, -ed, -tion, -able)
Identify suffix meaning and read suffixed multisyllabic words.
Session summary (SOAP)
Stays on this screen. Nothing is saved or sent.
Mark a card Correct, Correct with cue or Incorrect and the summary writes itself here.
How to run it
Sort by job rather than by spelling. The useful question is what does this suffix do — the -tion group all turn a verb into a thing, and noticing that is worth more than reading four words. Then run the reverse: give the base word and ask for the suffixed form, since production is where the spelling changes bite. Swimming doubles a letter, celebration drops one, and those changes are the real difficulty.
Cueing ladder
Start at the top. Add support one step at a time.
- IndependentShow the card and wait 5 seconds for the student's answer.Log as correct
- Break it upCover the prefix, suffix or root and ask what the part left means.Log as cued
- Two choicesOffer two meanings, the right one not always second.Log as cued
- ModelBreak the word into parts out loud and give its meaning; the student says it back.Log as cued
Adjust it
Use fewer words, and start with the prefixes, suffixes or roots the student already knows.
Ask for another word with the same part, used in a sentence.
Matching IEP goal
Given academic words, Student will identify the word parts and give the word's meaning in 8 of 10 opportunities across 3 consecutive sessions, given no more than an indirect cue.
Send it home through the parent portal →About this activity
Fourteen suffixed words with the job each suffix does: -ing as happening now in jumping, painting and swimming; -ed as already happened in wanted, washed and planted; -tion making a noun in action, celebration, direction and invention; -able meaning can be done in washable, comfortable, readable and breakable. Suffixes are harder than prefixes because they change what kind of word it is rather than what it means.
What to listen for
Listen to the -ed group carefully. Wanted, washed and planted have three different endings in speech — a full syllable, a /t/ and another full syllable — and students who have been taught -ed as a single ending are often confused about why washed does not sound like wanted. Watch comfortable, which is the one in this set whose stress shifts and whose spelling is not predictable from the base.
Carrying it home
Past tense is worth listening for in ordinary talk. When a child says runned or goed, recast it rather than correcting — I ran too — and carry on, which teaches the form without ending the conversation.
What's in this activity
- -ing = happening now → jumping
- -ing = happening now → painting
- -ing = happening now → swimming
- -ed = already happened → wanted
- -ed = already happened → washed
- -ed = already happened → planted
- -tion = makes a noun → action
- -tion = makes a noun → celebration
- -tion = makes a noun → direction
- -tion = makes a noun → invention
- -able = can be done → washable
- -able = can be done → comfortable
- -able = can be done → readable
- -able = can be done → breakable
Questions
- What grades is this for?
- Third through fifth, alongside the prefix board as part of structured morphology work.
- Is it free?
- Yes, all fourteen cards are free to use with no account.
- Why does -ed sound different in different words?
- Because the ending assimilates to the sound before it — washed ends in a /t/ sound, planted adds a whole syllable. It is one spelling and three pronunciations, and saying that out loud clears up a lot of confusion.
Use this board with your caseload
With a free account, every correct, cued and incorrect mark is saved to the student and scored against their IEP goal, with the data written up for you. Assign it as home practice through the parent portal.
Track progress freeFree for SLPs. No card, no trial clock.