top of page

Structured Word Inquiry 

Inspired by the work of Real Spelling, Dr. Peter Bowers and John Kirby (2010) developed a literacy framework that uses principles of the scientific method to investigate how the integrated components of the English Writing System (English Orthography) work together. 

This approach is referred to as Structured Word Inquiry (SWI).   

 

​​The Intergrated Components of the English Spelling System

  • Morphology-The Structural Units of Words

  • Etymology-The History of Words

  • Phonology-The Sound Units of Words 

​

The four questions of inquiry are the starting point for learning through the Structured Word Inquiry (SWI) approach. These questions help students think like word scientists and understand how words work. They are:

  1. What does the word mean?
    – First, we need to understand the meaning and function of the word.

  2. How is the word built? (Morphology)
    – We break the word into structural parts (i.e. bases and affixes)

  3. What are the related words? (Morphological and etymological relatives)
    – We look for other words that are connected by meaning and history.

  4. What is the function of the chosen graphemes? (single letters, digraphs, trigraphs)
    – We explore the circumstances for the chosen letters in the written word: The phonological component (grapheme-phoneme correspondences) cannot fully be understood without exploring the other components of morphology and etymology. 

By asking these questions, students learn a consistent process to investigate and to see that English spelling has logical reasons behind it—even when it seems "tricky."​​

Word Inquiry and the 4 Questions_ Anchor Chart GWN.png

Are you supporting a K–5 learner with English spelling and reading?
Subscribe to The Resource Library—a growing treasure trove of videos, lessons, and creative materials designed to support joyful, meaningful literacy learning!

bottom of page