A compound word is made when two small words are combined to make one new word. Meatball is made up of the words meat and ball. Can you think of any other compound words that end with ball? Here's a hint: think about sports.

The good thing about compound words is that they are almost all gift words. What does that mean? Well, if you already know how to spell the two small words that make up the compound, you'll be able to spell the compounds instantly!

Combine and Connect!

The following chart has starter words and choice words. For each row, there is a starter word and three choices to add to the end. If you want, you could think of these compounds as train cars. The starter is the engine, and one of the second words would be a train car.

Let's look at row number one. We have flag as the starter, then pole, ship, and stick. Therefore, the compound words would be flagpole, flagship, and flagstick. Hey, that's easy enough! Give the other lines a try. Write them down in your spelling notebook or chart. How many compound words are familiar to you? How many are new? Some of the lines at the bottom of the chart are blank. Can you fill them in?

Compounds to Go!

Get out your crayons and markers and see if you can illustrate the compound words! See if drawing a picture of each word will help you learn the word. Next, pick five words and add them to your chart of spelling words in progress. Which one do you think will be easiest for you to spell?

TIGHTEN UP!

Contractions have been with us since ancient times. There are examples in ancient Greek. They show up in most languages.

Now that you've tackled these compounds, did any of the words spur your imagination? Did you think of any other compound words that also begin with one of the starter words? Were you able to think of a compound word that ended with one of the train car words? If so, write them down!

Using Hyphens

Some compound words are two words combined but not exactly together. They have a hyphen connecting them. A hyphen is a punctuation mark that looks like this: -. In order to spell the hyphenated words correctly, you must remember to add the hyphen. Some examples are: worn-out, mother-in-law, and life-size. How do you know which compounds need a hyphen? The best way to decide whether a word needs a hyphen is to look up the word in the dictionary.

Paired Words

Paired words are pairs of words that go together but are not connected by a hyphen. Some examples are post office, real estate, full moon, vice president, and Air Force. Notice how the first word in the pair isn't just a descriptor, it plays a part in what the word means. If you took the first word in the pair away, it wouldn't mean the same thing. For example, you would go to the post office to mail a letter, but your mom or dad might go to the office to work. Can you think of any other paired words?

IT'S ALL IN A WORD OR TWO

The words that make up a compound word often have nothing to do with each other — like court and ship . Other times they are exactly what they sound like — like newspaper !