For English:
sheepskin
cardboard
shoestring
midnight
midday
noontime
redbreast
appletree
afternoon
moonlight
starlight
doorknob
bedtime
daytime
springtime
flagstaff
rainbow
workman
housekeeper
pastime
chimneysweep
sheepfold
barnyard
sidewalk
snowshoe
shoeblack
firefly
steamboat
milkman
bathroom
streetcar
lifelike
pocketbook
inkwell
tablecloth
courtyard
honeycomb
beehive
flowerpot
buttonhole
hallway
midway
storekeeper
horseman
masterpiece
bookcase
The children read one word at a time and try to reproduce it from memory, distinguishing through the two alphabets the two words of which each one is composed:
carta pecora
bianco spino
piano forte
spazza camino
lava mano
For English:
moon light
work man
In the following chart the words are grouped in families. This chart may be used by children who are already well advanced in the identification of the parts of speech. All the words are derived from some other more simple word which is a root and of which the other words, either by suffix or prefix, are made up. All these roots are primitive words which some day the child may look for in a group of derivatives; and when he finds them he will realize that the primitive word is a noun, adjective, or a verb, as the case may be, that it is the word which contains the simplest idea, and so the derivatives may be nouns, adjectives, verbs or adverbs.
On these charts appear various word-families. The teacher is thus spared the trouble of looking them up. Furthermore the child will some day be able to use them by himself. The exercises based on these are still performed with two different alphabets of different color so that the child can tell at a glance which is the root word.
WORD-FAMILIES
terra (earth): terrazzo, terremoto, terrapieno, atterrare, terreno, terriccio, terricciola, territorio, conterraneo, terreo, terroso, dissotterrare