Compound words are words which are created from two words that, when joined together, create a new word. My favorite compound words include butterfly, daylight, breakfast and handshake. Compound words are typically introduced in First Grade. Learning about compound words is fun and it provides students a new way of looking at words. Studying compound words helps kids understand the language, builds an interest in words and will help prepare students to learn prefixes, suffixes, and word roots.
VocabularySpellingCity has teamed up with the Vocabulary Learning Fun website to bring you an integrated unit on compound words. The unit is comprised of an educational Compound Word Lesson Video and a Compound Word Lesson Plan which combines the learning materials and games on both sites with specific hints on leading class discussion. Click on the links to the right to explore these teaching resources for compound words, or scroll down the page for more classroom and individual activities for compound word study!
Compound words can be surprisingly fun for students to study. Don't miss this opportunity to really engage your students. One school has an annual Compound Word Day! Each student needs to come to school wearing at least fifty compound words! Sound impossible? I thought so too, but the proof is in the pudding. See the picture at the bottom of this page.
The average number of compound words in the first grade class was 75! Think hairpin, fireman, shoehorn, keyboard, horseshoe, popcorn, and raindrop. A great hands-on learning activity to help kids see how compound words are put together is with images. For example, for the word keyboard you can find a key and a board and, by placing them together, the word keyboard is created
Want to find some lists of compound words?
VocabularySpellingCity has a simple way that you can find Compound Word lists. Use our Find A List page, type in compound words and you will see numerous pages of compound word lists! Next week, there will probably be more! Here are sixteen lists of compound words for students in First Grade all the way to through high school to help you get started: |
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Watch a video about Compound Words! |
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Compound Words Games for Grades K-2 |
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Compound Words Games for Grades 3-5 |
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Use our fun Compound Word Lesson Plan |
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Compound Word Lists
Elementary School Compound Word Lists |
Words on List |
Import* |
1st Grade Compound Words
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bedtime, bluebird, cowboy, cupcake, notepad, pigpen, popcorn, rainbow, starfish, sunset |
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2nd Grade Compound Words 1
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barnyard, butterfly, daylight, drumstick, flagpole, jellyfish, mailbox, notebook, raincoat, suntan |
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2nd Grade Compound Words 2
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bathroom, catfish, doghouse, eyeglasses, footprint, lipstick, outside, pineapple, rowboat, seashell |
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2nd Grade Compound Words 3
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birthday, classmate, doorway, fireplace, homework, lovebird, peanut, ponytail, sailboat, snowfall |
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3rd Grade Compound Words 1
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backyard, downtown, overcoat, railroad, sidewalk, stepladder, teaspoon, waterfall, workbench |
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3rd Grade Compound Words 2
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baseball, earring, necktie, playpen, seafood, skyscraper, sunrise, thumbtack, windmill, yearbook |
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3rd Grade Compound Words 3
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daydream, handshake, nightgown, racetrack, shoelace, spaceship, teardrop, textbook, toothbrush, windshield |
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4th Grade Compound Words 1
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afternoon, dishwasher, fingerprint, grandmother, motorcycle, playground, suitcase, teammate, watermelon, yardstick |
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4th Grade Compound Words 2
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aircraft, downstairs, fisherman, horseback, necklace, saltwater, sunlight, thunderstorm, weekend |
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4th Grade Compound Words 3
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chalkboard, dragonfly, flashlight, keyboard, password, sandpaper, surfboard, toothpaste, worldwide |
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5th Grade Compound Words 1
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boxcar, earthquake, firecracker, handwriting, homesick, lifeguard, newsletter, rattlesnake, skyline, swordfish |
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5th Grade Compound Words 2
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breakfast, endless, gingerbread, headphones, layout, newcomer, overdue, shipwreck, stepmother, tombstone |
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Middle School Compound Word Lists |
Words on List |
Import |
6th Grade Compound Words 1
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broadcast, deadline, headache, mankind, meanwhile, overseas, sightseeing, striaghtforward, timetable, viewpoint |
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6th Grade Compound Words 2
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courthouse, guideline, landmark, marketplace, playwright, silverware, thoroughfare, trustworthy, undergraduate, weatherproof |
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7th Grade Compound Words
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billboard, clockwise, greenhouse, greyhound, headquarters, heartbreak, jawbone, kingfisher, masterpiece, whirlpool |
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8th Grade Compound Words
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citizenship, copywriter, counterclockwise, drawstring, darkroom, folklore, forearm, freshman, heirloom, roundabout |
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High School Compound Word Lists |
Words on List |
Import |
9th Grade Compound Words
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knothole, offspring, outlying, rawhide, sharecropper, steeplechase, stouthearted, timberline, underestimate, underscore |
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10th Grade Compound Words
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counterpart, driftwood, foreshadow, grindstone, henceforth, icebreaker, leeward, levelheaded, overwrought, threadbare |
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11th Grade Compound Words
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buckskin, crackdown, fellowship, halfhearted, herewith, hindquarter, lackluster, layman, lovelorn, roughhew |
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12th Grade Compound Words
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counterbalance, countersign, crestfallen, foreordain, fortnight, hairbreadth, hindsight, leeway, pigeonhole, roughshod |
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*To import a sample list you must log in to your account before selecting the "Import" link.
Did you know that there are three different types of compound words?
Closed form: Two words are joined together to create a new meaning. EXAMPLES: firefly, softball, redhead, keyboard, makeup, notebook.
Hyphenated form: The words are joined together by a hyphen. EXAMPLES: daughter-in-law, over-the-counter, six-year-old.
Open form: The words are open but when read together, a new meaning is formed. EXAMPLES: post office, real estate, full moon, half sister.
Classroom Compound Word Games
For a fun group classroom activity, you can split the class in half and have a compound word race. From each half, you pick a student and whisper a compound word to him or her. These students each get half the board to draw their compound word with their team shouting out their guesses. You can make this a relay race with each student getting a chance to draw at the board.
Teachers and parents, you can have a lot of fun teaching compound words!
Compound Word Day 2009
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