compound word story Barefoot Jack

Barefoot Jack and his dog, Shadow

Barefoot is called a compound word because it is made of two whole words that can be used separately. What two whole words are in barefoot?  bare and foot.

Look at this picture of the boy, Jack. Is Jack wearing a hat? No. Is he wearing a cap? No. Jack's head is bare. Bare means nothing is there.

Look at Jack's feet.  Is Jack wearing shoes? No.  Is Jack wearing socks? No.  Are Jack's feet bare?  Yes. We use the word barefoot, to say that Jack's feet are bare. Are you barefoot? If you are wearing something on your feet, you are not barefoot.

Jack's dog is named, Shadow. Are there two words in Shadow that can be used separately? No. Shadow has two parts when you say it, but it is not two whole words.

Rule: the two words in a compound word have to be whole words that you can use without adding anything to them: bare and foot,   today is to and day,   doorknob is door and knob.

Look: Shadow isn't a cat.  Isn't stands for two words: is and not. If you separate the word isn't into two parts, you see: is n't; n't is a word-part that stands for not. The word isn't is the whole word is + the word-part n't. 

Can the word isn't  be a compound word?    yes    no
I hope you said no. The word isn't stands for two words but it is not written with two whole words. When words are pushed together and some letters are removed, it is called a contraction: isn't, can't, won't are contractions. I'll, you're, he's are contractions.

Read this story just for fun, then read it again to see how many compound words you can find.  

A story about Barefoot Jack

Jack's grandmother likes to call Jack, Barefoot Jack because he does not like to wear shoes. Barefoot Jack likes to walk around on his tiptoes. Tonight, Barefoot Jack is outside with Shadow. Jack and Shadow are outside in the starlight looking for toads. Toads like to come out after sunset. After sunset, the air gets cool. When the air gets cool, a special water called dew starts to come. Dewdrops gather on the grass. Toads like the wet grass.

Jack and Shadow like to watch the toads jump around in the dewdrops. Tonight, Jack and Shadow also saw an airplane. Jack's grandmother said it was good luck to see special things in the sky at the same time you could see special things in the grass. Jack's grandmother said it was time to come inside. Jack's grandmother had a cupcake and hot cocoa treat for him.
Jack had a tiny surprise in his pocket for his grandmother. What do you think it was?

Did you find these compound words:
1. grandmother,  2. barefoot,  3. because,  4. tiptoes,  5. tonight,  6. outside,  7. starlight,  8.sunset,  9. dewdrops,  10. airplane,  11. inside,  12. cupcake.   What two words are in, because: be and cause. Compound words are long and look scary to young readers. You will need to help. Becoming a good reader is not instant, it takes many, many reviews.

For more fun stories, you might like to look at my books. All books teach a special comprehension method you and your child will love. I use eBay as my website. Search: Instant Reading Help all my books will pop up for you. Being a skillful reader is great fun.

Have a wonderful day! Thank you, Mary Maisner