Morpheme Scrabble/+ish is a classroom word-sum game. It works a little like Scrabble, but the tiles are morphemes instead of letters. Students build, extend, revise, and discuss word sums on a shared board. The program does not judge whether a word sum is correct. The teacher and class decide whether to accept each turn.
The game has two pages:
- Morpheme Tile Bank — where the teacher creates and manages the morphemes available for the game.
- Game Board — where students play Morpheme Scrabble/+ish.
The two pages are connected. The Game Board uses the morphemes currently stored in the Tile Bank.
1. Preparing the Tile Bank
Before starting a game, open the Morpheme Tile Bank. This is where you enter the morphemes students will use.
Each morpheme has a type:
- Prefix — displayed with a hyphen after it, such as re- or sub-.
- Suffix — displayed with a hyphen before it, such as -ing or -ion.
- Free Base — displayed without hyphens, such as play or form.
- Bound Base — displayed without hyphens, such as struct or rupt.
- Connecting Vowel — displayed with hyphens on both sides, such as -i- or -o-.
Enter morphemes without hyphens. Choose the morpheme type, and the program will add the hyphens automatically where needed.
Point values are automatic. Prefixes, suffixes, free bases, and connecting vowels are worth 1 point. Bound bases are worth 2 points.
2. Adding Morphemes
To add one morpheme, enter it in the form, choose its type, and save it.
To add many morphemes at once, use Bulk Entry. Choose the morpheme type, paste a list of morphemes, one per line, and add them. The program removes duplicate entries.
Use the Show filter to display one type of morpheme at a time. For example, you can show only prefixes or only bound bases.
Clear Shown Tiles deletes only the morphemes currently showing. If the Show filter is set to Prefixes, it clears only prefixes. If the filter is set to All Types, it clears all morphemes.
3. Importing and Exporting the Tile Bank
Use Export to save the Tile Bank as a JSON file. This file can be kept as a backup or shared with another teacher.
Use Import to load a tile-bank JSON file. Imported morphemes are added to the current bank. Duplicate morphemes are skipped. Click here to download the basic set of morphemes: bases from the 70 Matrices, prefixes and suffixes from the charts in the Toolbox, and connecting vowels. You can then import them into your Tile Bank.
Use file export regularly if you are building a tile bank you want to keep. Do not depend on browser storage on shared school computers.
4. Starting a Game
Open the Game Board from the Tile Bank page. The game uses the bases, prefixes, suffixes, and connecting vowels currently in the Tile Bank.
On the setup screen, choose the game settings:
- Teams — set the number of teams and their names.
- Rack size — choose how many base tiles each team receives.
- Board size — enter one number. For example, 15 creates a 15 by 15 board.
The board is square. The default board size is 15.
When the game begins, each team receives a rack of randomly chosen base tiles. Racks contain only free bases and bound bases. Affixes are chosen during play from popup lists.
5. Playing a Turn
On a turn, the active team chooses a base from its rack and places it on the board. The team may then add prefixes, suffixes, or connecting vowels from the affix popup lists to build a word sum.
To place a base, click the base tile in the active team’s rack, then click a square on the board.
To add an affix, use the affix controls and choose from the available prefixes, suffixes, or connecting vowels. If the needed affix is not listed, type it as a custom affix. If the teacher accepts the turn, that new affix is automatically added to the Tile Bank for future use.
Students may start a new word sum anywhere on the board, or they may extend or revise a word sum already on the board.
Tiles are not permanently locked. A later team may add to or revise an existing word sum if the teacher and class accept the new analysis.
6. Moving, Removing, and Revising Tiles
To move a tile, click the tile on the board, then click an empty square.
If a tile was placed during the current turn and the turn has not yet been accepted, double-clicking it removes it from the board. A base tile returns to the active team’s rack.
This is useful when students place a tile and then decide to revise the word sum before submitting the turn.
Students may also insert affixes into an existing word sum. For example, a team might revise:
as + sign + s
to:
as + sign + ment + s
The board is intended to support this kind of SWI discussion and revision.
7. Accepting or Rejecting a Turn
After a team finishes building or revising a word sum, the teacher (or the class) decides whether to accept the turn.
Accept Turn records the word sum, awards points, replaces any used base tiles, and moves play to the next team.
Reject Turn removes the current unaccepted changes and returns any newly placed base tiles to the active team’s rack.
The program does not check whether a word sum is correct. It only manages the board, racks, turns, and scoring.
8. Scoring
When a turn is accepted, the team scores the full word sum they are working on, not just the newly added tile.
Point values are:
- Prefix: 1 point
- Suffix: 1 point
- Free base: 1 point
- Bound base: 2 points
- Connecting vowel: 1 point
If students use tiles already on the board as part of the accepted word sum, those tiles count in the score for that turn.
The game does not automatically score crossing word sums. If a placement also creates a valid word sum in another direction, the teacher may award extra points manually.
Manual score buttons are available for bonuses, corrections, or teacher judgment.
9. Passing
A team may pass if it cannot or does not want to play. Passing moves the turn to the next team. They can chose to get a new rack at this time.
When the base bag is empty, teams may continue playing with the bases still in their racks. If the base bag is empty and all teams pass once in succession, the game will ask whether to end.
10. Editing Accepted Turns
The accepted-turn list shows the word sums that have been accepted during the game.
Use Edit to correct the recorded word sum or point value. If the point value is changed, the team’s score is adjusted by the difference.
Use Delete to remove an accepted-turn record and subtract its points from that team. Deleting a record does not change the board.
11. Setup, New Game, and End Game
Setup returns to the setup screen without wiping the current game. This lets the teacher make limited changes and return to the same board.
New Game starts over. It clears the board, racks, scores, base bag, and accepted-turn history after confirmation.
End Game opens a final-score screen. It ranks the teams by score and shows the accepted word sums. Ending the game does not erase the board.
12. Saving and Loading a Game
Save Game File downloads a JSON file containing the current game: board, teams, scores, racks, base bag, setup settings, and accepted turns.
Load Game File opens a previously saved game file and resumes that game.
The game does not use browser-only game saving. This makes it safer for shared computers and school devices.
13. Classroom Notes
The game is meant to prompt discussion, not to replace teacher judgment. Students should be expected to explain and defend their word sums.
Useful questions include:
- What is the base?
- Is this base free or bound?
- What does each affix contribute?
- Is there a change at the join?
- Can you find related words that support the analysis?
- Does this revision make the structure clearer?
Because the board remains editable, students can treat the game as a shared investigation. A later team may improve, extend, or revise an earlier word sum, as long as the teacher and class accept the reasoning.
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