COMPARTMENTALIZATION…WHAT IS IT?
When I was a classroom teacher, then a tutor, then a parent of even school aged children (by 3rd grade or so), then a reading coach/mentor to 100s of teachers who had 100s of students, and now a grandparent, I taught them all one very long word–and even the kids could say it:
COMPARTMENTALIZATION…BREAK DOWN THE WORD
7 syllables, so 7 vowel sounds, yes, 18 phonemes (individual speech sounds), and 6 morphemes (meaningful parts of words indicated in purple)!!
Base Word: part = ‘part’ compartmentalization
Prefix: com- = ‘with’ compartmentalization
Suffixes: -ment (noun forming), -al (adjective forming), -ize (verb forming), -tion with Latin connecting ‘a’ (noun forming)..and so the word is a ‘noun’ since that is the final suffix. compartmentalization compartmentalization compartmentalization compartmentalization
Not only do I describe the content below, but from above, I’ve turned it into a:
-phonological lesson (# of syllables = 7, # of phonemes = 18).
com part ment al i za tion
/k/ /o/ /m/ /p/ /ar/ /t/ /m/ /e/ /n/ /t/ /u/ /l/ /i/ /z/ /a/ /sh/ /u/ /n/
-morphological lesson (# of morphemes or meaning parts of the word, role of morphemes in the word to provide the part of speech or the ‘job of the word’ in the sentence).
-decoding/spelling lesson (divide the word into syllables for both reading and spelling).
-vocabulary lesson since English is a ‘morphophonemic’ language, that is, based upon sounds and meanings, which in turn, is reflected in the word’s spelling.
NOW FOR THE HEART OF THE MATTER
I strongly feel that the most successful people in our society are experts in terms of their ability to compartmentalize. What does it mean to employ compartmentalization? Historically, it’s considered a psychological term used as a defense mechanism or coping strategy–sounds a bit ominous, but not so much to me.
It helps us deal with conflicting information more successfully–in other words, it involves isolating and focusing on different issues when necessary.
Even the youngest of our children can learn this skill….if we model and teach it.
For example, we need to teach our children to enjoy time spent with elderly relatives even though the relative may be fighting a serious illness. We need to teach our children to attend to the completion of their schoolwork comes, even if they may be upset about remote learning. Adults may need to use this strategy of compartmentalizing so that we may finish the tasks that need completion amidst the chaos that surrounds us these days.
If you or someone you interact with has several stressors, I suggest focusing on each ‘compartment’ separately and closing it when needed to work on another ‘compartment’. Try to limit the number of compartments to those that are most important and consciously shut out the unimportant ones.
IS IT RELATED TO EXECUTIVE FUNCTION??
You bet it is, but that is another topic worthy of its own post (really several posts). Try to compartmentalize and teach this concept to your children and others in your family who appear stressed and/or overwhelmed, as well as your students if you are a teacher. It really does help every time. It’s a positive way to deal with those things we worry about.
Share your successes in a comment!