assignment 9 word use and suffixes

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Engaging Activities to Teach Prefixes and Suffixes

One of the most important skills a reader needs is to be able to figure out what unfamiliar words mean. One strategy to help students determine the meanings of new words and phrases is recognizing prefixes, suffixes, and root words. When readers identify an affix in a new word they read, it can help them infer the word’s meaning.

This is a great vocabulary skill to teach to help students read more independently. And bonus, it will help with their spelling and writing, too!

But memorizing tons of prefix and suffix meanings is boooorrrrring! That’s why I’m going to share with you some of my favorite activities to keep students engaged while they review affixes and their meanings.

Introducing Prefixes and Suffixes

The beauty of affixes is that students are already using them in everyday conversation!

The concept won’t be brand new to students in 3rd, 4th, or 5th grade, but the language might be.

A simple way to introduce the terms prefix , affix , and root word / base word is to list some words that share a common prefix or suffix and asking students what they notice. (With younger students, you can write the affix in a different color.) Students should see that adding an affix to a word changes its meaning. You can use the acronym “P. S.” to help them remember that a prefix goes at the front and a suffix goes at the end of the word.

With 3rd and 4th graders, I recommend starting with common prefixes and suffixes they likely already know and use, such as re-, un-, -ly, and -ful. Students in 5th and 6th grades can tackle more complex Greek and Latin affixes and root words.

It’s helpful to create an anchor chart or to display affixes posters so students can refer to them all year long.

I also love to have students do a scavenger hunt in their books and around the room to find examples of prefixes and suffixes. They can write them on sticky notes and add them to an anchor chart or graphic organizer.

Once students have reviewed the basics, it’s time for some fun activities that will help them learn the meanings of common prefixes and suffixes so they can become stronger readers.

Prefix and Suffix Interactive Notebook

I find that repeated exposure to different affixes and their meanings is key for helping students recognize them in their reading. Using hands-on interactive notebook templates is a great way to give them practice.

These interactive notebook activities give students practice with defining prefixes and suffixes, brainstorming words that include common affixes, comparing negative prefixes (un-, non-, anti-, etc.), and more.

Hands-on Prefix and Suffix Sort

I love using hands-on sorts in every subject. In this printable and digital sorting activity , students identify words with prefixes, suffixes, both, and none. This works nicely to assess what students know and identify any misconceptions they have.

Affixes Color by Number Activities

These no-prep color-by-code worksheets are a fun way for students to review affixes. These are nice to have on hand to use as spiral review all year long. Plus they’re a great activity to leave with a substitute!

Prefixes, Suffixes, and Root Words Digital Task Cards

I’m also a huge fan of using self-checking digital task cards in language arts. These prefix and suffix Boom cards are another engaging way to review affix meanings with a fun beach theme.

They give students TEI practice and are self-checking, too!

Printable clip cards are a fun non-digital task card option. Students stay engaged with these because they use a clothespin to indicate their answer on each card!

Cooperative Prefixes and Suffixes Activity

Sometimes you just need to get your students up and moving! Games and activities that get your students talking with each other and walking around the room can be a great break from worksheets.

This “fill the boxes” activity gets students interacting with each other as they find someone who can complete each box on the page.

Prefix and Suffix Scavenger Hunt

I also love this scavenger hunt for a fun twist on traditional task cards. You can ask each student to start at a different card. They’ll answer the question and then find the card with that answer somewhere around the room. This activity is an easy way to get all your kids participating!

Prefix and Suffix Activity Bundle

If you want to save time, you can grab a bundle of 9 different prefix and suffix activities !

There are lots of ways to teach and review affixes with your 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders. When students can identify a prefix and/or suffix in a new word or phrase, they have another tool in their word analysis strategies toolbox. And that helps them become stronger readers as they encounter more challenging texts!

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82 Prefixes and Suffixes

The English language contains an enormous and ever-growing number of words. Enhancing your vocabulary by learning new words can seem overwhelming, but if you know the common prefixes and suffixes of English, you will understand many more words.

Mastering common prefixes and suffixes is like learning a code. Once you crack the code, you can not only spell words more correctly but also recognize and perhaps even define unfamiliar words.

A prefix is a word part added to the beginning of a word to create a new meaning. Study the common prefixes in the following table.

Tip: The main rule to remember when adding a prefix to a word is not to add letters or leave out any letters.

Identify the five words with prefixes in the following paragraph, and write their meanings on a separate sheet of paper. Once complete, please share with a classmate and compare your answers.

At first, I thought one of my fuzzy, orange socks disappeared in the dryer, but I could not find it in there. Because it was my favorite pair, nothing was going to prevent me from finding that sock. I looked all around my bedroom, under the bed, on top of the bed, and in my closet, but I still could not find it. I did not know that I would discover the answer just as I gave up my search. As I sat down on the couch in the family room, my Dad was reclining on his chair. I laughed when I saw that one of his feet was orange and the other blue! I forgot that he was colour-blind. Next time he does laundry I will have to supervise him while he folds the socks so that he does not accidentally take one of mine!

Add the correct prefix to the word to complete each sentence. Write the word on your own sheet of paper.

• I wanted to ease my stomach ________comfort, so I drank some ginger root tea.
• Lenny looked funny in his ________matched shirt and pants.
• Penelope felt ________glamorous at the party because she was the only one not wearing a dress.
• My mother said those ________aging creams do not work, so I should not waste my money on them.
• The child’s ________standard performance on the test alarmed his parents.
• When my sister first saw the meteor, she thought it was a ________natural phenomenon.
• Even though she got an excellent job offer, Cherie did not want to ________locate to a different country.
• With a small class size, the students get to ________act with the teacher more frequently.
• I slipped on the ice because I did not heed the ________cautions about watching my step.
• A ________combatant is another word for civilian.

A suffix is a word part added to the end of a word to create a new meaning. Study the suffix rules in the following boxes.

Rule 1: -ness and -ly

When adding the suffixes – ness and – ly to a word, the spelling of the word does not change.

• dark + ness = darkness
• scholar + ly = scholarly

Exceptions to Rule 1

When the word ends in y , change the y to i before adding – ness and – ly .

• ready + ly = readily
• happy + ness = happiness

Rule 2: Suffix Begins with a Vowel

When the suffix begins with a vowel, drop the silent e in the root word.

• care + ing = caring
• use + able = usable

Exceptions to Rule 2

When the word ends in ce or ge , keep the silent e if the suffix begins with a or o .

• replace + able = replaceable
• courage + ous = courageous

Rule 3: Suffix Begins with a Consonant

When the suffix begins with a consonant, keep the silent e in the original word.

• care + ful = careful
• care + less = careless

Exceptions to Rule 3

• true + ly = truly
• argue + ment = argument

Rule 4: Word Ends in a Consonant + y

When the word ends in a consonant plus y , change the y to i before any suffix not beginning with i .

• sunny + er = sunnier
• hurry + ing = hurrying

Rule 5: Suffix Begins with a Vowel

When the suffix begins with a vowel, double the final consonant only if (1) the word has only one syllable or is accented on the last syllable and (2) the word ends in a single vowel followed by a single consonant.

• tan + ing = tanning (one syllable word)
• regret + ing = regretting (The accent is on the last syllable; the word ends in a single vowel followed by a single consonant.)
• cancel + ed = canceled (The accent is not on the last syllable.)
• prefer + ed = preferred

On your own sheet of paper, write correctly the forms of the words with their suffixes.

• refer + ence
• approve + al
• green + ness
• benefit + ed
• resubmit + ing
• greedy + ly
• excite + ment

Exercise: Writing Application

Write a paragraph describing one of your life goals. Include five words with prefixes and five words with suffixes. Exchange papers with a classmate and circle the prefixes and suffixes in your classmate’s paper. Correct each prefix or suffix that is spelled incorrectly.

Text Attributions

• This chapter was adapted from “ Prefixes and Suffixes ” in English for Business Success by a publisher who has requested that they and the original author not receive attribution is under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 Licence . Adapted by Allison Kilgannon.

Advanced English Copyright © 2021 by Allison Kilgannon is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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4.4 Prefixes and Suffixes

Learning objectives.

• Identify the meanings of common prefixes.
• Become familiar with common suffix rules.

The English language contains an enormous and ever-growing number of words. Enhancing your vocabulary by learning new words can seem overwhelming, but if you know the common prefixes and suffixes of English, you will understand many more words.

Mastering common prefixes and suffixes is like learning a code. Once you crack the code, you can not only spell words more correctly but also recognize and perhaps even define unfamiliar words.

A prefix is a word part added to the beginning of a word to create a new meaning. Study the common prefixes in Table 4.2 “Common Prefixes” .

The main rule to remember when adding a prefix to a word is not to add letters or leave out any letters. See Table 4.2 “Common Prefixes” for examples of this rule.

Table 4.2 Common Prefixes

Identify the five words with prefixes in the following paragraph, and write their meanings on a separate sheet of paper.

Collaboration

Please share with a classmate and compare your answers.

Add the correct prefix to the word to complete each sentence. Write the word on your own sheet of paper.

• I wanted to ease my stomach ________comfort, so I drank some ginger root tea.
• Lenny looked funny in his ________matched shirt and pants.
• Penelope felt ________glamorous at the party because she was the only one not wearing a dress.
• My mother said those ________aging creams do not work, so I should not waste my money on them.
• The child’s ________standard performance on the test alarmed his parents.
• When my sister first saw the meteor, she thought it was a ________natural phenomenon.
• Even though she got an excellent job offer, Cherie did not want to ________locate to a different country.
• With a small class size, the students get to ________act with the teacher more frequently.
• I slipped on the ice because I did not heed the ________cautions about watching my step.
• A ________combatant is another word for civilian.

A suffix is a word part added to the end of a word to create a new meaning. Study the suffix rules in the following boxes.

When adding the suffixes – ness and – ly to a word, the spelling of the word does not change.

• dark + ness = darkness
• scholar + ly = scholarly

Exceptions to Rule 1

When the word ends in y , change the y to i before adding – ness and – ly .

• ready + ly = readily
• happy + ness = happiness

When the suffix begins with a vowel, drop the silent e in the root word.

• care + ing = caring
• use + able = usable

Exceptions to Rule 2

When the word ends in ce or ge , keep the silent e if the suffix begins with a or o .

• replace + able = replaceable
• courage + ous = courageous

When the suffix begins with a consonant, keep the silent e in the original word.

• care + ful = careful
• care + less = careless

Exceptions to Rule 3

• true + ly = truly
• argue + ment = argument

When the word ends in a consonant plus y , change the y to i before any suffix not beginning with i .

• sunny + er = sunnier
• hurry + ing = hurrying

When the suffix begins with a vowel, double the final consonant only if (1) the word has only one syllable or is accented on the last syllable and (2) the word ends in a single vowel followed by a single consonant.

• tan + ing = tanning (one syllable word)
• regret + ing = regretting (The accent is on the last syllable; the word ends in a single vowel followed by a single consonant.)
• cancel + ed = canceled (The accent is not on the last syllable.)
• prefer + ed = preferred

On your own sheet of paper, write correctly the forms of the words with their suffixes.

• refer + ence
• approve + al
• green + ness
• benefit + ed
• resubmit + ing
• greedy + ly
• excite + ment

Key Takeaways

• A prefix is a word part added to the beginning of a word that changes the word’s meaning.
• A suffix is a word part added to the end of a word that changes the word’s meaning.
• Learning the meanings of prefixes and suffixes will help expand your vocabulary, which will help improve your writing.

Writing Application

Write a paragraph describing one of your life goals. Include five words with prefixes and five words with suffixes. Exchange papers with a classmate and circle the prefixes and suffixes in your classmate’s paper. Correct each prefix or suffix that is spelled incorrectly.

Writing for Success Copyright © 2015 by University of Minnesota Libraries Publishing is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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Identifying Word Parts

LESSON In this lesson, you will learn to how to find the meaning of words you don't know in a reading A piece of writing to be read. A reading can either be a full work (i.e., a book) or partial (i.e., a passage). by using word parts Basic sections of words that make up larger words, including prefixes, suffixes, and root words. You can use word parts to help you determining the meaning of an unfamiliar word. . When you come across an unfamiliar word in a passage, one of the ways to determine its meaning is to break the word down to smaller parts. These are known as word parts and there are three types: root words Basic words that cannot be reduced to a smaller word and have their own meaning. They can sometimes be combined with prefixes and suffixes to change its meaning or create a new word. , prefixes A word part that is attached to the beginning of a root word to enhance or change its meaning or form a new word. Prefixes cannot stand on their own as independent words. , and suffixes A word part that is attached to the end of a root word to enhance or change its meaning or form a new word. Suffixes often change a word’s part of speech or changes a singular word into a plural one. Suffixes cannot stand on their own as independent words. . Just as context clues Hints that appear in a text that help readers discover the meaning of an unknown word, usually based on how it is used in a sentence or paragraph. help you define a word by applying what you know about the key words around it, word parts help you define a word by applying what you know about the key parts of the word itself .

Root words are basic words that cannot be reduced to a smaller word and have a meaning all on their own. They can often stand alone as independent words although there are some core roots that help form many of the words people use.

A prefix is a word part that is attached to the beginning of a root word to enhance or change its meaning. It cannot stand on its own as an independent word.

A suffix is a word part added to the end of a root word that can sometimes enhance or change its meaning, but mostly it can change a word's part of speech or changes a singular word into a plural one. Like a prefix, it cannot stand on its own as an independent word.

For example, the word "bicycling" is made up of the root word "cycle," which means circle or wheel, the prefix "bi," meaning two, and the suffix "ing," which makes it a participle A form of a verb that shows past or present tense. Participles can sometimes be used as adjectives. Example: skipped is a past-tense participle and skipping is a present-tense participle of the verb skip . .

There are two ways to approach word parts. First, you can memorize the word parts. Deciphering To figure out something confusing or complicated. unknown words becomes easier with each word prefix, root, and suffix that you learn. The "Common Word Parts List" below does not list every possible word part, but it will give you a good place to start. Consider creating flash cards for each word part and have your friends and family quiz you.

Another strategy to use to discover a word's meaning is to think of familiar words that have the same roots as the new word. Since English is a mixture of many Latin- and German-based languages, you can also think of foreign words. Then you can deduce To use logic to come to a conclusion about something unknown. what the new word means based on the familiar words that you know.

For example, here is what you can do if you come upon the word "transcription."

First list words that you know that either begin with trans- or tran- or have the root word, script.

Then look for commonalities in each word group.

The trans- and tran- words all deal with moving an actual thing or an idea; whereas the script words all have something to do with writing. You can thereby assume that "transcription" means moving something into writing.

Once you have taken the time to understand what transcription means, you can guess the meaning of related words even more quickly. You can assume that words beginning with "trans" have something to do with moving something and words with "script" as a root have something to do with writing.

By both memorizing the word parts and understanding them by breaking them down to familiar words, you will begin reading more quickly and understanding more of what you read .

Common Word Parts List

Recognizing word parts will increase your vocabulary All of the words that are known by an individual or group of people. and make it easier for you to determine the meaning of unfamiliar words. You are already familiar with many word parts and the more you identify them in the words you know, the easier it will be for you to use them to uncover the meaning of words you don't know. This will be an essential skill in college classes where every discipline (biology, sociology, engineering, etc.) has key root words and prefixes that are used to describe the subject area. This is also true in professional careers where unique words and groups of words are used in specific industries and talking to coworkers will require that you know that terminology.

Read the passage below, paying attention to the words with prefixes that have been underlined. Then look at the list below to see how the prefix enhances or changes the meaning of the word.

When I was a preteen , I wanted to be a superhero . Spiderman was my idol, but since I was hyperactive , my father suggested that I start previewing the comic hero he was drawing at the time: Taz-Man. Taz-Man was a cross between the Tazmanian Devil and a teenage boy named Michael. He was hyperactive, hypersensitive , and most of all, misunderstood .

pre teen: (before) not yet a teenager super hero: greater than a hero hyper active: over active pre viewing: before viewing hyper sensitive: over sensitive mis understood: not understood (wrongly understood)

Read the passage below, paying attention to the roots in the words that have been highlighted. Then look at the list below to see how the root gives a clue to the overall meaning of the word.

When the red team was captured during capture the flag, they were induced to clean the cabin of the blue team. This was not part of the game's script , making the red team tentative about cleaning while they questioned the credibility of the blue team’s rule. It all ended in a great spectacle of revolt as the red team quit the game and ran off to the lodge to tell the camp counselors.

capt ured: taken, seized in duc ed: led (forced) to do something script s: written speeches or plays ten tative: (held back) uncertain cred ibility: capable of being believed spect acle: (something seen) a visual event

Read the passage below, paying attention to the words with suffixes that have been highlighted. Then look at the list below to see how the suffix enhances or changes the meaning of the word.

The process of learning to bake a cake can be one of enjoyment or frustration . Some enjoy the opportunity of learning a skill that they can share with others. Some may even go on to become notable bakers . Others realize right away that baking is not for them. These people leave the baking to the professionals.

learn ing : present participle of learn enjoy ment : act of enjoying frustra tion : noun form of frustrate not able : the ability to take note bak ers : one who bakes real ize : to make real bak ing : present participle of bake

Read the following paragraph, paying close attention to the underlined words that have either a root word, a prefix, or a suffix, and then define those words using the chart shown above in the Lesson section.

Adoption is a great way for people to build a family. Adoption can help some people having fertility issues, but it is not just for those who are incapable of having children . Many people adopt children because they have a desire to provide a home for children in need. There are many options for those hoping to adopt, from international adoptions to providing foster homes for children in the community. Each comes with its own challenges and rewards so choosing a particular path requires careful consideration and thorough research . Adoption tends to be a positive choice for both parents and children, allowing all involved to transcend the typical vision of how a family is created.

Identify the words with prefixes.

incapable, international, research, transcend

Identify the words with suffixes.

adoption, having, fertility, incapable, children, options, hoping, providing, consideration, positive, allowing

Identify the roots of the words.

adopt, have, fertile, cap, child, opt, hope, nation, provide, consider, search, posit, allow, cend

Define the word using the chart of word parts.

adoption: noun form of adopt having: present participle of have fertility: state of being fertile incapable: adjective form of incapacity, meaning not able to children: plural form of child options: noun form of opt hoping: present participle of hope international: between nations providing: present participle of provide consideration: noun form of consider research: to search again positive: adjective form of posit allowing: present participle of allow transcend: to go beyond

How will using word parts help you define unfamiliar words you come across while reading?

Sample Answer

When I see an unfamiliar word, I will be able to look for the parts of it that I know from other words in order to figure out its meaning.

Which word part – prefix, suffix, root – has the most influence on how the word is used in a sentence?

The suffix has the most influence because it can change a word from a noun to an adjective or verb.

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Suffixes are the endings of words. They change the type of word. This lesson shows you how to use suffixes correctly and how they affect the parts of speech. You can find the tests at the bottom of the page.

Suffixes are at the end of words. These are some examples:

The suffix can often show the type of word. For example, “ed” is used for past tense verbs. The following is a list of all the major suffixes for each type of word.

Here are some of the most common noun suffixes.

tion/sion solution, pollution, collision, conclusion

ity productivity, capacity, personality

ment payment, treatment, punishment

ness happiness, loneliness, laziness

Often “ness” suffixes are added to adjectives that end in “y”. This makes them a noun.

happy — happiness crazy — craziness

er/or/ist The people or things that do a verb can be created by adding ER, OR, or IST. ER is the most common of the three.

Teach — teacher Print — printer

doctor, operator pianist, biologist, scientist

hood parenthood, fatherhood, neighbourhood

ship friendship, partnership, relationship

nce patience, distance, reliance

dom freedom, kingdom, boredom

Adjective suffixes often are used to create words that show nouns displaying the quality of something. For example, Heroic is an adjective that shows someone has the qualities of a hero.

Adjectives are words that modify nouns. Therefore, they are found before nouns, or often after the verb HAVE.

Here are some examples of suffixes that form adjectives:

ing (describes things and their qualities) exciting, boring, interesting

ed (describes feelings) excited, bored, interested

ive creative, abusive, persuasive

ic futuristic, heroic, public

al global, final, traditional

able breakable, affordable, possible

y sticky, shiny, healthy

ous glamorous, fabulous, glorious

ful (full of) harmful, hateful, successful, beautiful

less (without) pointless, endless, homeless

ish selfish, foolish, childish

ed Regular verbs end in “ed” in the past and past participle forms.

played, jumped

en broken, taken, forgotten

“En” is common for past participles.

gotten, written,

ize symbolize, materialize, realize

ate create, skate, donate

ify solidify, qualify, quantify

Most adverbs in English are created by adding LY to the adjective. 

Suffixes Tests

• Suffixes Test
• Suffixes Test 2

More Vocabulary Lessons and Tests

• Adverbs Test
• Adverbs Test 2
• Adverbs of Degree Test
• Adverbs of Degree Test 2
• Do vs. Make Test
• Do Make Test 2
• Stative and Dynamic Verbs Test
• Irregular Plural Nouns Test
• Irregular Plural Nouns Test 2

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Grammar    Writing    Listening    Reading   Vocabulary

IELTS     TOEFL     TOEIC    Business English

Language Comprehension Interventions

• All Literacy Interventions
• Activate Prior Knowledge
• Build Background Knowledge
• High Frequency and Domain Specific Vocabulary
• Defining Words in Context
• Defining Words in Isolation
• Morphology (Prefixes, Suffixes, Roots)

Introduction

Morphology interventions, response to error: morphology, feedback during the lesson, strategies to try after the lesson.

• Sentence Length, Structure, and Type
• Punctuation
• Asking and Answering Factual Questions
• Asking and Answering Inferential Questions
• Asking and Answering Questions Using Mnemonics
• Summarizing Text
• Synthesizing Text (Critical Thinking)
• Narrative Text Structures
• Informational Text Structures
• Instructional Scopes and Sequences

Morphology interventions help students learn about the meanings of word parts. If your student is having trouble identifying the meanings of words based on word parts (including prefixes, roots, and affixes), you should teach them about morphology. This page includes intervention strategies that you can use to develop your student's understanding of morphology. As you read, consider which of these interventions best align with your student's strengths and needs in the whole-learner domains.

If you are intervening to support your students' ability to learn about word morphology, you should start by explicitly teaching the skill. This sounds like:

• Explain the Skill/Concept.  Define morphology, and explain activity.  ( "Morphology is the study of words. When we engage with morphological analysis, we are looking at the meanings of different word parts." "Today, we will be learning how to look at word parts to understand the meaning of the whole word." )
• Model Skill with Examples.  Think aloud about how you use morphological analysis to understand a word.  ( "First, I see a word and try to break it into its parts. Then, I determine what each part means. Finally, I put the parts back together to understand the meaning of the word. When I see the word reread, I see that it has a prefix (re) and a base (read). We've learned that 're' means again, so I can use this knowledge to know that reread means 'to read again.'" )
• Model Skill with Non-Examples.  Think aloud about reading words you don't know without using morphological analysis.  ( "If I see a word I don't know in a book and skip right over it, I might be missing some important meaning. For example, if an assignment tells me that I need to reread the paragraph, but I've already read it once, I might skip this direction, and I might not read it again. It's important to stop and figure out word meanings when we read in order to use them when we read, speak, and write." )
• Practice the Skill.  Engage in one or more of the activities below to practice the skill with your student, providing feedback as necessary. ( "Now you try; I'm going to show you how to use morphological analysis to understand a word's meaning..." )

Activity A: How Do They Differ? How Do They Differ is a strategy that teaches how affixes change word meanings. Use this strategy for students who have trouble attending to prefixes and suffixes when they read, or who have difficulty understanding words that have affixes. Provide students with base words that can be joined to contrasting affixes (e.g., -ful and –less ). Have students write each base word with the suffixes. Have students read each group of words, and then ask them what the words mean: How does adding –ful affect the word’s meaning? How does adding –less affect the word's meaning?

How Do They Differ in Action Show students base words, and then add affixes. Discuss how the affixes change the words' meanings. Teacher: "Here is the word help. Watch what happens when I add the suffix -ful. Helpful. Now, I'll add the suffix -less. Helpless. How did adding these suffixes change the definition of the word, help?" Student: "If you add -ful, it means something good. Someone who is trying to help someone else. If you add -less, if means that the person can't do anything. The word has a negative connotation." Teacher: "So, what happens when we add affixes to base words?" Student: "They change the meaning of the word."  

Activity B: Teach the Affix Teach the Affix is a strategy that shows students how affixes change the meaning of multiple words. This activity can be used for students who struggle to see word parts within words, specifically prefixes and suffixes. In this strategy, a teacher selects two affixes and multiple base words. The teacher shows the students cards with the affixes written on them and cards with each of the base words. The teacher then moves the cards to make new words and asks the students to read them.   For example, one should teach the prefix  dis-  in the following way:

• Read and discuss a group of root words to be practiced:  regard, obedient, own, satisfy .
• Explain the meaning of the prefix ( dis  = not, reverse), and discuss how the prefix changes the meaning of the root word.
• Attach the prefix  dis-  to each root word, discuss, and have students try to derive word meanings (i.e.,  disregard, disobedient, disown, dissatisfy ).
• Use the prefixed words in sentences.
• Have students practice deriving the meanings of additional words with the target prefix (e.g.,  dishonest, dislocate, disbelief, disassemble ).

Teach the Affix in Action Show students two affix cards and five base-word cards. Move the cards to make new words, and have students read them, and discuss the meaning of the new word. As you read the lesson below, consider how the teacher explicitly teaches students about prefixes that mean not . 

Prefixes that Mean "Not" Reading PDF

O'Connor, R. (2014). Teaching word recognition: Effective strategies for students with learning difficulties (2nd ed.). New York: Guilford Press.

Activity C: Read & Write the New Word Read and Write the New Word is a strategy that teaches students to put word parts together to form whole words, as well to break down whole words into their parts. This activity can be used for students who struggle to understand to see word parts, especially more difficult base words and affixes, within words. As you read the PDF below, notice how the authors emphasize asking questions to reinforce previously learned concepts and move the student toward independent application of this skill.

Read and Write PDF

Read and Write the New Word in Action

Provide students with a worksheet that contains words broken into their parts and written in whole form. Have students add each part to form a whole word, and break down each whole word into its parts. Discuss how each word part contributes to the meaning of the word. 

Teacher: "On your sheet, you will see that I've broken words down into parts. Put these parts back together to write a whole word. On the next section, break down the whole word into its parts. Then, think about how each word part contributes to the whole word's meaning."  

Activity D: Combining Rules Combining Rules allows students to put two morphemes together to form new words. This strategy can be used for students who have learned several affixes but still have difficulty understand the meaning of more difficult base words (or morphemes). As you read the PDF below, notice the type of morphemes and affixes that the students are using.

Combining Rules PDF

Combining Rules in Action

Give students a worksheet that contains multiple bases and multiple affixes. Allow students to write new words using different combinations of affixes and bases. Then, discuss how the word meanings have changes based on the new combinations.

Teacher: "On your sheet, you will see bases on the left and affixes on the right. Your task is to combine these bases and affixes to make new words. Then, think about how the word meanings have changed based on the new combinations."

Activity E: Greek & Latin Roots Greek and Latin roots interventions allow students to use their knowledge of root words to understand the meaning of new vocabulary words. This strategy can be used for students who have mastered the previous interventions but continue to need practice with content-area vocabulary.  For more information about Greek and Latin roots , click here. 

Greek and Latin Roots in Action Teacher writes a Greek or Latin root on the board, such as 'rupt.' Students generate words that use this root. Add any additional words that students missed. Practice writing sentences using these words. Teacher: "Roots are valuable as patterns to learn new vocabulary words. Thousands of words  more than half of the words in the dictionary  come from Latin roots. Each root has a specific meaning; we change the meaning by adding prefixes and suffixes. Today, we are going to discuss the Latin root 'rupt.' I'd like you to call out words you know that use this root." Students: "rupture" "interrupt" "disrupt" "erupt" Teacher: "Excellent. Rupt is also used in abrupt, disruptive, and corrupt. What do you think the root 'rupt' means?" Students: "To break?" Teacher: "That's right to break or burst. Let's go through these words and see how each relates to breaking or bursting." (Teacher and students go through each word.) "Now, let's practice writing sentences using these words." (Students write and share out sentences.)   "Excellent work exploring the root 'rupt' today. Now, I've got a special challenge: See how many times you can use words with this root in the next 24 hours! Tomorrow, we'll come back and report on our use of the root word 'rupt'!"

O'Connor, R. (2014). Teaching word recognition: Effective strategies for students with learning difficulties (2nd ed.). New York: Guilford Press.

Think about the following scenario, which takes place after a teacher has explicitly taught students about morphology and has given them multiple opportunities to practice:       Teacher: "Can you find the affix and base word in the word impossible ?"       Student: "It's all one word, impossible. What do you mean find the affix and base word?" 

In such a case, what might you do? 

When you are planning your lessons, you should anticipate that your students will make errors throughout the activity. Here are a series of prompts that you can use to respond to errors. Keep in mind that all students are different, and some students might respond better to different types of feedback than others.

If your student struggles to meet your objective, there are various techniques that you might try to adjust the activity so as best to meet your student's needs. 

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Fun Hands-On Prefixes and Suffixes Activities and Worksheets

There are any number of tools we can use to help build vocabularies, but one of the most creative and fun ways is when we teach prefixes and suffixes! I love seeing little faces light-up as the children begin to see how prefixes, suffixes and root words are basically the building blocks of words, and they get very inventive when we move on to see how to use them 🙂 This blog post will give you plenty of prefixes and suffixes activities and worksheets to use with your students.

Hands On Prefixes and Suffixes Activities

Who is ready for hands on learning? Set your students up for success with some fun and engaging prefixes and suffixes activities! Your students will have fun putting the prefix and suffix puzzles together. These puzzles will reinforce their knowledge of prefixes and suffixes, their definitions, and everyday words that use them.

You can either laminate, cut the pieces and place them in a literacy center, or do the activity with the students in small groups. Another option is to print them small and have your students cut and paste them in their grammar notebook. That way, the puzzles belong to them forever and they can reference them throughout the school year!

One of the prefixes and suffixes activities included in this packet is a set of 24 cards called Task Cards. Punch a hole on the top left corner and bind the cards with a ring. Students can either work on these cards independently or as a fun class game: SCOOT. Scroll down to read more about how to play this game.

Base Words and Affixes Activities  is a great way to bring a hands-on approach to learning. This activity will increase the students’ vocabulary by helping them understand how to use prefixes and suffixes to decode a meaning.

Prefix Puzzles:

Put four puzzle pieces together for each prefix. The complete puzzle should have the correct prefix, definition, example words that use the prefix, and the definition of the example word. These puzzles give students an opportunity to work with a variety of prefixes.

Suffix Puzzles:

Put four puzzle pieces together for each suffix. The complete puzzle should have the correct suffix, its definition, an example word that uses the suffix, and the definition of the example word.

Prefixes and Suffixes Activities – Task Cards:

When teaching prefixes and suffixes you want to give students ample opportunity to practice and these task cards are PERFECT for practice. Students can have independent or partner work time to complete these task cards and write their answers on the recording sheets (included), or you can get them up and moving around the room by playing the game of SCOOT. Your students will have so much fun moving around the classroom while learning and creating different words.

How do you play SCOOT?

• Place a card on each table (or on the floor if you don’t have individual tables).
• Give students a recording sheet and station them in front of each card.
• Start the game.
• Say ‘Scoot!’ to get the students to shimmy to the next card.
• Play until desired or until everyone has gone around the room.

GET HANDS-ON BASE WORDS AND AFFIXES ACTIVITIES

Prefix and Suffix Posters

Looking for a fun way to spice up your bulletin board in a meaningful manner? Try my prefix and suffix posters which will give your students wonderful visuals to be able to reference in class. These posters were designed to help build vocabulary and make your students better readers and writers. You can either print the posters in color or black and white, or simply print out the reference chart to place in the literacy center or in their grammar notebooks! The best thing about these posters is that students can quickly check an anchor chart as a reference while completing prefixes and suffixes activities.

GET PREFIX POSTERS

GET SUFFIX POSTERS

Prefix and Suffix Kid-Friendly Worksheets

Giving students different ways to show their learning of different literacy skills is important. These no-prep prefixes and suffixes activities and printable worksheets are perfect to teach the concept of prefixes and suffixes to young learners. These prefixes and suffixes activities worksheets were made following the Common Core Language first and second grade standards, but they have been proven to be successful with ESOL students too.

clear directions easy to understand age appropriate various options engaging

The first grade packet focuses on word parts: base words and affixes, both prefixes and suffixes at the most basic level. There are two packets for second grade, one specifically for prefixes and the other for suffixes. The reason why I have two separate packets for second grade is because I wanted to go into a little more depth than the first grade packet.

All of my no-prep prefixes and suffixes activities and printables come with colorful posters that outline the definition and the focus topic (in this case, the most common prefixes and suffixes), plenty of practice pages, and answer keys.

GET 1ST GRADE BASE WORDS AND AFFIXES NO-PREP PRINTABLES (prefixes and suffixes)

GET 2ND GRADE PREFIXES NO-PREP PRINTABLES 

GET 2ND GRADE SUFFIXES NO-PREP PRINTABLES 

Prefixes and Suffixes Boom Cards

Who doesn’t love digital task cards? Boom Cards provide a fantastic opportunity to play and learn at the same time. Play the video above or click on the images above to play the preview. These Boom Cards will help students understand the meaning of the prefix and suffix on each slide in an effective way. Check out my prefixes and suffixes activities in the form of Boom Cards below!

1ST GRADE PREFIX BOOM CARDS

1ST  GRADE SUFFIX BOOM CARDS

2ND GRADE PREFIX BOOM CARDS

2ND GRADE SUFFIX BOOM CARDS

Interactive PowerPoint Lesson for Prefixes and Suffixes

Have you tried any of my Interactive PowerPoint Lessons? The lesson on base words and affixes will hook your students’ attention with animated explanations and exercises. These PowerPoints will help students understand the meaning of the word based on its prefix or suffix. Play the short sample video on the right, and read other teachers’  feedback here ! These PowerPoint lessons are perfect to use to introduce the topic before students work on their prefixes and suffixes activities.

Check out this blog post about using these Interactive PowerPoints .

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Lesson Plan Title : Root Words, Prefixes, and Suffixes

Age Range: Grade 9 through Grade 12 (High School Level)

Overview and Purpose : The following activity will help your students understand how words are made. They will be able to match a root word to the correct prefix or suffix.

Objective: The student will be able to

*name a word that uses a given prefix or suffix.

*spell the word they named.

None needed

Activities:

Have the students put their desks in a circle. Choose a prefix or suffix that the students must use. The first student must make a word using the prefix or suffix within 10 seconds of it being given. The next student has to correctly spell that word and give another word for the following student to spell. If a student misspells a word, cannot give a new word, or makes up a word, he is out. Game play continues until only one student is left.

A homework assignment that can be given after this lesson could be to have students write down the prefixes and suffixes that were used and to have them research the meanings of each one.

Enter your first name and your email address here, and I'll send the cards right away!

Classroom in the Middle

Language arts activities for middle school and upper elementary..

Teaching Affixes and Roots – Step by Step

Teaching affixes and roots can be a problem.  First of all, where does it fit in among all the literature that you want to read, the reading skills that your kids need to work on, the types of writing you need to cover, and the composition skills you want your kids to pick up this year?

How do you work these upper level word attack skills into your daily lessons?  Do you teach bit by bit as interesting words come up in readings, do you teach systematic units on word parts, or a little of each?  Whatever you do, organizing it all can be a chore!  There are so many prefixes, suffixes, and roots out there, and each type of affix or root presents its own challenges.

Start at the Beginning

Even though kids in upper elementary and middle school have had experience with dividing words into these three parts before, I still like to start with the basics.  Sort of a beginning of the year refresher.

First comes a general introduction to prefixes, suffixes and roots.  Plenty of kids need this reminder of the basics  – simple things like which parts are prefixes and which are suffixes, and how they are combined to make words. Words with obvious, easy to recognize roots and common prefixes and suffixes work well here.  You can add on new ones later.

For kids who lave learned the basics in earlier years, a quick lesson may be all you need, such as a presentation for the whole group followed by some brief practice exercises.

Get into the Specifics

Once kids have the idea (or remember that they already knew it!) it’s time to start building.  Each year, students can benefit from adding a number of new prefixes and suffixes to their repertoire, as well as new Latin and Greek roots.  Some teachers use lists organized year by year to add new ones in a systematic way.  Some prefer to use words as they come up in reading.  Or maybe a little of both?

When introducing a new word part, you can be very specific.  Give a few examples of words with this affix or root, and have kids come up with more of their own.  Whole class activities are great at this beginning stage.  Then, when kids get into it and start branching out into more words, then it might be time to differentiate a bit.

The following slides are from my Suffix Slide Presentation and Activity Sheet Set.

Individual and Small Group Activities

Now that you know your kids have a good foundation, small group activities and individual practice should both work well.  Kids can progress at their own speed, and assignments can easily be adjusted to fit varying student needs. Task cards are a perennial favorite resource for these types of activities.  This  year, I plan to add sets of task cards for prefixes, suffixes, and roots to my store of language arts resources.

Practice, Practice

Practice not only helps kids remember what you’ve already taught them, it can also help them to expand their skills.  As kids practice recognizing word parts and using the words in their writing, their language fluency grows.

The practice sheets shown below are a few of the items in the Prefix Activity Sheet Set and the Latin and Greek Root Set that are included with the slide presentations.

Kids with good upper level word attack skills can more easily decode new words in their reading.  (Yes, kids in middle school and beyond still decode words!).  They also have a deeper well to draw from as far as vocabulary words to use in their own writing.  So even though it may be a pain fitting prefixes, suffixes, AND roots into your curriculum,  it’s worth it, and a little bonus is that with so many prefixes, suffixes, and roots out there, it’s really easy to include differentiation in these lessons.

The resources linked below are each designed specifically for teaching these important vocabulary skills to middle school and upper elementary kids.  Check them out if you could use a few new resources to add to your file of teaching materials for the year.

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[…] banks and fill-in-the-blank worksheets are great methods to teach suffixes and affixes. The site Classroom in the Middle has excellent examples of some easy worksheets with word banks to teach […]

These tips helped me guide my granddaughter in her education. Thanks a lot.

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Assessment & skill activities: prefix, suffix, and root.

Welcome to the final post in the Word Parts blog series! In this blog post, we’ll be discussing how you can use assessments when teaching prefixes, suffixes, and root words. We’ll share tips on creating effective assessments as well as ideas for incorporating them into your classroom practice. Additionally, we will be sharing prefix and suffix activities that can be used for skill application and building to mastery!

Assessing Knowledge of Word Parts

In order to effectively teach these concepts, it is important to have a clear understanding of the necessary skills and knowledge that students need in order to successfully apply them. So, be sure to check your grade-level standards to see which word parts are required for your students to master. Check back to the first post in this series if you missed it- Words and Their Parts: A Language & RF Study.

Assessments are an invaluable tool for assessing student understanding of language arts concepts including prefixes, suffixes, and root words. They provide a comprehensive overview of student performance as well as insight into areas that may require extra attention. By conducting regular assessments, teachers can easily identify areas where instruction needs to be tailored or modified to meet individual student needs.

Pre-Assessments for Word Parts

Firstly, you will need to conduct a pre-assessment to see where your students are. You want to check for understanding of word parts: Do they know what a prefix is? What a suffix is? What a root word is? Do they know how to identify and understand how word parts change word meaning?

A simple printable pre-assessment is a perfect way to check these things. Be sure to include questions/prompts that ask your students to practice each skill required from your state & grade-level standards. This will be a great help when planning what you need to teach and when measuring their growth throughout the unit!

Formative Assessments for Word Parts

Secondly, you will definitely need to include formative assessments along the way. As students learn new word parts, use a quick exit slip or printable word parts activity. When you use formative assessments, it will help you plan for small-group interventions, extension activities, and your next whole-group steps.

Another way to keep consistent formative assessments is to use interactive notebook pages. If students know that each day at the end of a lesson, they need to glue in their interactive notebook sheet and complete the activity, it will allow for assessment AND routine. You can simply check their daily entries and see who is understanding, who needs reinforcement, and who needs an intervention.

Post Assessments for Word Parts

Lastly, at the end of the unit, a post-assessment will show student growth and who has reached a level of mastery. Because word parts are essential to fluency, foundations, and comprehension, it will be very important to know which students will need continued support as you move forward to your next reading and language skills.

Assessments pictured in this section are from the RF.3.3.a&b unit.

Skill Application for Word Parts

Now that we’ve discussed assessment, we can talk about skill application using prefix and suffix activities! As we have discussed in previous blog posts, word parts are studied in both Reading Foundations and Language, so your lessons and activities will have separate functions! However, it doesn’t mean you can be teaching these things at the same time.

Lesson Plans for Word Parts

While you may be able to include activities in your centers and small-group that cover both Reading Foundations and Language skills, I would differentiate them in my lessons. Be sure to include explicit instruction with RF word parts skills and Language word parts skills.

Remember, that when teaching word parts with an RF focus, your lessons should be directed toward word attack, recognition, and recall. Students will need to learn to identify common prefixes and suffixes. This will help build their reading fluency and accuracy.

On the other hand, when teaching word parts with a Language focus, your lessons will direct students to understand words and their parts. When learning about common prefixes, suffixes, and root words, students will focus more on understanding those word parts and how they impact the overall meaning of a word. As with RF focus, quick recognition will greatly improve students reading accuracy, but more importantly, with language, it will increase their comprehension and understanding.

Lessons pictured in this section are from the RF.3.3.a&b and L.3.4.c&d units.

Small-Group, Centers, Partner & Independent Practice

As I mentioned in the previous section, you can include mixed skills in your small-group, centers, and independent practice prefix and suffix activities. With word parts, interactive activities will be the most functional, as they will provide the most opportunities for skill practice.

Recommended Interactive Activities for Word Parts:

• highlighting
• underlining
• word parts cards
• nonsense words
• definition matching
• word part pairs
• build a list
• spin-a-word
• break-apart
• flip a card
• one breath boxes
• fluency lists
• fill in the blank
• match the meaning
• multiple choice
• lift the flap
• building a list of words from a singular word part (words with the same prefix, suffix, or root word)

Don’t forget about digital activities! These can be a great friend to teachers! Not only will these activities eliminate your prep, but they also work within the student’s capabilities. I love adding digital activities to centers or stations because they are fun, functional, and minimize distraction.

Recommended Digital Activities for Word Parts:

• iXL: Roots & Affixes
• Prefix Fish Game
• Suffix Trucks
• Word Wall: Prefix & Suffix Games
• Base Word Blaster

Activities pictured in this section are from the L.4.4.b and RF.3.3.a&b unit s, and iXL website.

Thank you so much for sticking with me through this study of word parts! I hope you found some helpful tips for teaching Prefixes, Suffixes, and Root Words in your elementary classroom. Check back soon for the next part of my blog series about Figurative Language!

Resources That Are Ready to Go!

If you’re in search of prefix and suffix activities that are ready to go, I have RF and L units with everything you need. From assessments to lesson plans, centers, and graphic organizers. Take a look at the standards you need teach below:

These RF units are complete and will help you teach prefixes, suffixes, and root words. Your students will be able to master the word attack and decoding skills th ey need to improve their reading fluency and accuracy.

Here are the Language units with a focus on Word Parts! These lessons and activities will offer opportunities for your students to improve their vocabulary skills and overall comprehension.

Meanwhile, would you like to read more Language posts?

• All About Teaching Nouns
• Teaching Language with Technology
• Teaching Verb Tenses
• Read more about: Centers , Common Core Aligned , Language & Grammar Blog Posts

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4.4 Prefixes and Suffixes

Learning objectives.

• Identify the meanings of common prefixes.
• Become familiar with common suffix rules.

The English language contains an enormous and ever-growing number of words. Enhancing your vocabulary by learning new words can seem overwhelming, but if you know the common prefixes and suffixes of English, you will understand many more words.

Mastering common prefixes and suffixes is like learning a code. Once you crack the code, you can not only spell words more correctly but also recognize and perhaps even define unfamiliar words.

A prefix is a word part added to the beginning of a word to create a new meaning. Study the common prefixes in Table 4.2 “Common Prefixes” .

The main rule to remember when adding a prefix to a word is not to add letters or leave out any letters. See Table 4.2 “Common Prefixes” for examples of this rule.

Table 4.2 Common Prefixes

Identify the five words with prefixes in the following paragraph, and write their meanings on a separate sheet of paper.

Collaboration

Please share with a classmate and compare your answers.

Add the correct prefix to the word to complete each sentence. Write the word on your own sheet of paper.

• I wanted to ease my stomach ________comfort, so I drank some ginger root tea.
• Lenny looked funny in his ________matched shirt and pants.
• Penelope felt ________glamorous at the party because she was the only one not wearing a dress.
• My mother said those ________aging creams do not work, so I should not waste my money on them.
• The child’s ________standard performance on the test alarmed his parents.
• When my sister first saw the meteor, she thought it was a ________natural phenomenon.
• Even though she got an excellent job offer, Cherie did not want to ________locate to a different country.
• With a small class size, the students get to ________act with the teacher more frequently.
• I slipped on the ice because I did not heed the ________cautions about watching my step.
• A ________combatant is another word for civilian.

A suffix is a word part added to the end of a word to create a new meaning. Study the suffix rules in the following boxes.

When adding the suffixes – ness and – ly to a word, the spelling of the word does not change.

• dark + ness = darkness
• scholar + ly = scholarly

Exceptions to Rule 1

When the word ends in y , change the y to i before adding – ness and – ly .

• ready + ly = readily
• happy + ness = happiness

When the suffix begins with a vowel, drop the silent e in the root word.

• care + ing = caring
• use + able = usable

Exceptions to Rule 2

When the word ends in ce or ge , keep the silent e if the suffix begins with a or o .

• replace + able = replaceable
• courage + ous = courageous

When the suffix begins with a consonant, keep the silent e in the original word.

• care + ful = careful
• care + less = careless

Exceptions to Rule 3

• true + ly = truly
• argue + ment = argument

When the word ends in a consonant plus y , change the y to i before any suffix not beginning with i .

• sunny + er = sunnier
• hurry + ing = hurrying

When the suffix begins with a vowel, double the final consonant only if (1) the word has only one syllable or is accented on the last syllable and (2) the word ends in a single vowel followed by a single consonant.

• tan + ing = tanning (one syllable word)
• regret + ing = regretting (The accent is on the last syllable; the word ends in a single vowel followed by a single consonant.)
• cancel + ed = canceled (The accent is not on the last syllable.)
• prefer + ed = preferred

On your own sheet of paper, write correctly the forms of the words with their suffixes.

• refer + ence
• approve + al
• green + ness
• benefit + ed
• resubmit + ing
• greedy + ly
• excite + ment

Key Takeaways

• A prefix is a word part added to the beginning of a word that changes the word’s meaning.
• A suffix is a word part added to the end of a word that changes the word’s meaning.
• Learning the meanings of prefixes and suffixes will help expand your vocabulary, which will help improve your writing.

Writing Application

Write a paragraph describing one of your life goals. Include five words with prefixes and five words with suffixes. Exchange papers with a classmate and circle the prefixes and suffixes in your classmate’s paper. Correct each prefix or suffix that is spelled incorrectly.

Writing for Success Copyright © 2015 by University of Minnesota is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

Decoding with Prefixes/Suffixes

Our Decoding with Prefixes/Suffixes lesson plan teaches decoding and teaches students the most common prefixes and suffixes. Students also learn to identify the correct prefix or suffix for provided words using the whole sentence as context.

Included with this lesson are some adjustments or additions that you can make if you’d like, found in the “Options for Lesson” section of the Classroom Procedure page. One of the optional additions to this lesson is to conduct a Prefix/Suffix Spelling Bee, where students must spell words with prefixes/suffixes correctly, and then use that prefix or suffix correctly in another word.

Description

Additional information, what our decoding with prefixes/suffixes lesson plan includes.

Lesson Objectives and Overview: Decoding with Prefixes/Suffixes lesson plan combines decoding with learning the most common prefixes and suffixes. A list of prefixes is provided, along with their meaning and examples of words that use them. The same chart is included for suffixes. At the end of the lesson, students will be able to decode words with common prefixes and suffixes. This lesson is for students in 2nd grade.

Classroom Procedure

Every lesson plan provides you with a classroom procedure page that outlines a step-by-step guide to follow. You do not have to follow the guide exactly. The guide helps you organize the lesson and details when to hand out worksheets. It also lists information in the orange box that you might find useful. You will find the lesson objectives, state standards, and number of class sessions the lesson should take to complete in this area. In addition, it describes the supplies you will need as well as what and how you need to prepare beforehand. To prepare for this lesson ahead of time, you can pair students for the activity and copy the handouts.

Options for Lesson

Included with this lesson is an “Options for Lesson” section that lists a number of suggestions for activities to add to the lesson or substitutions for the ones already in the lesson. If you’d like to add to the lesson activity, you could use additional words. As an additional activity, you could create suffix/prefix notecards and have students use them to add root words. You could also conduct a Prefix/Suffix Spelling Bee, where students must spell words with prefixes/suffixes correctly, and then use that prefix or suffix correctly in another word. Students could also create posters that show each prefix and suffix, along with related words and images. You could create a Prefix/Suffix Poster for the class, and have students add words to it as they find them. Finally, you can plan a prefix/suffix day where students use them as often as possible throughout the day.

Teacher Notes

The teacher notes page includes a paragraph with additional guidelines and things to think about as you begin to plan your lesson. It notes that this lesson includes common prefixes and suffixes, which are an important thing to understand when decoding words. You can teach this lesson along with other lessons about prefixes and suffixes. This page also includes lines that you can use to add your own notes as you’re preparing for this lesson.

DECODING WITH PREFIXES/SUFFIXES LESSON PLAN CONTENT PAGES

Decoding words.

The Decoding with Prefixes/Suffixes lesson plan includes three pages of content. This lesson begins by telling students that, to decode word, you need to understand the sounds of letters, letter patterns, and letter-sound relationships. These will all help you correctly pronounce words. Decoding helps you learn new words. If you can sound out a word, you might also be able to figure out its meaning.

All words have a meaning or definition. You already know the meaning of many different words, like happy or do . Every word has a definition, but the definition of a word can change if you add some letters to the beginning or end of the word. We call these affixes. There are two types of affixes: prefixes and suffixes. Prefixes are added to the beginning of a word, and suffixes are added to the end. If you add re- to the beginning of the word do , you get the word redo . In this case, re- is a prefix.

We call words without prefixes or suffixes root words. They’re the basic parts of a word, and are often the most important part of the word for figuring out the meaning. In order to decode words, you need to learn how to decode, pronounce, and learn the meaning of prefixes and suffixes.

Decoding with Prefixes

We add prefixes to the beginning of words (but not every prefix goes with every word!). Re- can be added to do to create redo , but cannot be added to happy , because rehappy is not a word. The lesson includes a helpful table of some common prefixes and encourages students to practice pronouncing each prefix.

Dis- has a short vowel i sound and means not or the opposite of. Some example words with this prefix are dishonor and disagree . Re- has a long vowel e sound and means again or back. Some words with this prefix are reheat and reappear . Pre- has a long vowel e sound and means before. Some words with this prefix are precook and preview . Un- has a short vowel u sound and means not or the opposite of. Some words with this prefix are unclean and unequal . Mis- has a short vowel i sound and means bad or wrong. Some words with this prefix are misplace and misspell .

It’s important to remember that we can’t use all prefixes with all words. When we use prefixes, they change the meaning of a word.

Decoding Suffixes

Suffixes are similar to prefixes but we add them to the end of a word instead of the beginning. One common suffix is -s or -es , which we use to make words plural ( dog becomes dogs , meaning there is more than one dog). Two other common suffixes are -er and -est , which we use to create words like faster and fastest . These are comparison words.

The lesson includes a helpful table of some common suffixes and encourages students to practice pronouncing each of them. The suffix -ly has a long vowel i sound and means how something is or in a way. Some words with this suffix are happily and friendly . The suffix -ed has a short vowel e sound and means the past form of a verb. Some words with this suffix are walked and jumped .

Next, the suffix -ful has a short vowel u sound and means filled with or full of. Some words with this suffix are helpful and plentiful . The suffix -less has a short vowel e sound and means without. Some words with this sufix are penniless and helpless . Finally, the suffix -able has a short vowel a sound and means causing or can be. Some words with this suffix are loveable and comfortable .

Like prefixes, we can’t use every suffix with every word. We add prefixes and suffixes to words that you might already know the meaning of and how to pronounce. We add them to the beginning or the end of the root word, and they change the the meaning of the word. They can also change the structure of a sentence. We can’t use happy and happily in the same way. The lesson includes some examples of this.

You can practice recognizing words with prefixes and suffixes while you’re reading to strengthen your understanding of this subject.

DECODING WITH PREFIXES/SUFFIXES LESSON PLAN WORKSHEETS

 The Decoding with Prefixes/Suffixes lesson plan includes three worksheets: an activity worksheet, a practice worksheet, and a homework assignment. You can refer to the guide on the classroom procedure page to determine when to hand out each worksheet.

WRITING SENTENCES ACTIVITY WORKSHEET

Students will work with a partner to complete the activity worksheet. Each pair will write a sentence for each word, first without a prefix or suffix and then with different prefixes or suffixes. For example, they will write a sentence for the word cook , and then for the words precook , cooked , and uncooked .

Students may work either alone or in groups for this activity.

ADDING PREFIXES/SUFFIXES PRACTICE WORKSHEET

The practice worksheet asks students to add the correct prefix or suffix to words in sentences. They will also write a sentence that uses a word with a prefix and a sentence with a word with a suffix.

DECODING WITH PREFIXES/SUFFIXES HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENT

The homework assignment asks students to complete three short exercises. For the first, they will add a suffix to each word and correctly spell the new word. For the second, they will write the word for each of the given definitions or statements, making sure that each word has a prefix. Finally, for the third, they will match prefixes and suffixes to their meanings.

Worksheet Answer Keys

This lesson plan includes answer keys for the practice worksheet and the homework assignment. If you choose to administer the lesson pages to your students via PDF, you will need to save a new file that omits these pages. Otherwise, you can simply print out the applicable pages and keep these as reference for yourself when grading assignments.

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