Routine · Vocabulary
Meanings of prefixes and suffixes
Teach what a common prefix or suffix means, then use it to work out the meaning of new words.
- Time
- 5 to 8 minutes
- Skill
- Vocabulary
- In a session plan
- Library only
When to use it
Once a student reads words with affixes, and for older students meeting many new long words.
Materials
- Cards with a prefix or suffix and several base words
Steps
Get ready
Show the word part on a card. Say it and give its meaning simply, such as un means not.
I do
Join it to a known base word. Read the new word and work out its meaning aloud from the two parts.
Say: Un means not. Happy is a feeling. Unhappy means not happy.
We do
Do two more together: join, read, and work out the meaning.
You do
The student builds new words with the cards and explains each one.
Student: Joins the parts and says what the new word means.
Check
Read a sentence with a new word that has the same part. Ask what it means.
If the student...
Gives a meaning that ignores the word part.
Cover the base and ask what the part means. Then uncover the base, say its meaning, and put the two meanings together with the student.
Tips
- Point out tricky cases where letters look like a prefix but are not one, such as the un in uncle.
- Keep a growing chart of parts and their meanings for the student to look back at.
Original routines written by Literacy Trail. In the app, every routine is filled with your student's lesson.
Related routines
- Circle the parts, read the baseCircle a prefix and suffix, read the base word, then put the parts back together.3 to 6 minutes · Word reading
- Use clues in the textLook around an unknown word for a clue to its meaning: a definition, an example, an opposite or the general sense.5 to 8 minutes · Library only
- Teach a word: friendly meaning, examples, non-examplesExplain a new word in everyday language, show it in use, and test it against examples and non-examples.3 to 6 minutes · Library only
- Word talk during a read-aloudPause briefly on rich words while reading aloud, then come back to them after the story.5 to 10 minutes · Library only
Have this routine filled in for every lesson
In Literacy Trail, the session plan picks a routine for each block and fills it with the words, sounds and sentence from your student's lesson. Every plan starts with a 15-day free trial.