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Greek and Latin Roots for Word Meaning

CONCEPTUAL
English›Vocabulary|Ages 9—11|ID: mt_x_Lg4RASVU

Use knowledge of Greek and Latin affixes (prefixes and suffixes) and roots as clues to determine the meaning of unfamiliar words, building a bank of common roots and their meanings

Mastery Evidence

  • Identify common Greek and Latin roots in unfamiliar words and use root meaning to infer word meaning, e.g. 'aqua' (water) in aquarium/aquatic, 'dict' (say) in predict/dictionary
  • Break a multi-morpheme word into prefix + root + suffix to determine meaning, e.g. un- (not) + believe + -able = not able to be believed
  • Use knowledge of Greek-origin prefixes (auto-, tele-, micro-) and Latin-origin prefixes (inter-, trans-, sub-) to decode and define unfamiliar vocabulary in context

Assessment Prompt

“If [child] comes across an unfamiliar word containing a Greek or Latin root they recognise — like "port" in "transport" or "bio" in "biology" — can they use that to work out the meaning?”

Curriculum Standards2 alignments

L.4.4bCommon Core State Standards for English Language Arts & Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science, and Technical Subjects
L.4.4b

Use common, grade-appropriate Greek and Latin affixes and roots as clues to the meaning of a word (e.g., telegraph, photograph, autograph).

English Language Arts
L.5.4bCommon Core State Standards for English Language Arts & Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science, and Technical Subjects
L.5.4b

Use common, grade-appropriate Greek and Latin affixes and roots as clues to the meaning of a word (e.g., photograph, photosynthesis).

English Language Arts

Prerequisites2

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