Monday, January 24, 2011

Prefixes and Suffixes

Grab your root word do si do! Swing it to the front, Swing it to the back! YEEHAW! Giving our root words a new direction is what we have been doing in class. Root words are smallest meaningful 'main' word inside of a larger word. For example, in the word biggest the root word is 'big". "est" would be the suffix meaning 'the most'.

Prefixes go before a root word and change the meaning. Suffixes go after the root word and change the meaning. The key is knowing that these small chunks of words change the root word. Excellent readers need to be able to quickly spot the root word to help them decide what the word means. Readers will see many of these common prefixes and suffixes throughout their life so it is very important to learn them at an early age. Knowing how to break about a 'scary' large word and finding meaning in it, is a key in successful reading. Enjoy the below games and activities!

Prefix quiz
Prefix practicing
Suffix practicing

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