Standard 4: Vocabulary

Students will expand their working vocabularies to effectively communicate and understand texts.

7.4.R.2 Students will use word parts (e.g., affixes, Greek and Latin roots, stems) to define and determine the meaning of increasingly complex words. 

Student Actions 

Teacher Actions 

• Students will use word parts (prefixes, suffixes, Greek and Latin roots, stems) to define increasingly complex words.

Student Actions 

Teacher Insights 

Center for Development and Learning Common Prefixes/Suffixes

Greek and Latin Roots (Website)

Most Used Commonly Used Prefixes and Suffixes (Website)

OSDE Glossary

• Affix is a morpheme or meaningful part of a word attached before or after a root to modify its meaning.  Principal kinds of affixes are prefixes and suffixes. Affix is the broad category for prefix and suffix. The prefix un- is an affix, which added to balanced, makes unbalanced.  The suffix -ed is an affix which added to wish, makes wished.

• Stem is the base form of a word, also called the root word. Examples of a stem (or root word): jump, walk, run.

• Root is a bound morpheme, usually of Latin origin, that cannot stand alone but is used to form a family of words with related meanings.

• A majority of word parts are derived from Greek or Latin. Therefore, knowledge of the origin (etymology) of  Greek and Latin Roots and affixes is used to make connections to the meaning of new words.

• Examples of a root: photo, bio, phobia, micro, auto

• Example: biology = bio- is a root and -ology is a suffix.

• Base is a free morpheme to which affixes can be added, usually of Anglo-Saxon origin.

• Root words do not stand alone, base words do.

• Example: unhappy = un- is a prefix and happy is a base.

• The intent of this standard is to focus on applying the skill of breaking down words and understanding affixes’ and Greek and Latin roots’ contribution to the meaning of a word, not just to memorize a list of prefixes, suffixes, and root words.   

Due to recursive nature of the standards, it is essential that teachers are aware of how all objectives within and between strands work together for optimal instruction.