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7th grade · English Language Arts · Unit 10 of 13

Roots & Word Parts

Greek and Latin roots, prefixes and suffixes

What your child practices

Children work out the meaning and spelling of new words from their roots, prefixes and suffixes, and meet figures of speech.

Alaska content standards learning standard: L.7.4 · Greek and Latin roots, prefixes and suffixes

How we explain it

Children can open this short lesson before they practice.

  1. Roots carry meaning: tele (far), therm (heat), graph (write), bio (life).
  2. Prefixes change meaning: mis- (wrongly), re- (again), un- (not). Suffixes change the word’s job.
  3. Idioms are figures of speech that don’t mean exactly what they say.

Example: The prefix mis- means “wrongly.” What does misspell mean? Take the base word: spell. Add the meaning of mis-. Answer: spell wrongly

Roots & Word Parts in Alaska

In the Alaska content standards, this is unit 10 of 13 in 7th grade English Language Arts, after Whose Story? and before Research Skills.

Gradelings describes a child's practice on this unit as Beginning, Approaching, Meeting or Exceeding (Four practice steps). That reflects practice, not a report-card mark: the teacher decides the mark.

Source: Alaska Department of Education and Early Development

Sample questions

A taste of this unit. In the app, questions change every time and get easier or harder to match your child.

  1. Question 1

    The root aud means “hear”. Audible means…

    • able to be seen
    • able to be touched
    • able to be heard
    • able to be tasted

  2. Question 2

    The root dict means “say”. What does predict mean?

    • say nothing
    • say what will happen before it happens
    • say it again
    • say it loudly

  3. Question 3

    Aqua means “water”. An aquarium is a place for…

    • storing books
    • growing wheat
    • parking cars
    • keeping water animals and plants

  4. Question 4

    The prefix mis- means “wrongly”. What does misspell mean?

    • spell again
    • spell wrongly
    • spell aloud
    • spell quickly

  5. Question 5

    What does it mean to export goods?

    • to carry them in from elsewhere
    • to throw them away
    • to make them smaller
    • to carry them out to sell elsewhere

  6. Question 6

    The root secede combines se- (apart) and cede (go). What does it mean?

    • to withdraw from a group
    • to lead a group
    • to follow a group
    • to join a group

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