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5th grade · English Language Arts · Unit 5 of 11

Greek and Latin Roots

Word parts that unlock meaning

What your child practices

Learning common Greek and Latin roots (like tele = far, port = carry, rupt = break) and using them to figure out long words such as “spectator” or “interrupt.”

Arizona Academic Standards learning standard: 5.RF.3; 5.L.4 · Greek and Latin roots

How we explain it

Children can open this short lesson before they practice.

  1. Many long words are built from Greek and Latin roots.
  2. Common roots: tele (far), port (carry), rupt (break), spect (look), micro (small), auto (self), graph (write).
  3. Find the root, then think about the rest of the word.

Example: What does “spectator” most likely mean? The root spect means look. -or means a person who does something. Answer: a person who watches

Greek and Latin Roots in Arizona

In the Arizona Academic Standards, this is unit 5 of 11 in 5th grade English Language Arts, after Context Clues and before Complex Sentences.

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: Arizona Department of Education

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

    Which word has a root that means “say or speak”?

    • microscope
    • microwave
    • dictionary
    • thermal

  2. Question 2

    Use the word parts. What does “visible” mean?

    visible

    vis (see) + ible (able to be)

    • able to be seen
    • a tool for seeing things that are far away
    • the study of living things
    • a tool for looking at very tiny things

  3. Question 3

    What does the root “tele” mean?

    teletelephone · telescope · television
    • look at
    • self
    • say or speak
    • far

  4. Question 4

    What does the root “ped” mean?

    pedpedal · pedestrian · centipede
    • foot
    • see
    • land
    • pull

  5. Question 5

    Which root do all three words share?

    thermometer • thermal • geothermal

    • scrib
    • therm
    • ject
    • terr

  6. Question 6

    Which word has a root that means “light”?

    • photocopy
    • microphone
    • geography
    • construct

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