Kindergarten · English Language Arts · Unit 11 of 12
Word Parts & Meanings
-s, -ing, un- and groups of words.
What your child practices
Practices how a small word part changes a word (-s for more than one, -ing for happening now, un- for not), grouping words by topic, opposites and same-meaning words, and naming picture parts with labels.
Arizona Academic Standards learning standard: K.L.5 · working out word meanings and sorting words into groups
How we explain it
Children can open this short lesson before they practice.
- Add -s to mean more than one: dog, dogs.
- Add -ing for something happening now: play, playing.
- Words can go in groups, like doctor, teacher, farmer.
Example: Add -s to “cat”. What word do you get? cat + s. cats means more than one cat. Answer: cats
Word Parts & Meanings in Arizona
In the Arizona Academic Standards, this is unit 11 of 12 in Kindergarten English Language Arts, after Talk & Listen and before Ask and Find Out.
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.
- Kindergarten guide for Arizona parents
- Printable Kindergarten English Language Arts sheet
- Arizona report cards explained
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.
Question 1
Add un- to “lock”. What word do you get?
- locks
- unlock
- lock
unlock
Hint: Unlock is the opposite of lock.
Question 2
Add -ing to “play”. What word do you get?
- playing
- played
- plays
playing
Hint: Play plus -ing is playing.
Question 3
Which word names a day of the week?
- Monday
- April
- winter
Monday
Hint: Monday is a day.
Question 4
Which word means more than one?
- book
- boot
- books
books
Hint: The -s at the end means more than one.
Question 5
On a drawing, a label says “sun”. What does it tell you?
- How old you are
- What the picture is
- How loud it is
What the picture is
Hint: A label is a word that names part of a picture.
Question 6
Which word is a body part?
- elbow
- pillow
- carrot
elbow
Hint: Your elbow bends your arm.