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4th grade · English Language Arts · Unit 7 of 13

Word Builders

Prefixes, suffixes and roots

What your child practices

Using word parts to work out meanings: prefixes like re- and mis-, suffixes like -able and -ment, finding the base word, and (at the stretch level) roots such as port and tele.

Maine Learning Results learning standard: Reading 3; Language 4 · prefixes, suffixes and roots

How we explain it

Children can open this short lesson before they practice.

  1. Prefixes change meaning at the start: re- (again), pre- (before), mis- (wrongly), un- (not).
  2. Suffixes change a word at the end: -able (can be), -ment (the act of), -ness (state of).
  3. Roots carry meaning too: port means carry, tele means far.

Example: What does “preheat” mean? The base word is heat. Pre- means before. Answer: to heat before

Word Builders in Maine

In the Maine Learning Results, this is unit 7 of 13 in 4th grade English Language Arts, after Super Sentences and before Sound-Alikes.

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: Maine 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

    What does “misspell” mean?

    • to not spell
    • to spell again
    • to spell before
    • to spell wrongly

  2. Question 2

    What does “washable” mean?

    • washed again
    • without washing
    • not washed
    • able to be washed

  3. Question 3

    Which word means “the act of moving”?

    • removed
    • movement
    • movable
    • moved

  4. Question 4

    What does “preheat” mean?

    • to not heat
    • to heat again
    • to heat wrongly
    • to heat before

  5. Question 5

    Which prefix means “wrongly”?

    • un-
    • mis-
    • pre-
    • re-

  6. Question 6

    What is the base word in “unhelpful”?

    • -ful
    • helpful
    • help
    • un-

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