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8th grade · English Language Arts · Unit 3 of 12

Word Study

Roots, affixes and connotation

What your child practices

Using prefixes, suffixes and Greek and Latin roots to work out unfamiliar words, reading context clues, and noticing how word choice changes feeling.

Maine Learning Results learning standard: Language 4; Language 5 · roots, affixes and connotation

How we explain it

Children can open this short lesson before they practice.

  1. Prefixes go at the start (re-, dis-, mis-). Suffixes go at the end (-ful, -able).
  2. Greek and Latin roots carry meaning: graph (write), auto (self), bio (life).
  3. Words with similar meanings can have different connotations: slim sounds kinder than skinny.

Example: The root “graph” means write and “auto” means self. What does “autograph” mean? Put the parts together: self + write. Something you write yourself is your signature. Answer: A person’s own signature

Word Study in Maine

In the Maine Learning Results, this is unit 3 of 12 in 8th grade English Language Arts, after Literary Devices and before Irony, Satire & Allusion.

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

    The root “bio” means “life.” What is “biology”?

    • The study of living things
    • The study of rocks
    • The study of words
    • The study of stars

  2. Question 2

    The suffix “-ful” in “thankful” means…

    • full of
    • without
    • before
    • again

  3. Question 3

    The Greek root “graph” means “write.” What does “autograph” most likely mean?

    • A picture of a car
    • A machine for writing
    • A person's own signature
    • A long story

  4. Question 4

    The Latin root “aqua” means “water.” What does “aquarium” most likely mean?

    • A tall building
    • A kind of flower
    • A type of desert
    • A place to keep water animals

  5. Question 5

    “The room was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.” This is…

    • a prefix
    • a root
    • an idiom
    • a synonym

  6. Question 6

    Read: “The scientist’s meticulous notes recorded every tiny detail.” What does “meticulous” mean?

    • messy
    • hidden
    • very careful and exact
    • short

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