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4th grade · English Language Arts · Unit 7 of 20

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.

New York State Learning Standards learning standard: 4RF3; 4L4 · 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 New York

In the New York State Learning Standards, this is unit 7 of 20 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: New York State Education Department (NYSED)

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 “payment” mean?

    • to pay again
    • able to pay
    • without pay
    • money that is paid

  2. Question 2

    What does “disobey” mean?

    • to obey again
    • to not obey
    • to obey before
    • to obey wrongly

  3. Question 3

    What is the base word in “unkindness”?

    • un-
    • kindness
    • kind
    • -ness

  4. Question 4

    Which word means “the act of moving”?

    • movable
    • moved
    • removed
    • movement

  5. Question 5

    What does “preview” mean?

    • to not view
    • to view before
    • to view wrongly
    • to view again

  6. Question 6

    What does “misplace” mean?

    • to not place
    • to place again
    • to place before
    • to place wrongly

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