4th grade · English Language Arts · Unit 7 of 14
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.
Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) teks student expectation: 4.2(A); 4.3(C) · prefixes, suffixes and roots such as auto, graph and meter
How we explain it
Children can open this short lesson before they practice.
- Prefixes change meaning at the start: re- (again), pre- (before), mis- (wrongly), un- (not).
- Suffixes change a word at the end: -able (can be), -ment (the act of), -ness (state of).
- 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 Texas
In the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS), this is unit 7 of 14 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.
- 4th grade guide for Texas parents
- Printable 4th grade English Language Arts sheet
- Texas report cards explained
Source: Texas Education Agency (TEA)
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
Which word means “the act of moving”?
- moved
- movement
- removed
- movable
movement
Hint: The suffix -ment makes a noun that names an action or result.
Question 2
What does “reheat” mean?
- to heat before
- to heat again
- to not heat
- to heat wrongly
to heat again
Hint: The prefix re- means “again”. Put it together with the base word “heat”.
Question 3
Which prefix turns “spell” into a word that means “to spell wrongly”?
- mis-
- re-
- dis-
- pre-
mis-
Hint: re- means again, dis- means not, mis- means wrongly and pre- means before.
Question 4
What does “misspell” mean?
- to spell before
- to spell again
- to not spell
- to spell wrongly
to spell wrongly
Hint: The prefix mis- means “wrongly”. Put it together with the base word “spell”.
Question 5
What is the base word in “unbreakable”?
- un-
- breakable
- -able
- break
break
Hint: Cover the prefix un- and the suffix -able. What's left is the base word.
Question 6
What does “preview” mean?
- to not view
- to view before
- to view again
- to view wrongly
to view before
Hint: The prefix pre- means “before”. Put it together with the base word “view”.