days 13 & 14: roots and affixes list

by | Jan 13, 2011

I am putting all of the roots and affixes I want to share (from our CQLA curriculum) together for two days (rather than dividing them up in two entries). Feel free to print them off, give a sheet to each of your kids, tape it on the fridge, work on a root or affix a week…however it can help you or your kids/students.
    (a) GEN–birth, race, kind                                                              
 generous, generate, generation, geneology, gender    
           
b) DIC, DICT, DIT–tell, say, word
        dictate, verdict, edict, contradict, predict, diction, indict
  
    (c) SPEC, SPIC, SPIT–look, see
 perspective, aspect, spectator, spectacle, suspect     
           
d) SUPER, SUR, SUM–above
        surpass, summit, supersede, superstition
  
   
   (e) TENT, TENS, TEND, TENU–stretch, thin                                           
 tension, extend, tendency, tendon, tent, distend         
(f) TRANS–across
transfer, transient, transitory, transgress, transport
  
    (g) DOC, DUC, DAC–teach, lead                                         
          conduct, document, doctrine, induce, indoctrinate                    
 (h) CO, CON, COM-with, together
company, collaborate, comply, congruent,
(i)              VERS, VERT–turn                                                                      
 convert, revert, subvert, divert, diverse, extrovert, versatile          
  
(j) LOC, LOG, LOQU–word, speech
        
        eloquent, logic, apology, monologue, dialogue, prologue
    (k) SEN–feel, sense                                                                                  
  sensitive, sensation, consent, dissent, assent, sentiment  
                 
(l) DE–away, down, off
denounce, defraud, decry, deplete, devoid, defile
  
    
    (m) NOM, NOUN, NOWN, NAM, NYM–name, order, rule
anonymous, nominate, renounce, renown, misnomer                                                      
(n) CLA, CLO, CLU–shut, close
          closet, enclose, disclose, include, conclude, seclude
  
      
    (o) VO, VOC, VOK, VOW–call                                                      
vocal, advocate, vocation, convoke, revoke, avow     
                        
 (p) MAL–bad
          malicious, malady, dismal, malign, malevolent
  
      
    (q) FRA, FRAC, FRAG—break
fracture, fraction, fragment, fragile, frail, fractious                                                                                        
   (r) OB–against
          objective, obsolete, obscure, obstruct, obstinate
  
        
    (s) SUB—under
          submissive, subordinate, sublime, subtle, subversion                                                                                                        
(t) AB–from, away
 abandon, abhor, abstain, absolve, abstruse, abstract
  
       
    (u) GRESS, GRAD—step
progress, regress, gradual, digress, degrade, transgress                                                                       
 (v) SEC, SEQU–follow
          second, sequel, sequence, consequence, prosecute
  
  
     (w) PRO–much, for, a lot 
prolific, profuse, prodigal, prtracted, prodigy, propensity                                                                   
  (x) QUE, QUIS–ask, seek
           inquire, question, request, quest, query, acquire, querulous
  
     
     (y) SACR, SANCT, SECR—sacred
sacrifice, sanctuary, sanctify, sanction, consecrate                                                                   
 (z) SCRIB, SCRIP–write     
                     scribble, describe, script, prescribe, ascribe, inscribe
  
                                                             
   (aa) PATHY, PAS, PAT–feeling               
          apathy, sympathy, empathy, antipathy, passionate                                  
 (bb) DIS, DIF–not
                                  disdain, dissuade, dismay, disparate, disparage
  
  
  (cc) CIRCU–around
circumference, circulation, circumstances, circumvent                                                            
 (dd) NON, UN, IN, AN, A–no or not
  
nonviolent, uncooperative, inappreciative, anonymous
  
  
  (ee) AD–to  
          adhere, adjective, addict, adverb
                                                                          
(ff) INFRA–below
 infrastructure, infraction, infrared, infra-bass
  
  
  (gg) AMBI—both
  ambidextrous, amibguous, ambition, ambivalent                                                                                
 (hh) EPI–on
 epidemic, epic, epitomy, episode

day 12: roots and affixes

by | Jan 13, 2011

“….help kids (and adults!) to tap into what we already know in order to unlock the unknown.”
Back to the idea that students (all of us, really) know a lot more than we think we know. And helping kids (and adults!) to tap into what we already know in order to unlock the unknown.
One of the best tips I can offer for this is to encourage kids constantly to look at any part of anything that they already know. In the case of vocabulary and comprehension, I encourage students to look at what they do know. The beginning of this, of course, is root words and affixes—or even parts of words.
Root words, and sometimes even syllables, have meaning. And we often already know meanings of bits and pieces that we can put together to gain more knowledge. (If you know a foreign language, you will have even more success unlocking unknown words or parts of words since much of our language is taken from other languages.)
How can you use this concept to help you or your students? When you come to an unfamiliar word, don’t assume that you do not know it. Look more closely at the word. (And help your kids to do the same—question them all the time: “What do you know about the ‘aqua’ part of aquamarine?” [Or even, “What do you know about the ‘marine’ part?”)
Discussing words (roots, affixes, etc.) should be a part of our daily discussion with our kids. Even if our kids go to school, we have to look at ourselves as our children’s first teachers. There are so many things that we can teach them casually—homeschoolers or not.
Last week in literature class, our son (Joshua, one of our TFT teachers) asked the students what words they knew that contained the prefix “pro,” meaning “for.” He got the usual answers—pro-life; prolific; pro-football, etc. And then his clever “little brother,” Josiah, said, “’Propane’—means that we are ‘for pain’!” Have fun with vocabulary building—and your kids will not forget it, for sure!
Tomorrow I will give you a list of roots affixes that we use in our language arts books that you can print off for yourself or your students. Happy reading—and comprehending! Smile…

day 11: more about roots and comprehension building

by | Jan 11, 2011

Whether you are trying to expand your vocabulary and build your comprehension of higher levels of reading material or you are trying to help your children or students to do so, the same approach may be taken:
  1. Learn all you can about roots and affixes (prefixes and suffixes)
  2. Read a lot so you encounter the words you want to learn over and over
The real question isn’t whether those two methods work. The real question is whether one should come before the other. And for that, there isn’t one good answer.
It’s sort of like using a dictionary to learn how to spell a word. If you can’t spell the word, how can you find it in the dictionary to learn how to spell it? (Or so my kids always ask me!)
The same is true of vocabulary building. Reading levels that are above your comprehension level cannot help you if you have no clues to the unknown words.
And studying roots and affixes will not be much help to you if you have not encountered those roots and affixes often enough for that learning to carry over into your reading.
So what should a parent or teacher do to help a child increase his vocabulary? Glad you asked! And I will share my humble opinion tomorrow—the word count police are looking over my shoulder today! J

day 9: roots, suffixes, and prefixes

by | Jan 10, 2011

Affix–think of “affixing a stamp onto the envelope”–it means to attach

One of the things that we stress in our language arts books is using what you already know! Most students know far more than they think they know. And if they could tap into what they know, it would go a long way in helping them to unlock the unknown.

One way we help them do this is by emphasizing roots and affixes. I am going to talk a little about this during this upcoming week–both for those of us who just want to know what a word means when we encounter it (even if we have never encountered it before) as well as for teachers and parents who are trying to help kids become better readers and better “comprehenders.”

For example, tonight we were playing a table game and Josiah said that he was feeling very jocular. We asked him if he knew what it meant, and he didn’t. (Another lesson: Teach kids not to use words of which they do not know the meaning–it could be dangerous and/or embarrasing!) Anyway, he had heard it on Jonathan’s SAT audio and kind of knew the context in which to use it but did not really know its meaning.

Upon looking it up in the dictionary, we discovered that means humorous or jolly–and is an adjective. This, of course, led to a discussion of the word joke (and how jocular likely came from it) and of how jocular could be a noun if it were jocularity. (I know…we’re strange here, but their mom writes this stuff every single day to the tune of 30,000 pages over the past ten years, so let’s just say our table time discussions can be out of control sometimes!)

So…roots and affixes. A quick overview here…then more tomorrow. I have a time limit and a word limit imposed by “helpful” family members!

Root–the base word before any affix is added to it

Affix–think of “affixing a stamp onto the envelope”–it means to attach…two types of affixes
    1. prefix–affix added to the beginning (pre means before!)
    2. suffix–affix added to the end

More later…happy reading and word dissecting!

day 7: wacky words—to, too, and two

by | Jan 8, 2011

Another Wacky Word trio, though not confused as often as “there-their-they’re,” is the words “to, too, and two.”
Again, we call these homophones because they sound (phone) the same (homo) when you hear them.
Let’s dissect these three WW’s:
    1. To    
                
                       a. Preposition: to the store, to mom                                            
                        b. Beginning of infinitive: to go, to run
                                                           
            2.Too                                                                                                                                    
a. Means also                                                                                                 
    b. Also has two vowels and too has two vowels      
                                  
            3. Two                                                                                                                   
      a. Number word                                                                                                         
   b. One more than one          
Keep studying the other Wacky Words so far—you never know when you are going to get another pop quiz! Smile…
*Note: I had so many formatting problems with this post. Sorry!

day 5: another “they’re”

by | Jan 6, 2011

Do you remember the “their and there” Wacky Words (WW) from the other day? “There” is another WW that goes with that pair—it is the word “they’re.”

First, a little “there/their” WW review is in order:

1. There
    a. Has the word here in it: there.
    b. Remember, here and there.
    c. Examples:
            i. There are seven cats on the barn.
            ii. There is one more piece of cake.
          iii. Put the books over there.

2.Their                                                                                                                                                        
    a. Their has the word heir in it: their.
    b. Their is a pronoun that shows ownership.
    c. We call this a possessive pronoun.
    e. Examples:
            i. Their home is up on the left.
            ii. I hope their dogs are not loose.

 
Enter the WW “they’re.” It’s not really as tricky as it seems if you following TFT Publishers’ (Training for Triumph) cardinal rule for understanding when to use a contraction and when not to:

When you are about to write with a contraction, say the “contraction” in its “uncontracted” form—and you will immediately know if you want to use that word or a different word altogether.

Examples:
1.     We are going to they’re party—SAY…We are going to “they are” party. WRONG! You need “their”—the party belongs to them.
2.     We should park over they’re—SAY….We should park over “they are.” WRONG! You need “there”—here and there—a place to park.

This works for any contraction, any time you are writing! If you follow this one “saying the uncontracted word aloud before you write the contraction” tip, you will never write a contraction when you shouldn’t.

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