How to Change Words With Prefixes & Suffixes
Teaching the way prefixes and suffixes change the meanings of words will give your students an instantly larger vocabulary since they will be able to apply a myriad of prefixes and suffixes to the root words they already know. Additionally, knowing the use and meaning of prefixes and suffixes will enable your students to decode unfamiliar words by stripping off the affixes and identifying the root word.
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Instructions
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Identify the three word parts of English words: roots, prefixes and suffixes. Show your students how the root word can be modified and changed by the addition of affixes. For example, the root word "loved" can be made to mean the opposite with the prefix "un-" to yield the word "unloved"' It can also take a suffix to indicate ability with the suffix "-able" to make "unlovable."
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Explain the basic prefixes and their meanings. "Pre-" means before as in "precursor." 'Un-" means not as in "unremarkable," and "re-" means again as in "relive."Practice adding the prefixes to different root words. Show how the different prefixes meaning "not" such as "un-, de-, mis- or im-" work with different roots.
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Describe the use of common suffixes. For example, "-er" means one who does as in "runner;" and "-able" means one who is able as in "wearable." Other common suffixes include: "-ous," which means full as in 'melodious," and "-ness," which means a state of being as in 'happiness." Practice adding suffixes to different root words.
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Practice dividing new words into prefix, root, and suffix as a class, then work on it in groups of two or three. Then reverse the process by taking lists of suffixes, prefixes, and roots and joining them together in groups of two or three then having each group share their creations with the class (see Resources for lists of affixes and words).
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References
Resources
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