Greek/Latin Roots Classroom Examples

“The word ‘benevolent’ starts with the root ‘bene.’ How many of you can think of a word that starts with ‘bene’ or ‘ben’?” I ask my students when reviewing the two vocabulary words of the day.

“Benefit!” “Benefactor!” “Benign!” “Bengal!”, shout students. I laugh, caution them that they aren’t all quite right, and I then ask them what most of those words have in common. The students suss out that “bene” means good or positive. Then I ask what the opposite of benevolent is, and one student mumbles quietly, “malevolent.”

Benefits of Teaching Greek and Latin Roots

Our English standards imply that teachers should encourage students to be curious word learners, and, by imagining vocabulary words as puzzles to be solved rather than pieces of information to be digested, they become much more engaged.

Research reinforces that deep learning occurs not when our students blindly memorize information, but rather when they get excited about their opportunities for growth.

Ideas to Integrate Greek and Latin Roots Into Vocabulary Instruction

Idea 1: Greek and Latin Root Words Worksheet

First, teachers can provides students with this basic Greek and Latin root words worksheet that Sadlier has created. Have students fold the paper in half so that they can only read either the meaning of the root or the root itself. Then students can see how many meanings/roots they can identify just with this simple self-assessment.

Students who score highly on this formative pre-assessment can set goals to see how many words they can identify with the roots and affixes, while struggling students can focus on simply linking their new word learning with these basic prefixes/suffixes and roots.

Idea 3: Identify Greek & Latin Roots Reviewing Daily Vocab Words

The third resource that will assist you in teaching Greek and Latin roots while reviewing daily vocabulary words. As teachers or coaches review two or three vocabulary words each day in class, students can add the Greek and Latin roots to the mnemonic device column on the Vocabulary Sheet of the Week.

In doing so, teachers are providing students with a mnemonic device for their learning of an individual word, as well as providing the necessary instruction on Greek/Latin roots that students need and our standards demand.

Idea 4: Connect Vocabulary Words That Contain the Same Root

Simple Word Webs are a great resource to utilize when teaching Greek/Latin roots. Have students place a root on their Word Web sheet and then surround it with various vocabulary (and more basic) words that contain the same root. This basic thought exercise really helps students make connections across many dissimilar words until they see the big picture of the root’s meaning.

Idea 5: Baseball Greek and Latin Roots Game

One way I've been successful teaching Greek and Latin roots is with my Vocabulary Baseball Game.

When teachers/coaches play the Vocabulary Baseball Game with students, they should designate that the pitcher “throws” roots/prefixes/suffixes at batters, rather than words. The pitcher must answer with the meaning of the root/prefix/suffix, an example word, and how that word utilizes the Greek/Latin word part in its meaning.

To learn more about how the Vocabulary Baseball Game, grab the free download! This will help you get a better idea on how the game can be adjusted to review Greek and Latin roots.

Idea 6: Reward Students for Recognizing Greek and Latin Word Parts

A quick and easy way to encourage students to analyze their words is simply to reward them when they recognize roots and affixes in vocabulary words or in other words in texts! This incentive really puts the ownership on the students to recognize and analyze when and how Greek and Latin roots are being used. It costs the teacher little to nothing and can pay off significantly.

Idea 7: Build Vocabulary Words Around a Greek and Latin Root

Finally, teachers and instructional coaches can tweak one of my favorite vocabulary activities to practice Greek and Latin roots!

To repurpose the Build a Sundae Vocabulary Activity teachers and coaches can write a root in each student’s bowl, then have each student describe the elements of the sundae using words that include the root.

Example: “Mal” -the ice cream was a malignant blight on the bowl as it began to run so the malicious strawberries began attacking them with their stems…

Idea 8: Vocabulary Workshop Achieve

Vocabulary Workshop Achieve provides a variety of activities and games to help students see these roots/suffixes/prefixes as an extension of their vocabulary learning that can help students become better word detectives.

When using Sadlier’s Vocabulary Workshop Achieve program, each review unit contains a Greek/Latin root practice page highlighting a specific root. All of these activity pages can be completed in one lesson, perhaps by assigning one page to each student in a group, and then each group member reports out. Thereby, students can really start to understand the way much of our language developed.

In Summary

Greek and Latin roots are an integral part of vocabulary instruction but can be tedious and overwhelming to teach in isolation.

The more students feel success in connecting their prior knowledge with their current learning to actually understand and ultimately utilize their vocabulary in their own writing, the more the teacher or coach has succeed! If students enjoy this vocabulary learning and sleuthing, the more they can take ownership of their own education.