Standard Lesson
Rooting Out Meaning: Morpheme Match-Ups in the Primary Grades
Grades
3 - 5
Lesson Plan Type
Standard Lesson
Estimated Time
Three 30-minute sessions
Author
Publisher
ILA
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Overview
Students can expand their vocabulary and determine the meaning of unfamiliar words by developing an understanding of morphemes. If they learn, for example, that micro means small and scope means see, they can deduce that a microscope is a device that enables an individual to see small objects. This lesson encourages students to use morphemes to deconstruct and construct words. The students use the Morpheme Match-Ups handout and the Word Central website to engage in morphemic analysis of familiar and unfamiliar words. This lesson allows teachers to easily substitute their own morphemes for each activity.
Featured Resources
Morpheme Match-Ups Handout: Students use these cards to create as many words as possible and use the definitions for each morpheme to determine the meaning of unfamiliar words.
From Theory to Practice
- Research suggests that instruction in morphemic analysis can help students determine the meaning of unfamiliar words.
- When introducing words that have meaningful parts, it is helpful to deconstruct and reconstruct the words with students to further their understanding (e.g., telescope is composed of two morphemes-tele meaning distance and scope meaning see).
Common Core Standards
This resource has been aligned to the Common Core State Standards for states in which they have been adopted. If a state does not appear in the drop-down, CCSS alignments are forthcoming.
State Standards
This lesson has been aligned to standards in the following states. If a state does not appear in the drop-down, standard alignments are not currently available for that state.
NCTE/IRA National Standards for the English Language Arts
- 3. Students apply a wide range of strategies to comprehend, interpret, evaluate, and appreciate texts. They draw on their prior experience, their interactions with other readers and writers, their knowledge of word meaning and of other texts, their word identification strategies, and their understanding of textual features (e.g., sound-letter correspondence, sentence structure, context, graphics).
- 8. Students use a variety of technological and information resources (e.g., libraries, databases, computer networks, video) to gather and synthesize information and to create and communicate knowledge.
Materials and Technology
Envelopes to store Morpheme Match-Ups cards
Printouts
Websites
Preparation
| 1. | During the lesson, students will form words by combining two morphemes. To prepare for this activity, make copies of the Morpheme Match-Ups handout, which is available in the Resources section. One copy will be needed for each group of four students. You should also obtain one envelope for each group of four students. |
| 2. | Students will access the Word Central website to confirm the meaning and spelling of the words they form. Visit this site before the lesson to become familiar with its use. |
Student Objectives
Students will
- Use their knowledge of morphemes to define words
- Use an online dictionary to confirm the meaning and spelling of unfamiliar words
- Combine morphemes to create words
Session 1
| 1. | Write the term auto on the chalkboard or white board and ask the class to define it. You may find that many students say that auto refers to cars or automobiles. Tell the class that auto is a root word that means self. Before cars were invented, people traveled in wagons that were pulled by horses. Cars seemed to move by themselves and were often called horseless carriages. When cars were invented, the word automobile was created from two morphemes, auto, which means self and mobile, which means move (i.e., cars appear to move by themselves). Devices that are automatic seem to operate by themselves. |
| 2. | Remind students that they can use morphemes to determine the meaning of unfamiliar words. Tell the class that the morpheme sub means under. Ask students to list words that contain the morpheme sub (e.g., subway, submarine). Discuss the definitions of words containing the morpheme sub. |
| 3. | Challenge students to write words containing specific morphemes. Begin with the morpheme un, meaning not. Divide the class into teams of four. Set a timer for 5 minutes and ask each team to write as many words as they can with the morpheme un. At the end of 5 minutes, ask each team to read and define the words they wrote. Students can use the online student dictionary found at the Word Central website to confirm the meanings of the words they write. Repeat the activity with morphemes that may be familiar to students, such as re meaning again or in meaning not. |
Session 2
| 1. | Ask students to give the definition for the word television. Explain that the word television was created from two morphemes, tele meaning distance, and vis meaning see. A television enables us to see events that are taking place in distant places. Ask students to define the word telephone. Explain that telephone also contains the morpheme tele meaning distance as well as the morpheme phone, which means sound. A telephone enables us to hear sounds from a distance. Discuss the use of morphemes in the words microphone and megaphone. |
| 2. | Place students into groups of four and distribute the Morpheme Match-Ups handout. Ask students to cut the blocks apart and use the blocks to form words. For example using the blocks, students can combine tele and scope to form telescope. They can combine micro and scope to form microscope. As they work in teams, students can use the online student dictionary found at the Word Central website to resolve disputes regarding the meaning or spelling of a word. Ask each group to make a list of the new words they formed. |
| 3. | Provide time for each group to share the words they have made with the entire class. |
Session 3
| 1. | In the previous class session, students used the Morpheme Match-Ups handout to form words that can be found in a standard dictionary. In Session 3, ask them to use their knowledge of morphemes to create new words. |
| 2. | Tell the class that words enter a language when new products are invented or special events occur. Words such as Internet and blog, for example, are recent additions to the English language. Divide the class into groups of four. Ask each group to use the cards found on the Morpheme Match-Ups handout to create their own words. After creating words, students can enter their words in the Build Your Own Dictionary page found on the Word Central website. This page enables students to enter original words and definitions into an online dictionary. |
| 3. | After creating and entering their original words, students can search the Build Your Own Dictionary on the Word Central website to determine whether students in other schools have submitted original words that use the same morphemes. |
Extensions
- Students can use ReadWriteThink student resources such as the Stapleless Book or the Flip Book to make picture books showing the words they created with morphemes.
- This lesson should spark your students' interest in the origins of familiar words. To capitalize upon that interest, read the novel Frindle by Andrew Clements (Aladdin, 1998) to the class. Frindle tells the story of a boy who gained fame and teased his teacher by inventing a new word. Additional resources related to Frindle can be found by visiting The Official Frindle website.
- To learn more about word origins and the dictionary, teachers and students can read about Noah Webster and America's First Dictionary at Merriam-Webster Online. This brief biography will help teachers and students understand Webster's interest in the origins of words and his use of morphemes to define new terms. For further resources related to Noah Webster, you can also access the October 16 calendar entry on ReadWriteThink, which is the date when he was born in 1758.
Student Assessment / Reflections
- In Session 1, groups of students were asked to compile lists of words containing specific morphemes. Students can evaluate their performance on this task by entering the words they wrote in the online dictionary on the Word Central website to determine whether the words they wrote were spelled correctly and have a meaning related to the morpheme.
- In Session 2, the students were asked to enter original words in the Build Your Own Dictionary page on the Word Central website. Students can assess their success with this task by inviting their classmates to visit this site to find the words they entered and to discuss the meaning of those words.
- Use the Rooting out Meaning: Morpheme Match-Ups Observation Sheet to reflect upon students' performance and to record students' strengths and needs.
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