Exploring Language

Lesson 3.3 Some Latin and Greek Morphemes

downloadable worksheet

 

Determine what each of these morphemes (meaningful units of words) mean.

 

auto-

spec-

tele-

trans-

syn-

hydr-

therm-

dict-

ped-/pod-

graph-

 

If you aren’t sure, come up with words that contain each morpheme, and then discuss together what those words have in common with each other. Then try again to say what these morphemes mean.

 

Example: micro-

 

            occurs in microscope, microchip

 

It means “little.”

 

 

[There are lots of useful lessons on Latin and Greek roots available online. Here’s a pretty good one that we’ve had success with in 3rd-5th grade classrooms.]

 

key words: Latin, Greek, morphemes, roots

 

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.4.4b Use common, grade-appropriate Greek and Latin affixes and roots as clues to the meaning of a word (e.g., telegraph, photograph, autograph). 

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.5.4c Consult reference materials (e.g., dictionaries, glossaries, thesauruses), both print and digital, to find the pronunciation and determine or clarify the precise meaning of key words and phrases. 

 

Here is this lesson as a pdf.