Five roots, photo, tele, auto, bio, and graph, each get a four-box organizer on this 4th grade vocabulary sheet. The photo box is done as a model, with light as the definition and photosynthesis in a sample sentence. For the other four, students write the definition, list words with the root, draw a symbol, and use one word in a sentence. The practice fits L.4.4.b. An answer key gives the meanings and example words, such as telescope, automobile, and biography.
L.4.4.b
“Use common, grade-appropriate Greek and Latin affixes and roots as clues to the meaning of a word (e.g., telegraph, photograph, autograph).”
Each organizer asks students to connect a Greek root to its meaning and to real words, such as telegraph, autograph, and photograph.
A finished model: the definition light, the words photograph, photosynthesis, and telephoto, and a sentence about a plant turning sunlight into food.
Students fill in the definition, words with the root, a drawn symbol, and a sentence.
The same four boxes for the root meaning self.
The same four boxes for the root meaning life.
The same four boxes for the root meaning write or draw.
One root a day
Do the photo model on Monday, then one new root each day. By Friday students have a full set to keep in their vocabulary notebooks.
Word hunt
Give pairs five minutes and a dictionary to find as many tele or bio words as they can before they fill in the box.
Connecting roots
Autobiography uses both auto and bio, and autograph uses auto and graph. Ask students to find words that fit two boxes at once.
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