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K–12 teaching and learning · from the UNC School of Education

Sequential vocabulary: Lesson I

Understanding words is necessary for success in every discipline. Learning to identify and define word parts empowers a student to unlock the meaning of unfamiliar words. This process teaches a life skill rather than memorization of definitions. Sequential Vocabulary: Lesson I is designed to be taught with Sequential Vocabulary: Lessons II, III, and IV.

A lesson plan for grade 9 English Language Arts

By Valerie Hendricks

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Learning outcomes

The students will identify and define prefixes through association of familiar words.

Teacher planning

Time required for lesson

1 hours

Materials/resources

  • any text which approaches the study of vocabulary by the teaching of word parts, such as The Word Within the Word, volumes one and two, by Michael C.L. Thompson (Trillium Press).
  • dictionary with etymology
  • Word List worksheet for each student

Pre-activities

  • Ask students to try to paraphrase the following sentence which appeared in The News and Observer: “The officials at RDU will collaborate on the minutia of repatriating the refugees from Kuwait.”
  • Wait a few minutes. Tell the students to identify the words that they are having difficulty defining.
  • Define the following word parts for the students:
    • col-: together or with
    • ate-: make or cause
    • mini-: small
    • re-: again
    • patri-: country
    • fug-: flee
  • Ask them to try again to paraphrase the sentence. The purpose of this pre-activity is to establish a need to learn.

Activities

  1. Give each student a copy of the Word List worksheet.
  2. Students brainstorm two association words which include each prefix. You may pair students.
  3. Students then compare as a class their association words. The teacher writes these association words beside the prefixes. Students may give some inappropriate association words which the teacher will have to eliminate and explain why the word does not work.
  4. Have students identify the definition of the prefix based on the word associations. Compare as a class the definitions. Use the Word List Key to clarify the definitions of the word parts to make sure that the students have the correct definitions.

Assessment

graded activities or teacher-made test

Supplemental information

Comments

Some enrichment activities are:

Vocabulary Illustrations

On a sheet of paper, each student writes an association word including one of the prefixes and label the definition of the prefix. The student illustrates the word’s meaning by drawing a picture. Make these colorful and display them in the classroom as reminders of the prefix definitions and association words.

Flash Cards

Students make a flash card for each of the prefixes in the lesson. A student writes an association word on an index card using markers. It is a good idea to write the prefix and the rest of the word in different colors. For example, for the word “precede,” “pre” would be written in red and “cede” would be blue. On the back, write the definition of the prefix and the definition of the association word. At least one flashcard should be produced for each prefix in the lesson. Students may want to see how many different association words they can think of to use for flash cards. These cards may be used for class or individual review.

Creating a Story

Students use 15-20 association words containing prefixes from this lesson to compose a story. The story may be silly or serious. If possible, you may want to relate the assignment to literary works or writing concepts you are teaching.

North Carolina Curriculum Alignment

English Language Arts (2004)

Grade 9

  • Goal 6: The learner will apply conventions of grammar and language usage.
    • Objective 6.01: Demonstrate an understanding of conventional written and spoken expression that:
      • uses varying sentence types (e.g., simple, compound, complex, compound-complex) purposefully, correctly, and for specific effect.
      • selects verb tense to show an appropriate sense of time.
      • applies parts of speech to clarify and edit language.
      • addresses clarity and style through such strategies as parallelism; appropriate coordination and subordination; variety and details; appropriate and exact words; and conciseness.
      • analyzes the place and role of dialects and standard/nonstandard English.
      • uses vocabulary strategies such as roots and affixes, word maps, and context clues to discern the meanings of words.