Root words can support vocabulary development. If you give students opportunities to repeatedly practice unfamiliar vocabulary, their word analysis skills will continue to develop. Teach students individually, in pairs, or in small groups in a variety of games and activities, based on their individual abilities and needs. Consider ways in which you could modify the following games and activities to benefit struggling students:
- The mix-and-match game using roots, prefixes, and suffixes
- A word search in social studies, science, and mathematics texts to find words with prefixes and suffixes
- Using Scrabble or Boggle tiles to form and re-form words
- Movement activities that involve students holding up cards with root words, prefixes, and suffixes and reordering themselves to make words
