Latin Roots Lesson

 

Alana Asks: What is Water Pollution? 

Recognizing Word Roots   

Summary  ●

Subject(s):​ Latin Word Roots 

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Topic or Unit of Study: ​Water Pollution Unit (Alana Asks: What is Water Pollution?)  ○

Day 3 of a Shared Reading Unit 

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Grade/Level:​ 4th Grade Intermediate ESL 

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Objective:   ○

Students should be able to recognize that some words have the same part that  contributes to their meaning, and identify these parts as roots. 

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Students should be able to identify some common latin roots. 

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Students should be able to categorize words based on known latin roots. 

Aim:  ○

What are latin roots? 

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How can roots of words help us understand their meaning? 

Time Allotment: ​90 minutes  Key Vocabulary:   ○

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root, horrendous, horrible, horrific, horrifying 

Materials:  ○

Large copies of picture and diagram from Appendix A, or SmartBoard on which to  project it. 

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Copies of Blank Tree Diagram (Appendix B x number of students) 

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Copies of the Latin Roots Cards, with and without pictures and definitions 

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Pens/Pencils for the students 

Implementation  Learning Context  Students will have read the story, ​Alana Asks: What is Water Pollution?, ​twice already in the days  prior. They will be familiar with the storyline, its characters, and its structure, and will have hear  the words in it several times already. They are also familiar with the Think-Pair-Share protocol.   1 

   

Procedure  a. Anticipatory Set  a. Put a drawing of a tree on the board, and point at the roots. Ask students if they  know what they are called and what they do. Explain that a root is where the rest  of the tree grows from, so all the branches rely on a root to grow.    b. Direct Instruction  a. Then, put the Tree Diagram (Appendix A) on the board. Explain that, like branches,  sometimes words have roots that they grew from. Words are created over time,  and some of them are created by taking a piece that means something, called a  root, and adding to it to make a bigger meaning. Today we’re going to be looking  at a few different roots starting with the one on the chart.    b. Point out the root on the chart, and ask students whether they see a connection  between the “horror” branch and the “horr-” root. You just want them to connect  that you can see the letter pattern in the bigger word.  c. Guided Practice  a. Once you feel the students have a grasp on it, say “As we read about Water  Pollution, I’d like you to look out for words that you think would be connected to  this root. If you see one, please raise your hand.”  b. Start reading through the book, and as students notice the words, add them to the  tree organizer. As you add them, say them aloud, and have students repeat them.  Then ask them to talk about what they think it means based on context clues.  c. After completing the tree organizer, discuss it with students. Ask them about why  the words are grouped together. You want them to know the words all belong to  the same root because they all have the root in it. If it helps students, circle the  root in all of the words.  d. Then write the definition of “horror” on the board ( “​an intense feeling of fear,  shock, or disgust”). If it is unfamiliar you may want to use exaggerated facial  expressions to help the students understand the definition. Have students  Think-Pair-Share about what they think the word meanings might have in  common. When the students come to a general consensus, explain the story of  the root. In this case, it is that Latin, a language English is based on had a word  that was “horr” which meant to shake or tremble, which is what people do when  they feel upset, scared, or surprised. So, our words all have meanings related to  those feelings.  e. Independent Practice 

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    a. Students will be split into groups of four, and given a list of four words with the  same root. They will be asked to write the words in the branches of the blank tree  diagram and together they will decide what they think the root of the word is.  b. Once they find the root word give their group the definitions and, for groups you  feel need it, say the words out loud so they can hear them before being asked to  work with them further. Each student should read a word and its definition out  loud, then together they should discuss the possible meaning of the root.  f.

Closing  a. Have students briefly share their ideas across groups, so that each group is  exposed to both roots.  b. Ask students why they think knowing roots may be important and how it can help  them. Lead them toward the understanding that understanding of word roots can  help you when you come across an unfamiliar word. 

Following Lessons  After this lesson, the students should be encouraged to recognize roots in their reading, and  should be introduced to new ones while having ample practice with the ones they know. A  follow-up activity to engage the class could be to give each student a different word, and have  them try to find other students with a word root in common, create their word tree, and present it  to the class. When they learn more roots, they can eventually play a game identifying what root a  word has, or in guessing the meanings of words based on their roots. The teacher should take  care to point out any words from roots they know when they come up in reading. 

Differentiated Instruction  a. Visual Learners: Using the tree chart and the pictures on the card should help visual  learners see and remember the connections and the meanings more easily.  b. Auditory Learners: Auditory learners will hear the words they are working with out loud,  and will be asked to repeat them and to engage in discussion with others.  c. Kinesthetic Learners: Writing the words in the chart and circling the common root and  shifting/flipping the flashcards with the definitions during the activity will help kinesthetic  learners stay engaged and learn the relationships between elements in the chart.  d. Advanced Learners: Advanced learners can be engaged in helping other students in their  group understand the topic, or may be allowed to think further in the topic. (For example,  you can give them another root such as “tele-” and ask them to think of words in it, or you  can see if they can simply connect words they know on their own.) 

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    e. Shy/Low-Speaking-Level/Autistic Learners: Students who have trouble or are  uncomfortable sharing ideas with others can be provided with a list of sentence starters  for group conversation, or can be instructed to write out any ideas they had but didn’t  share. 

Assessment  Assessment will be conducted by observation of the students, in accordance with the included  observation checklist. (Appendix C)   

 

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Appendix A: 

 

 

 

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Appendix B: 

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What do you think is the root of all the words I gave you? Write it in the box. 

2. What do you think that root might mean? What do the word meanings have in common?     

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    Appendix C:  ❏ Student filled out Tree Chart properly:  ❏ Words are written in the branches.  ❏ Words have their root circled.  ❏ Correct root is written in the bottom box.  ❏ Student can explain the Root-Word relationship:  ❏ Understands Root is related to the word’s meaning.  ❏ Understands Root is contained within the word.  ❏ Student engages in the group work:  ❏ Reads their word and its definition aloud.  ❏ Engages in respectful conversation about their thoughts.  

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