Root webs and flash cards allow students to connect root words to their meanings using pictures, definitions and examples. To create a root web, students place the root in the middle of an index card and draw a circle around it. Students draw four lines coming off the circle and put the following information at the end of one of the lines: definition of the root, a picture representing the root, two words that contain the root and the origin of the root. For root flash cards, students place the root on one side of an index card and a picture representing the root or the definition of the root on the other side.
Using word roots, students can create their own new words. Have students combine roots to create at least five new words and use those words in a sentence or challenge them to use all of the words in a short story. After creating the new words, students read their sentences to the other students at their station and see if they can guess the meaning of the new words. For more advanced students, prefixes and suffixes can be thrown into the mix to help students create even more complex words.
Write a few paragraphs for students to read that contain multiple words with the particular word roots students are learning about. Share with students how many words containing those roots are in the piece and challenge students to work together to find those words in the piece and highlight the word roots they find. After finding the words, have students read the piece again and ask them to write a short response explaining whether knowing the word roots helped them understand the piece better.
Provide students with words that are likely to be unfamiliar but contain the word roots students have studied in class. Using their knowledge of prefixes, suffixes and word roots, ask students to break up the words to determine their meanings. Have students rewrite the words on index cards making each part of the word a different color and write the student-determined definition on the back of the card. Once students have determined the meanings of all of the words, have them use a dictionary to check their answers.
Online games help students practice using word roots in an interactive way. In FunBrain's "Rooting Out Words," students answer multiple choice questions about the meaning of root words. Students can choose to play the game at four different levels of difficulty and are simply given a root and asked what it means or given a sentence related to the root and asked to choose the correct word using that root. Scholastic's "It's Greek to Me" helps students understand Greek's influence on the English language by quizzing them on the meaning of common Greek roots.