Teaching PREfixes

One of our SMART goals at BHS this year involves teaching students strategies for deciphering the meaning of words. An easy strategy is to teach students to look at the parts of a word--prefix, root, suffix.

Video Resource

Teaching students the meanings of common prefixes and suffixes can help them unpack meaning when they encounter a word they don't know. Here's a great [2:45] video you might use to introduce this strategy to students:

Common Prefixes

Which prefixes should students learn? Start by having students notice prefixes they encounter in your class. Consider creating an anchor chart or word wall to display prefixes and their meanings. Add to it has students encounter new prefixes. Periodically, engage students in quick activities that have them "play with" these prefixes:  work with a partner to make a list of words that start with a prefix; draw a pic to illustrate the meaning; stand with a partner and in 10 seconds see how many words you can name with a given prefix. The more students work with these prefixes, the more likely they are to really learn them and retain in long-term memory.

As students encounter words in your class with prefixes they've been learning, have them try to figure out the meaning of the words.

Here are more resources you might find helpful:

• Most Commonly Used Prefixes (source claims these make up 97% of prefixed words)
• Most Common Prefixes (for K-8th grade)
• A Massive List

If you find other helpful resources, please share via comments.