English lesson plan · 4th grade (Year 5 in England) · 45 minutes
Prefixes and suffixes
Vocabulary
CCSS L.3.4.BCCSS L.4.4.BEngland: Y3/4 GPS (prefixes)England: Y5/6 GPS (suffixes)England: KS2 SATs GPS
Objective and success criteria
Students will: Prefixes and suffixes.
- I can answer questions on today's skill on my own, without help.
- I can explain each step and say why it works.
- I can check my answer and spot a mistake.
Before and after
Needs first: Synonyms
Leads to: Word families and word classes; Greek and Latin roots; What prefixes mean: pre-, sub-, inter-, trans- and more
Materials: Word cards, A thesaurus or dictionary, A short text with the target words, Mini whiteboards, A short model text on the board, Printed student sheet (below).
Warm-up · 5 min
- Quick retrieval from earlier learning (Synonyms). Students answer on mini whiteboards.
- Show answers together and note who needs support in the main task.
- Which word means the SAME as "big"? (tiny / large / soft / quick) → largePrompt: A synonym has the same or nearly the same meaning.
- Which word is closest in meaning to "conceal"? (hide / reveal / destroy / defend) → hidePrompt: One of the choices means the opposite. Don't be tricked!
- Choose the word that best fits the clue in brackets. The ___ dog barked at the gate. (large) (thin / huge / quiet / tiny) → hugePrompt: Read the clue in brackets carefully.
Hook · 5 min
- Show an interesting word in a sentence and ask what it might mean from the clues around it.
- Share the objective: Prefixes and suffixes. Read the success criteria together.
I do: model it · 10 min
- Work through the example out loud, saying why you do each step, not just what you do.
- Example: Which prefix makes a real word from "spell", meaning "not" or "wrongly"?
- Step 1: A prefix is added to the start of a word to change its meaning.
- Step 2: 'mis-' means 'wrongly'.
- Step 3: So the answer is: misspell
- Answer: misspell
- Pause after each step and ask a student to say what comes next.
We do: guided practice · 10 min
- Do these together. Students try each step on whiteboards before you reveal it.
- Use the hints as prompts rather than giving the answer.
- Which prefix makes a real word from "spell", meaning "not" or "wrongly"? (inspell / unspell / misspell / disspell) → misspellPrompt: un-, dis-, mis-, in-, im-, il- and ir- can all mean 'not'.
- What does this prefix mean? auto- (as in autograph, autopilot) (water / far away / sound / self) → selfPrompt: Look at the example words. What do they have in common?
You do: independent practice · 10 min
- Students work on the student sheet. Circulate and check the first two answers of every student early.
- Students who finish: write a question of their own for a partner, with the answer.
The 8 questions are on the student sheet below, with answers in the key.
Exit ticket · 5 min
- Two questions on their own. Sort answers into got it / nearly / not yet to plan the next lesson.
- What does this prefix mean? bi- (as in bicycle, biplane) (two / three / many / one) → twoPrompt: Look at the example words. What do they have in common?
- What does this suffix mean? -ology (as in biology, geology) (full of / the study of / fear of / small) → the study ofPrompt: Look at the example words.
Watch out for
- Picking a "bigger" synonym that doesn't fit the meaning.
- Ignoring the clues in the rest of the sentence.
Support and stretch
Support
- Review first: Synonyms.
- Use concrete materials: word cards.
- Give the first step of each question, or a partly worked example to finish.
- Pair with a confident partner for the guided practice.
Stretch
- Move on to: Word families and word classes; Greek and Latin roots; What prefixes mean: pre-, sub-, inter-, trans- and more.
- Explain a common mistake in writing and how to fix it.
- Write a word problem that uses today's skill, then solve a partner's.
Homework and more practice
Free online practice with hints and printable worksheets for this skill: eurekami.com/english/grade-4.
Free lesson plan from eurekami.com/lesson-plan-builder