English lesson plan · 4th grade (Year 5 in England) · 60 minutes

Word families and word classes

Vocabulary

CCSS L.4.4.BCCSS L.5.4.BEngland: Y4 GPS (word families)England: KS2 SATs GPS

Objective and success criteria

Students will: Word families and word classes.

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: Prefixes and suffixes

Leads to: Same word, different job: noun, verb, adjective or adverb?; Make verbs with -ify, -ise/-ize, -ate and -en; Suffixes that change word class (-ness, -ous, -ify, -ly…)

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 · 6 min

Quick retrieval from earlier learning (Prefixes and suffixes). Students answer on mini whiteboards.
Show answers together and note who needs support in the main task.

Which prefix makes a real word from "visible", meaning "not" or "wrongly"? (invisible / disvisible / unvisible / imvisible) → invisiblePrompt: un-, dis-, mis-, in-, im-, il- and ir- can all mean 'not'.
What does this prefix mean? tri- (as in tricycle, triangle) (four / three / ten / two) → threePrompt: Look at the example words. What do they have in common?
What does this suffix mean? -ly (as in quickly, slowly) (in a way that is / full of / not / without) → in a way that isPrompt: Look at the example words.

Hook · 6 min

Show an interesting word in a sentence and ask what it might mean from the clues around it.
Share the objective: Word families and word classes. Read the success criteria together.

I do: model it · 12 min

Work through the example out loud, saying why you do each step, not just what you do.
Example: Choose the form of the word that fits the sentence. The ___ was cold and grey. (dark)
Step 1: Words in the same family share a root but belong to different word classes.
Step 2: The gap needs a noun.
Step 3: Put it back into the sentence and read it aloud: "The darkness was cold and grey."
Step 4: So the answer is: darkness
Answer: darkness
Pause after each step and ask a student to say what comes next.

We do: guided practice · 12 min

Do these together. Students try each step on whiteboards before you reveal it.
Use the hints as prompts rather than giving the answer.

Choose the form of the word that fits the sentence. The ___ of the tower is 50 metres. (high) (height / high / highly / heighten) → heightPrompt: What job does the gap do: a thing (noun), describing (adjective), action (verb) or how (adverb)?
Choose the form of the word that fits the sentence. The ___ was cold and grey. (dark) (dark / darkness / darken / darkly) → darknessPrompt: What job does the gap do: a thing (noun), describing (adjective), action (verb) or how (adverb)?

You do: independent practice · 17 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 · 7 min

Two questions on their own. Sort answers into got it / nearly / not yet to plan the next lesson.

Choose the form of the word that fits the sentence. Her ___ to help was kind. (decide) (decisive / decisively / decide / decision) → decisionPrompt: What job does the gap do: a thing (noun), describing (adjective), action (verb) or how (adverb)?
Choose the form of the word that fits the sentence. He spoke ___ about his trip. (excite) (excited / excitedly / excite / excitement) → excitedlyPrompt: What job does the gap do: a thing (noun), describing (adjective), action (verb) or how (adverb)?

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: Prefixes and suffixes.
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: Same word, different job: noun, verb, adjective or adverb?; Make verbs with -ify, -ise/-ize, -ate and -en; Suffixes that change word class (-ness, -ous, -ify, -ly…).
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