📖 ReadingGrade 5Lesson 1
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Analyze Greek and Latin Roots

  1. 1Print it first. Read it once together and talk it through.
  2. 2Exercises on paper, then correct together with the answer key.
  3. 3Next day: a 10-minute review here on screen saves progress.

What you will learn

  • 1Analyze Greek and Latin roots in multi-syllable words
  • 2Combine roots with prefixes and suffixes to decode meaning
  • 3Distinguish between similar roots that share or differ in meaning
  • 4Apply root analysis to infer the meaning of unfamiliar academic vocabulary
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Mini Lesson

Most academic English vocabulary is built from Greek and Latin roots, so many English words have a cognate in Spanish, French, or Italian. A root carries the core meaning, while prefixes shift it and suffixes change its grammatical role. When you analyze a long word into its parts, you can often decode its meaning even if you have never seen the word before.

Greek roots — building blocks of science and ideas

  • graph (write / draw) — autograph, polygraph, seismograph, choreography
  • phon (sound) — phonics, polyphonic, cacophony, megaphone
  • bio (life) — biology, biome, antibiotic, symbiosis
  • geo (earth) — geology, geothermal, geopolitics
  • tele (far) — telephone, telescope, telegraph

Latin roots — building blocks of action and law

  • port (carry) — transport, deport, portable, rapport
  • dict (say / tell) — predict, contradict, verdict, dictate
  • rupt (break) — interrupt, erupt, disrupt, bankrupt
  • aud (hear) — audience, auditorium, audible, audition
  • scrib / script (write) — describe, transcript, manuscript, prescription
  • vid / vis / spect (see / look) — video, visible, evidence, spectator, inspect
  • mit / miss (send) — transmit, dismiss, omit, admission
Worked example

Take the word spectator and break it into its parts.

What does spectator literally mean?

Answer:"One who looks" — root spect (look) + suffix -ator (one who).

Now try the same method on misanthrope: mis (hate) + anthrop (human) = "one who hates humans."

Words to know

root

The base part of a word that carries its core meaning.

e.g. The Latin root "port" means carry, as in transport and portable.

prefix

A word part attached to the beginning of a root that modifies its meaning.

e.g. The prefix "trans-" means across, as in transport.

suffix

A word part attached to the end of a root that often signals its part of speech.

e.g. The suffix "-able" turns a verb into an adjective: portable.

morpheme

The smallest unit of language that carries meaning.

e.g. "Un-", "happy", and "-ness" are three morphemes in unhappiness.

cognate

A word that shares a root or origin with a word in another language.

e.g. "Familia" in Spanish is a cognate of "family" in English.

academic vocabulary

Words used frequently in textbooks and formal writing.

e.g. "Hypothesis" and "analyze" are academic vocabulary.

Anatomy of a WordAnatomy of a Word: TRANSPORTATIONtransportationprefixacrossrootcarrysuffixsuffixactionthe act of carryingsomething across
Roots Family WheelRoots Family WheelSCRIBwritedescribetranscriptmanuscriptprescribeinscribescribbleOne root, many academic words.
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When you meet a long word, peel it like an onion: take off the prefix, take off the suffix, and look at the root in the middle. The root almost always carries the central clue.

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Guided Practice

Read the story. As you read, notice how Sofia analyzes each word into prefix + root + suffix. How does this method help you understand new vocabulary?

Mini-book

The Word Etymologist

Tap Open to start →

Cover

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Exercises

Tap a tile, then tap a slot. Build each academic word from its morpheme parts.

Build the word that means "light writing" — a picture taken with a camera.

Tile bank

Build the word for a device that carries sound from far away — built from "far" + "sound".

Tile bank

Build the word for "the study of life" — used as the name of a science subject.

Tile bank

Build the word for a book of "word sayings" — used to look up meanings.

Tile bank

Build the word that means "writing about the Earth" — used for the study of maps and continents.

Tile bank

Build the word for a "carry-able" object — small enough to take anywhere.

Tile bank

Use the root meaning given to complete each word.

1
A scientist who studies living things — using the root bio (life) — works in the field of logy.
2
A device that records earthquakes — using the root graph (write) — is called a seismo.
3
A handwritten document — using the root scrib/script (write) — is called a manu.
4
When two people argue against each other — using the root dict (say) — they contra one another.
5
A camera that captures moving images — using the root vid/vis (see) — records eo.
6
When a volcano violently breaks open — using the root rupt (break) — it es.
7
A signal sent from one tower to another — using the root mit/miss (send) — is transted.
8
A person watching a game — using the root spect (look) — is called a ator.

Pick the best answer.

1. In the word "biography," which two roots combine, and what does the word literally mean?

2. Which word does NOT contain the root "spect" meaning "look"?

3. A "polygraph" is a device that detects lies by recording physical signals. Using the roots, what does the word literally mean?

4. The roots "vid" and "vis" both mean "see." Which sentence uses a "vid/vis" word correctly?

5. You meet the new word "audiologist." Using roots, what is the BEST inference?

6. Which set of words ALL share the same root meaning?

7. Why is knowing roots especially useful in Grade 5 reading?

8. The word "transmission" combines which parts?

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Parent Checklist

For the parent: after correcting together, check off what your child has really understood

Lesson 2: Use Context to Infer Meanings →
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