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CreateBetterWriters.comPresents the

“I Can’t Believe We’re Giving This Away”Newsletter

Volume 3, Issue 1

Special Interest Articles:

• Book Review –English fromthe Roots Up

• Greek and LatinRoots Worksheets

Individual Highlights:

Free Worksheets:Greek andLatin RootsExplanation 1-4

Book Review –English fromthe Roots Up 4-5

WorkshopInformation 6

Root WordsWorksheet #1 7

Root Words:List of FifteenGreek andLatin Roots 8-9

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Free Worksheets: Greek and Latin Root Words

When it comes tovocabulary development for ourstudents, the phrase “work smarter,not harder” definitely applies.There are thousands, uponthousands, of words in the Englishlanguage. Obtaining a workingknowledge of these words can be anoverwhelming task.

If the average student isexposed to twenty words a week,they will have studied over sevenhundred words by the end of theschool year. How many of thosewords will they really remember?

What if you can teach yourstudents thousands of words simplyby memorizing one hundred rootwords? If your students couldmemorize one hundred root words,they would have access tothousands of powerful vocabularywords. This would be workingsmarter, not harder.

An excellent example of thistheory is illustrated by an eventinvolving a friend of mine

from college and me. We werestudying together, and we cameacross a title that said “VerbumDei”. Having gone to a Catholicschool of the same name, he knewexactly what this phrase meant.Smugly, he asked, “Do you knowwhat this phrase means?”Having just taught the word“verbum”, meaning “word”, to myclass I immediately had a clue. Ialready knew that “dei” meant“God” (from deity). Therefore, Ideduced that the phrase meant“Word of God”. My friend was impressedthat I knew the phrase. However, Iam even more impressed when I seemy students go beyond the lessonsthey’ve learned from these onehundred Greek and Latin words.Not only have I seen my studentsuse their knowledge of the rootwords that we’ve learned, they havelearned to look for word originscompletely on their own just as Ihad done.

Several students from every

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MC Publications MonthlyPage 2 of 9

class I’ve taught will go beyond memorizing the words I give them. When looking

up unfamiliar words, it becomes standard procedure to look for the origin of the

word. (A good dictionary will have word origins listed within the definition.)

Root Words Worksheets

This first worksheet was created to go with

the book English from the Roots Up. (See the book

review in this newsletter.) This book lists a

hundred root words, their definitions, and English

words that are derived from them.

As you can see from the worksheets, I’ve

typed fifteen roots. You have the roots’ definitions

and three words that come from that root.

Although this list will give you a good start, I

highly recommend purchasing a copy of English

from the Roots Up.

The first worksheet has the students put the

root word at the top followed by the definition. The

students are then asked to write the definition of the

words.

Next, the students are to draw a study picture

to help them remember the definitions of the words.

The study picture should help them remember the

definition of the word. For example, for “photos”,

the students might draw a photograph of a light bulb.

This will help them remember that “photos” means

“light”. Finally, the students practice using the new

words they’ve learned within a sentence.

I recommend going one step further. Have the students put the root word

and vocabulary words on flash-cards as they complete the worksheet.

The students keep their flashcards in baggies. Each week, as they learn new words,

they will accumulate many flashcards. After the students have

Free Worksheets: Greek and Latin RootWords

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Page 3 of 9MC Publications Monthly

learned ten words, create a test. The

students will study all of their

flashcards which will help keep all the

words fresh in their minds.

Weekly Procedure

The posters below hang in my

classroom. Every morning, as my

students enter the classroom, my

students have a “smart start” procedure

that they follow. While I take roll,

collect notes, check homework, etc...

the students automatically do several

tasks. One of these tasks is the root

word activity.

poster. On Wednesday and Thursday

the students complete the next root

word. (The same root word worksheet

is copied on the back of the paper.) On

Fridays, the students make the

flashcards. In ten minutes a day, the

students are learning two root words

and four strong vocabulary words that

are derived from that root.

Free Worksheets: Greek and Latin RootWords

On Monday and Tuesday, the

students complete the first worksheet

with whatever root word is on the

At the end of five weeks, the

students have learned ten root words

and twenty strong vocabulary words.

In the sixth week, we take a break from

learning new root words. Instead, these

thirty words become their spelling list

for the week. The students use the ten

minutes of their smart start time to

Page 4 of 9

Grade 3Grade 4Grade 5Grade 6Grades 7-8

Home School Edition

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Book Review – English from the Roots Up Joegil Lundquist

the area of vocabulary

development.

At the heart of this

book are the one

hundred Greek and

Latin roots. Each root is listed in

large print on its own page. The

definition is clearly listed below the

word along with six or seven words

that are derived from that root.

The definitions of these words are

cleverly written. The definitions are

written in such a way that the

The free lesson worksheets in

this newsletter are based on the book

English From the Roots Up. It has

been an invaluable part of my

classroom instruction for well over a

decade. It has always been my

philosophy that students need to

become life long learners. Additionally,

students need to learn to take charge of

their own learning, rather than

depending on teachers to hand them

knowledge. To that end, English from

the Roots Up helps meet these goals in

consuming. However, a few good

parent volunteers would make quick

work for this task.

The second option would be to type

the root words on paper much like the

list I’ve given to you here. You can

have the students keep the list in a

folder. All the students would need to

do is take the list out every morning

and use it as a reference.

For more excellent ways of building

your students vocabulary skills, look

for The Complete Writing Program at

CreateBetterWriters.com.

Free Worksheets: Greek and Latin RootWordsstudy their flashcards. On Friday, they

take a spelling and vocabulary test on

the words. For added benefit, have the

students use any five of the new words

in a sentence.

Materials Needed

To prepare your class for this

assignment, there are two things that

you can do. First, you can put each

word on a poster or flip chart as shown

in the pictures on the previous page.

Over the school year you can go

through over sixty root words requiring

sixty posters. This can be time

Page 5 of 9

English fromthe Roots Up

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“Just in case the

definitions are not

clear enough, you

are then given

teacher’s notes that

give you more

background on the

words.”

students can see how the definitions

of the root words apply to the

meaning of the new words. For

example, the first root word is

“photos”, meaning “light”. One of

the words that derive from “photos”

is “phototropic”. The definition gives

the meaning of “tropos”, meaning “to

turn”. Next, you see that

“phototropic” means “turning toward

light”.

Just in case the definitions are

not clear enough, you are then given

teacher’s notes that give you more

background about the words. In the

case of “phototropic”, the author

explains that phototropic is a property

of plants that compels leaves to turn

toward light for

food. Additionally,

the author even

gives you ideas that

will help you illustrate the words

more clearly for your students.

If all that weren’t enough, you

get several more wonderful features.

Each page lists several more words

that come from that root. These

words are not as common, but still

provide a deeper insight to each root.

The book also includes a list of the

letters in the Greek

alphabet along with a

pronunciation key. The

pronunciation key will

help make sure that you pronounce

the root words correctly. Finally, you

receive two separate indices. The

first gives you a list of all the root

words in the book listed in the order

presented. The second index lists all

sixty-three Latin roots and thirty-

seven Greek roots in alphabetical

order.

If you have read the

explanation of the worksheets in this

newsletter, you have seen how I’ve

made this book as accessible as

possible for my students. You’ve

been given a sample of some of the

roots from this book, but I highly

recommend that you receive all one

hundred words. By learning one

word a week, your students will now

have access to thousands of words. If

you are home schooling your

children, you have the luxury of time.

Within a few years your children will

have a very strong language base.

Book Review – English from the Roots Up

Page 6 of 9

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* Idioms – Part IV

* Book Review: Mindful of Others

Workshops Available - Reading / Writing / Grammar

If your school or district is

looking for powerful staff

development, David Dye is a teacher /

trainer who has written seven books

and presented all over the country.

Workshops can be designed to meet

the specific needs of your staff. His

specialties include writing, reading,

grammar, English language learning,

and differentiated instruction.

Outside of Southern

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arranged on weekends and in the

summer. Summer workshops are

available from late June through late

August.

To arrange a workshop, or for

more information, please call (562)

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[email protected]

Root Words

Root Word - ___________________________________ Greek / Latin

Definition - _____________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________

2 Words: Definition

1. _______________________ - _____________________________________________

_____________________________________________

2. _______________________ - _____________________________________________

_____________________________________________

Picture Dictionary

Words in a Sentence

1. ______________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________

2. ______________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________

CreateBetterWriters.com

Root Word Word #1 Word #2

Greet and LatinRoot Words

1. photos (G) – lightphotograph – picture drawn by lighttelephoto – light from far awayphotosynthesis – putting together using light

2. graph (G) – to write or drawphonograph – writing soundgraphite – black carbon used for writingautograph – writing one’s own name

3. metron (G) – measuregeometry – measurement of the earthbarometer – device that measures air pressurethermometer – device that measures heat

4. philia (G) – love, friendshipphilosopher – one who loves wisdomphilanthropist – one who loves his fellow manAnglophile - one who loves England

5. phobos (G) – fearphobia – irrational fearclaustrophobia – fear of closed placeshydrophobia – fear of water

6. phone (G) – soundeuphony – good or pleasant soundmegaphone – device that makes sound loudersymphony – many sounds put together forming music

7. sonus (L) – soundsonar – device that hears sound under watersonata – music with no lyrics made from three or four movementssonic – relating to sound waves

8. verbum (L) – wordverb – action wordproverb – wise wordverbose – a lot of talking (words)

9. nomen (L) – namenominate – to suggest someone’s name for officenominal – in name only; not realdenomination – names of categories

10. manus (L) - handmanufacture – to make by handmanuscript – written by handmanual – to operate by hand

11. pedis (L) – footpedestal – the foot of a columnpedicure – to care for the footpedestrian – someone who walks

12. corpus (L) – body corpse – dead body corporation – a legally formed group or body corpuscle – small part of the body

13. pyro (G) – firepyrotechnics – fireworkspyromanic – a crazy person who plays with firepyrite – stone used to make fire (a.k.a. “Fool’s Gold”)

14. hydros (G) – waterhydrophobia – fear of the waterhydroelectric – electricity produced by moving waterdehydrate – take water away

15. aqua (L) – wateraquarium – tank of water where fish and plants can liveaqueduct – a structure that brings water where it is neededAquarius – a constellation called “Water Carrier”

Latin Numbers:unus 1, duo 2, tres 3, quattuor 4, quinque 5, octo 8, centum 100, mille 1000