Lyrics

Chorus
Words are power, and that’s the truth
Prefixes, suffixes, and they all got roots
Words are power, they run this town
So let’s run the track back, and break ‘em on down

Verse I
Let me break this down, we start with root words the truest
Not a full word, just a linguistic unit
You get a lot of room here to improvise
Visualize words of small size as I summarize
“aqua” means water, “ami” means love
“bio” means life, “hemo” means blood
“geo” means earth, and “vita” means life
Let’s hit the next topic so y’all can get it right

Chorus

Verse II
You want to know what’s next, it’s the prefix step
The initial portion of a term or object
Look at the word itself, it’s a two-part patch
“pre” means before, and “fix” is to attach
“anti-” means against, “inter-” means between
“poly-” means many, while “homo-” means the same
“pseudo-” means false, and “trans-” mean across
Prefixes start words, you should never take a loss

Chorus

Verse III
If prefixes come before, then what’s the next chapter
Suffixes follows root words, so they must come after
And while this may sound absurd
A suffix can also change the grammar function of a whole word
“Wait, from adjectives to adverbs?” Like clear into clearly
“But then child into childish?” It’s semantics, can you hear me?
“-ology” means study of, “-ism” is belief in
“-cide” means killing, and “-or” and “-er” mean demonstration
“-phobia” means fear of, “-kenisis” means movement
And that’s what it is, now you’re getting some improvement

Resources

Further Reading

Website: PrefixSuffix.com: English Language Roots Reference
English Language Roots, Suffixes and Syllables
This website provides comprehensive detailing of prefixes, suffixes and roots, and has section of links to other resources.

Lesson Plans & Activities

Website: Hot Chalk’s Lesson Plans Page
Vocabulary Puzzle
Using their knowledge of roots, students are asked to discover definitions of words.

Website: International Reading Association
Flip-a-Chip: Examining Affixes and Roots to Build Vocabulary
This classroom game focuses on filling in stories with the proper prefixes and suffixes.

Website: International Reading Association
Improve Comprehension Using a Word Card Game with Root Words and Affixes
In this lesson, students practice analyzing word meanings by learning root words and affixes. They work in a variety of ways with a list of about 20 common but challenging words to learn the definition and spelling of each. Then they get in small groups to design and play the Make-a-Word card game.

Website: Mr. Donn’s Language Arts
Word Analysis/Vocabulary
This section has a subsection called Prefixes/Suffixes that features informational links and activities.

Website: Scholastic
Bill Klepper, Fat Cat (PDF)
This PDF worksheet focuses on prefixes and root words.

Website: Scholastic
Bingo Lingo (PDF)
http://teacher.scholastic.com/reading/bestpractices/vocabulary/pdf/bingo_lingo.pdf
This bingo game enforces a strong knowledge of root words.