Ashleigh's Education Journey

Helpful 3rd – 5th Grade Teaching Resources


  • Math


  • Reading


  • Writing


  • Social Studies


  • Science


  • Holidays


  • Test Prep

  • Home
  • Blog
    • General Ideas
    • Holidays
    • Literacy
    • Management/Organization
    • Math
    • Science
    • Social Studies
  • Shop
    • My account
    • My Downloads
    • My Cart
    • Checkout
    • Shop on TpT
  • About
  • Free Resources
  • Contact

5 Ways to Teach Prefixes and Suffixes

July 25, 2021 by Ashleigh | 5 Comments

5 ways to teach prefixes and suffixes

Lessons to teach prefixes and suffixes used to be one of those things I saved until the end of the year and would try to squeeze in right before testing.

I don’t recommend that strategy. Mainly because it doesn’t work, at least not well. I have no doubt that my students left my classroom and almost immediately forgot everything I crammed in during those few lessons.

It also does a disservice to students because they didn’t have the opportunity to apply what they learned about affixes in their reading throughout the year. I shouldn’t prefixes and suffixes for the sole purpose of a state test. I should teach them so that my students develop as readers.

That change in mindset changes things. We should begin teaching prefixes and suffixes much earlier in the school year, and we shouldn’t teach them in isolation. Instead, we can incorporate prefixes and suffixes routinely into our instruction.

This blog post shares five ways you can teach prefixes and suffixes to your students, so that you can see evidence of their understanding in their reading and writing.

In this post:

  • Introduce Prefixes and Suffixes
  • Prefix and Suffix of the Week
  • Prefix and Suffix Scribble Notes
  • Online Games
  • Reading Passages
  • Prefix and Suffix Freebies

Introduce Prefixes and Suffixes

I introduce prefixes and suffixes with picture books and an anchor chart. After my initial instruction, I don’t expect students to master the concept, but I do want them to have a general understanding of prefixes and suffixes. I also like to show a brief Brain Pop movie for a little extra reinforcement. My students typicaly enjoy Pre- and Re-, Mis- and Dis-: What Is a Prefix? and -Ful and -Less, -Er and -Ness: What Is a Suffix?

Prefix and Suffix of the Week

It’s overwhelming and unrealistic for students to grasp a huge number of prefixes and suffixes in a short period of time. A great solution is to introduce one prefix or suffix a week to students. For just a minute or two each day, you can discuss the affix and practice using it in a sentence. You can display the Prefix and Suffix of the Week in many different ways, and it makes a great interactive bulletin board.

It's not the most fun and exciting thing to teach about prefixes, suffixes, and root words, and we all know that. Regardless, we have to try to find a way to make teaching affixes fun and engaging for our students! This blog post shares five ways to teach prefixes and suffixes that help build student engagement and interest. Click through to read about these five teaching ideas!

When I used a black background, I didn’t like the chalkboard version, so I went back to the original. I’m always changing, which is why so many of my products include different options!

It's not the most fun and exciting thing to teach about prefixes, suffixes, and root words, and we all know that. Regardless, we have to try to find a way to make teaching affixes fun and engaging for our students! This blog post shares five ways to teach prefixes and suffixes that help build student engagement and interest. Click through to read about these five teaching ideas!

Prefix and Suffix Scribble Notes

Any student who has ever been in my classroom knows that I love notebooks and journals. If there’s a way to turn a concept or lesson into a notebook, I’ll find it! Prefix and Suffix Scribble Notes are a great way to introduce and review popular prefixes and suffixes in an engaging and student friendly format.

Each page includes pictures, examples, and interactive tasks for the particular prefix or suffix. The pages are organized by the meaning of the prefix or suffix, so there is frequently more than one prefix or suffix on a page. For example, the prefixes on Page 1 include dis-, de-, and anti- which all mean opposite or against.

You may move through the booklet at your own pace or the pace best suited for your students, so there is no need to spend a specific amount of time on each page. You may skip around or follow the order of the booklet. Of course, to get the biggest benefit, you can introduce the words for your prefix or suffix of the week to go another with the booklet.

Online Games

There are also some fun online games, such as Fun English Games, that you can use to review prefixes and suffixes. The website indicates that the game is for second grade, but I’ve found that this is the most engaging game for students.

It's not the most fun and exciting thing to teach about prefixes, suffixes, and root words, and we all know that. Regardless, we have to try to find a way to make teaching affixes fun and engaging for our students! This blog post shares five ways to teach prefixes and suffixes that help build student engagement and interest. Click through to read about these five teaching ideas!

Reading Passages

These Prefix and Suffix Reading Passages take the rigor up a bit. This allows you to incorporate prefixes and suffixes into your reading instruction with student friendly reading passages. Each set of passages is organized by either two prefixes or two suffixes.

In each passage:

  • Students identify and sort examples of the focused prefix or suffix.
  • Solve three multiple choice comprehension questions.
  • Retell the story with the beginning, middle, and end.
  • Write examples of each prefix or suffix.
  • Use the prefixes or suffixes in a sentence.

Prefix and Suffix Freebies

I occasionally have students complete a prefix or suffix worksheet or graphic organizer. I don’t try to do this with every word we study, but I do like to give some prefixes or suffixes extra reinforcement. In this graphic organizer, students write the prefix of suffix in the center of the oval and words that use the prefix or suffix in the surrounding spaces. If students can’t think of enough examples, they can write a word in a sentence or give the definition of the prefix or suffix.

Free prefix and suffix graphic organizer

A fun review activity is to have students complete a scavenger hunt for prefixes and suffixes. I made separate forms for each, rather than combining prefixes and suffixes. You can download the graphic organizer and scavenger hunt for FREE here.

Free prefix and suffix scavenger hunt

I hope you’re able to use some of these ideas for teaching prefixes and suffixes!

Share this:

  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)

Related Posts

Subscribe!

GET RESOURCES STRAIGHT TO YOUR INBOX!

I’m Ashleigh!

Hi everyone! I'm Ashleigh, and I'm thrilled that you're here! I'm currently working on my 11th year teaching, which absolutely blows my mind! I can't believe I've been teaching for one-third of my life! … Read More…

Comments

  1. kristen says

    February 17, 2022 at 2:18 PM

    Hi Ashleigh,
    I wanted to print your prefix/suffix scavenger hunt to use with my daughter, but the link is not working. Can you help me?

    Reply
    • Ashleigh says

      March 15, 2022 at 6:23 AM

      I updated the link, so it’s working now!

      Reply
  2. Nada says

    March 14, 2022 at 11:55 PM

    Hi, the free scavenger hunt link won’t open, is there a way you could email it to me or repost it so that it is easier to access. I am very interested in using it! Thank you1

    Reply
    • Ashleigh says

      March 15, 2022 at 6:23 AM

      I updated the link, so you should be all set!

      Reply
  3. Nada says

    March 15, 2022 at 2:20 PM

    Thank you so much!

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Access to Freebie Library

Success! Now check your email to receive the password to my free resource library!

There was an error submitting your subscription. Please try again.

  • Bloglovin
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
3rd Grade Math Bundle Sidebar Feature

Looking for something?

Or Browse by Category

  • Back to School
  • Comprehension
  • Distance Learning
  • End of Year
  • Freebies
  • Games
  • General Ideas & Resources
  • Holidays
  • Literacy
  • Lower Elementary
  • Management/Organization
  • Math
  • Science
  • Social Studies
  • Test Prep
  • Uncategorized
  • Upper Elementary
  • Writing

Follow by Email


  • Math


  • Reading


  • Writing


  • Social Studies


  • Science


  • Holidays


  • Test Prep

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter

Copyright © 2023 · Kate On Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in