What is this skill?
A root is a piece of a word, usually from Greek or Latin, that carries a core meaning. English borrowed hundreds of them, and a handful unlock a surprising number of long words. If bio means life and graph means write or draw, then biography is the writing of a life, and photograph is a drawing made with light. Fifth graders are expected to use roots to make a reasonable guess at an unfamiliar word.
The practice uses ten roots. Each question gives the root and its meaning, then asks about a word: bio (biology), graph (autograph), port (transport), tele (telescope), aud (audience), dict (predict), scrib (prescribes), geo (geography), photo (photosynthesis) and auto (automatic). Further questions ask which word most likely means a life story written by someone else, what audible means, what portable luggage is, and why dictionary has dict in it. Sorting tasks place words such as biology, telephone and export under their root, then pick out the root hiding in audio, dictate, scribble and auditorium, and later in words built from geo, photo and auto. Yes-or-no questions check that graph means write or draw in paragraph and photograph, and that telegraph does not mean writing about the Earth.
Why it matters
The words children meet in fifth grade science and social studies are long, and many are built from these parts: photosynthesis, geography, biography, transportation. A child who knows a handful of roots does not have to treat each one as a new fact, and can guess, check against the sentence and keep reading.
Roots also support spelling. Knowing that audible and audience share aud, or that predict and dictate share dict, gives a reason for letters that otherwise seem random.
Common mistakes
- Treating the root as the whole definition. Telegraph has graph, but it does not mean "writing about the Earth." Tele and graph together give something like writing from far away.
- Seeing a root where there is not one. Not every word with port in it carries the meaning of carry. Check that the meaning fits the whole word.
- Mixing up roots that look similar, such as scrib and script, or aud and audit. If the practice question gives the meaning, use it.
- Memorizing meanings without using them. A list of roots helps only when a child tries them on real words.
How to help at home
- Make a root of the week and hunt for it. With photo, you might find photograph, photocopy and photosynthesis in the same house.
- Build words on paper by combining roots, like tele + scope, and ask your child to guess the meaning before telling them.
- When a long word shows up in a book, say, "Find a piece you know." Then talk about it before checking the dictionary.
- Keep a few root cards on the fridge, one root and its meaning each, and switch them out monthly.
Worked examples
These are real questions from the Tutorsaurus greek and Latin roots practice, with the answers worked out.
Example 1
Sort each word by its root.
To sort: biology, telephone, export, biography, television, porter
Answer: bio (life): biology, biography · tele (far): telephone, television · port (carry): export, porter. Biology and biography have bio. Telephone and television have tele. Export and porter have port.
Example 2
Which word most likely means "a life story written by someone else"?
Choices: Biography, Telegraph, Geology, Autobiography
Answer: Biography. Biography is bio (life) + graph (write): a written life story. Autobiography adds auto (self), so it is written by the person themselves.
Example 3
Using roots, what is "portable" luggage?
Choices: Luggage that is red, Luggage that is very heavy, Luggage that is locked, Luggage that is easy to carry
Answer: Luggage that is easy to carry. Port (carry) + -able (able to be) = able to be carried easily.
Printable worksheet (PDF) — one page of questions from this practice that work on paper, easier ones first, with an answer key on page 2. Free to print, no sign-up.