Eureka!! Root Word Trifolds!!!

Every year, I try to make things work a little better than the year before.  I am always tweaking lessons or units so that I can get the most out of them.

One of the areas I have always been looking for "something" is my Greek and Latin Root word study.  Over the years I have taught them in a sort of systematic way, but it was always a "maybe" subject.  Maybe I will get to it.  Maybe I will do this with the roots today.  Maybe I will make something that won't make this a "maybe" subject.

Well, this year, I think I did it.

What I did was create these Root Word Trifolds.  Essentially, combining all of the things I had been doing in the past, but into one easy to use and follow trifold.  



So here is how it works:

Each Monday, I copy the trifold I am using for the week back to back.  I pass them out to the kids, they fold them (because I am sure not going to fold 32 trifolds myself!) and we get to discussing the roots.   Here is the exact schedule of what I do.

Click on the picture to make it larger.

This takes no more than 10 minutes of class time a day.  And I have to tell you, I LOVE this.   It makes teaching the Greek and Latin Roots and Affixes so much easier for me as a teacher.  I no longer have to worry if the kids have their index cards, or circle maps, or other record keeping thing that I used before.  It is all rolled up into one space.  The kids like it too.  For some reason, folding paper makes things so much more awesome for them!  :)

My favorite part, though, is what we do on Fridays.  I added in a test prep component that I called "Test Your Knowledge".  Since we all know that knowing the roots themselves doesn't do any good if you can't put them into context, I made this section so the students have to actually do just that.

You can see in this picture that not only are they answering the questions with the roots, but they are providing evidence of it as well!  #3 shows just how they are using the roots to help them deconstruct the made up word!  I love it!  :)

So basically, since I started using these, my life has become SO much easier!

And if you just can't wait, here is the link to the Root Word Trifolds in my store.  They really would make the PERFECT review right now and would be awesome to incorporate into your curriculum for next year.

What do you do to teach Greek and Latin Roots in your classroom?