Teaching Latin/Greek to Attack Vocab Instruction

As educators we know about the importance of effective vocabulary instruction which does not (should not) rely on definitions alone. A few additional vocabulary instruction facts:

• Effective vocabulary instruction has to start early, in preschool, and continue throughout the school years (Nagy, 2005).
• Command of a large vocabulary frequently sets high-achieving students apart from less successful ones (Montgomery, 2000).
• Vocabulary in kindergarten and first grade is a significant predictor of reading comprehension in the middle and secondary grades (Cunningham, 2005; Cunningham & Stanovich, 1997; Chall & Dale, 1995; Denton et al. 2011).

One method specifically highlighted in the CCSS standards include the teaching of Latin/Greek roots and affixes to assist students’ in decoding word meanings:

Use common, grade-appropriate Greek or Latin affixes and roots as clues to the meaning of a word (e.g., precede, recede, secede).

Why is this so important?

• Over 60% of the words students will encounter in school textbooks have recognizable word parts; and many of these Latin and Greek roots (Nagy, Anderson, Schommer, Scott, & Stallman, 1989).
• Latin and Greek prefixes, roots, and suffixes have predictable spelling patterns.(Rasinski & Padak, 2001; Bear, Invernizzi, Templeton & Johnston, 2000).
• Content area vocabulary is largely Greek and Latin-based and research supports this instruction, especially for struggling readers (Harmon, Hedrick & Wood, 2005).

There are many resources out there to help educators choose which roots and affixes to teach and even Pinterest boards dedicated to the topic. At home with a 1st and 3rd grader I use a list of the most common Latin and Greek roots and prefixes for our word wall. The kids actually enjoy coming up with words and do it nearly every day on their way in or out the door when they see new words.  Check out this blog post for additional information and resources or simply Google search for more ideas than you’ll likely need. Most important is buying into the importance of dedicating time to Latin/Greek as a way to tackle vocabulary. From there you’re golden!