Words are like Spider WebsFifth Grade Literacy Lesson

ByLinda Anderson

Central Concept: Root words give words their basic meanings and are the building blocks upon which all words are formed. Root words can appear at the beginning, in the middle, or at the end of an English word. Prefixes and suffixes modify or change the root word. The power of a concept map lies in the ability to make visible the thinker’s thoughts. Often the process of making a map stimulates the maker to recognize new relationships between the concepts and find new meaning. Pictures can be very helpful in revealing the details of students’ ideas. Pictures in which students display their ideas in words and graphics allow for students to make a concrete commitment to their ideas.

Overview: This activity serves to engage participants in creating concept webs to define scientific vocabulary by learning the Greek and the Latin prefixes, suffixes, and root words. This lesson combines art, photography, and technology to create concept webs. Standards:Reading1.0 Word Analysis, Fluency, and Systematic Vocabulary Development

Students use their knowledge of word origins and word relationships, as well as historical and literary context clues, to determine the meaning of specialized vocabulary and to understand the precise meaning of grade-level-appropriate words.

Vocabulary and Concept Development1.2 Use word origins to determine the meaning of unknown words.

1.4 Know abstract, derived roots and affixes from Greek and Latin and use this knowledge to analyze the meaning of complex words (e.g., controversial).

Structural Features of Informational Materials 2.1 Understand how text features (e.g., format, graphics, sequence, diagrams, illustrations, charts, maps) make information accessible and usable.

Investigation and Experimentation: Science 6. Scientific progress is made by asking meaningful questions and conducting careful investigations. As a basis for understanding this concept and addressing the content in the other three strands, students should develop their own questions and perform investigations. Students will:

g. Record data by using appropriate graphic representations (including charts, graphs, and labeled diagrams) and make inferences based on those data.

Objectives:1. Students will take the opportunity to give science vocabulary

meaningful definitions.2. Students will design concept webs to express what makes meaning for

themselves.3. Students will use the language of science.4. Students will communicate their level of understanding science

vocabulary that they have developed to date.5. Students propose explanations and build a store of concepts.6. Students will make connections to previously held ideas.7. Students will draw or cut out a picture representing the root word, suffix

or prefix.

Materials: Paper, pencils, drawing implements, Internet access, reference materials, such as the Wiz-Word Greek and Latin Root Words Flipper and Words on the Vine examples of completed webs.

Timeline: Two forty-five minutes periods. One at the beginning of the grading period, the other at the end. The assignment is an on going project to be completed throughout the reporting period with an oral culmination at the end.

Procedure:1. Discuss the meaning of root words, prefixes, and suffixes. Explain that

Latin and Greek give us valuable clues to word meanings when we analyze bits of unfamiliar words and that knowing word genealogy will help us more readily understand unfamiliar words.

2. Have students find scientific words in their readings. Explain that this project will allow them to create concepts webs that create meaningful definitions to scientific word that they encounter.

3. Guide students through developing a concept web on the overhead or whiteboard. Help them to think of what they visualize when they when they hear, break apart, and define a scientific word. Show students examples of what completed webs should look like. Keep examples posted on bulletin board throughout year.

4. Provide students with materials and Internet access.5. Instead of students drawing pictures, they may wish to download

pictures off the Internet.

Assessment:1. During the course of the grading period, students will be asked

to produce ten concept webs on scientific word that they have encountered in their scientific readings.

2. Students will share two of their concepts webs orally in front of the class.

3. Students will write a paragraph on why and how knowing the Greek and Latin suffixes, prefixes and root words are beneficial and a second paragraph on how this knowledge personally helped their vocabulary development.

Homework: Students will keep a log of unfamiliar science words as they read their literature and scientific readings. They will check to see if the words have Latin or Greek derivatives. If so, they will make at least one concept web a week for the grading period.

Extension: Spanish Language students can do the same assignment with Spanish cognates.