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Teaching Latin Roots with Word Trees

Many English words come from Latin roots, so becoming familiar with these roots will naturally make reading and spelling easier. But studying word roots is really boring, right?

No! At least, it doesn’t have to be. And Word Trees are my favorite way to teach words derived from Latin roots—and make it engaging to boot!

Check out this 30-second Word Tree demo.

Download your free Word Trees and list of Latin Roots, and then read on for some tips for using them.

Why Is It Helpful to Know Latin Roots?

Think about the Latin root scrib/script, which means to write. When you add prefixes and suffixes to the root, you can create many new words that all have something to do with writing, such as subscriber, scripture, inscribed, description, postscript, prescription, scribbling, and unscripted.

It’s like an 8-for-1 deal: you learn one Latin root, and you get eight words in return. And when you come across a less familiar word like scriptorium, you can recognize the root script, which in turn gives you a head start on understanding the word’s meaning and spelling.

(In case you are wondering, a scriptorium is a room set aside for writing. That makes sense, given that script means to write and -orium is a suffix meaning a place for.)

So it’s probably easy for you to see why I’m such a huge fan of learning Latin roots!

Is Your Child Ready for Word Trees?

If you can answer yes to these three questions, your child is at the right stage to benefit from Word Tree activities:

  1. Does your child know how to spell closed syllables? Closed syllables are syllables that end in a consonant, such as sub, tract, con, and rupt. A closed syllable generally contains a short vowel, and it is the first syllable type that most children learn to spell.
  2. Does your child know how to spell open syllables? Open syllables are syllables that end in a vowel, such as me, be, and di. The vowel in an open syllable is generally long.
  3. Does your child know how to spell common prefixes and suffixes such as -tion, -tive, ab-, and -able?

While Word Trees can be interesting for younger children, they are most effective with children who have already mastered these three spelling skills.

Here’s How to Use the Word Trees

Download for Teaching Latin Roots with Word Trees

The free download contains five prepared Word Trees, plus one blank one.

  1. Decide which root word you want to work with. If you are using a blank Word Tree, write the root word in the box at the base of the tree.
  2. Think of as many words originating from that root as possible, and write those words on the branches.
  3. Store completed Word Trees in a binder or folder for future reference.

If you can only think of a few words at first, keep the Word Tree available and add to it over the next few days. Perhaps family members, a neighbor, or a friend can think of words to add, or maybe your child will run across more words in his private reading time.

Teaching Latin Roots with Word Trees - All About Learning Press

In the photo above, Jimmy created twelve words with the root port, including export, supportive, and reporter. How many words can you come up with?

Which Root Words Should You Teach?

There are hundreds of possible root words to choose from, but two guidelines will make it easy for you to choose effective root words for beginners.

  • First, work with root words that occur frequently, as shown in the chart below.
  • Second, work with root words whose meaning is easier for your child to understand and that relate to words he already knows. For example, auto (self) and spect (to look) should be studied before fer (to carry).
Teaching Latin Roots with Word Trees - from All About Learning Press

How Do We Teach Latin Roots in All About Spelling?

All About Reading Activity Download

Experience a sample Latin roots lesson from All About Spelling Level 7.
Download this Lesson plan for Level 7, Lesson 17.

In the lesson, we start out using letter tiles to demonstrate how prefixes and suffixes can be added to Latin roots.

Then we move on to building four Word Trees. Ten words are assigned for further study, including supportive, distraction, contractor, and inspector.

Next, students write several sentences from dictation, including “Those gnus in the living room are a real distraction!” Finally, students randomly choose four slips of paper from the Writing Station to generate an interesting writing prompt, and they write several unique sentences using at least one of the new Latin-derived spelling words.

Some Final Tips for Teaching Latin Roots

It’s important to keep in mind that we can’t take the meanings of Latin root words too literally. In many cases, the meaning of the root is just a clue to the meaning of the word. For example, the word introspection comes from the prefix intro (meaning inward) and the root spect (meaning to look). We can’t literally translate the word to inward look, but we can get the gist of the real meaning, which is an examination of thoughts and feelings.

Also, for this particular activity, your student doesn’t need to memorize the meaning of the root words or recite them back. As long as he becomes familiar with the meanings, he will be able to recognize the root in other words, and spelling will become easier.

My hope is that as your child actively explores words in this unusual way, he will develop a positive attitude and curiosity about the words around him … and hopefully increase his motivation to learn more!

Would you like step-by-step lessons that help you teach spelling in a hands-on way? All About Spelling was written for parents and teachers like you!

All About Spelling - take the struggle out of spelling

Do you think your child would like the Word Trees approach?

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Chae D

says:

Love all you do! Would love to see an All About Vocabulary one day 🫶

Robin

says: Customer Service

I’ll pass the suggestion on, Chae! But in the meantime, check out How to Build Your Child’s Vocabulary.

Jenny

says:

I remember learning Latin roots when I was a child, and they have always been helpful when reading more complex texts. Thanks for this handy teaching resource!

Robin

says: Customer Service

You’re welcome, Jenny! I find having knowledge of Latin (and Greek) roots to be especially helpful for science. Homeostasis is a lot easier to understand when you have an idea of what homeo means and what statis means!

Georgette H.

says:

How timely! I was telling my husband last night that I wanted to work on Latin roots with some of our kids soon. Thank you for highlighting this lesson!

Robin

says: Customer Service

I’m glad this was timely for you, Georgette! I hope you and your kids have a lot of fun learning Latin roots with these!

Candice Layfield

says:

My daughter is learning Latin and it has helped her become a great speller!

Candice Layfield

says:

Love this!

Candice Layfield

says:

Love this!😍

Crystal McKnight

says:

Thank you for this resource I’m always looking for ways to supplement my spelling lessons, especially since learning your technique!

Robin

says: Customer Service

You’re welcome, Crystal! I’m glad this will be a good supplement for your lessons.

Jennifer

says:

WOW! I have never thought of teaching this! I will have to check it out and try it out
Thank you!

Robin

says: Customer Service

You’re welcome, Jennifer!

Faaida James

says:

Hello, I am interested in using this curriculum for SEN students. My kidos are from 3+ to 18 years. I service 1 Early childhood center, 6 government elementary schools and 3 high schools. How would I know which level to begin with? Thank you for your assistance.

Robin

says: Customer Service

Faaida,
Our placement tests are back up and working! Here is the link to them.

Robin

says: Customer Service

Thank you for your interest and your work helping students, Faaida!

We have an online placement test, but it experiencing difficulties and our IT Department says it will be a while before it is functioning correctly again. Instead, we have downloadable and printable placement tests. If you would like them, please email us at support@allaboutlearningpress.com or reply to this and let me know.

Sarah Straley

says:

Excited to learn more about using Latin roots as I teach word work to students. Thank you for this article!

Robin

says: Customer Service

You’re welcome, Sarah!

Jennifer Campbell

says:

I have been looking for a resource like this! Thank you!

Robin

says: Customer Service

You’re so welcome, Jennifer!

Beth C.

says:

I’ve been wanting to do this for a while. Great idea to start.

Chelsea P

says:

This is such a great method!

Ashley

says:

Love the trees for learning root words!

Marie

says:

This is exactly what I was looking for! Thank you!

Robin

says: Customer Service

You’re welcome, Marie!

Chantel

says:

So helpful!

Heidi

says:

This looks wonderful!

Karissa

says:

This is so great! We aren’t quite ready for it but now I am excited for when we are! I realize that Latin understanding is important, but the thought of teaching something I don’t know has been a daunting one. Thank you for the simple breakdown, again!

Robin

says: Customer Service

You’re so welcome, Karissa!

Michelle Clark

says:

This is so helpful. It’s keeps my kids engaged and in a way that helps them remember what they are learning.

Samantha Martinez

says:

How cool!

Erica

says:

This is great! Thanks for the tips on when and how to go about this.

Jennifer

says:

Knowing Latin root words will help on many standardized tests like the ACT, SAT, and GRE.

Robin

says: Customer Service

Yes, great point, Jennifer! Thank you.

Denise

says:

This is great! I’ll be printing this. Thank you!

Cherith

says:

This is very interesting!

Carol

says:

Sounds fun! Thank you!

Lisa

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Love this and how it introduces Latin!

Robin

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Thank you, Lisa!

Katie GINDIN

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Great ideas!

GLORIA GIKONYO

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thank you

Robin E.

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You’re welcome, Gloria!

Yemi

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Very educative and informative

Robin E.

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Thank you, Yemi!

Patrick

says:

Very good

Vinayagamoorthy Subramanian

says:

Very interesting

Robin E.

says: Customer Service

Thank you!