Morphology is a powerful tool for teaching older students both decoding longer words and understanding new vocabulary words. We use prefixes to change the meaning of a word. Adding the prefix semi- changes the meaning of the word. The prefix semi- means half, partial, or almost.
Prefixes work with other roots to form words. Knowing the meanings of the prefixes and the roots can help us determine the meaning of a word.
In this lesson, you will teach students many things.
- prefixes come at the beginning of words
- prefixes can be combined with other roots
- prefixes and roots are not words, but they are units of meaning
- we use the prefix semi- to mean half, partial, or almost
It is helpful for students to know the parts of speech as they work on morphology. If your students need to work on parts of speech, I highly recommend this writing program. It teaches writing complete sentences based on parts of speech. If you need to, you can even use these two programs at the same time.
Teaching the Prefix Semi-
To teach your students about the prefix semi-, display the presentation below. You can access the presentation from this website for free. You can also purchase the slideshow for use at school.
I recommend focusing on the meaning of the words by having students write or say sentences.
- You display a base word from the presentation.
- Students write the word with the prefix in their writing notebooks or on a whiteboard.
- You display the words with the prefix from the presentation (the next slide).
- Students say or write a sentence using the base word. Then, say or write a different sentence using the modified word.
This lesson is designed to last two days. You also get 15 mixed review practice slides to use later in the year.
The Presentation on the Prefix SEMI-
Morphology: SEMI by Cate O’DonnellA video example of the presentation is coming soon!
Check out this list of words with the prefix. You can use this list to build your own activities for your classroom. You can also get a printable .pdf.
More Morphology Practice
Do you love this lesson? You can access all of the morphology lessons for FREE on this website! You can also purchase the presentations!
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