Ryan Griffin

February 25, 2011

Advanced 8th Grade Friday Lesson Plan

Standards:

1.A.3a Apply knowledge of word origins and derivations to comprehend words used in specific
content areas (e.g., scientific, political, literary, mathematical).

1.A.3b Analyze the meaning of words and phrases in their context.

Method:

I will begin class by returning to the Powerpoint presentation that I have already begun with the
students. The first part of the Powerpoint was a general introduction to Language terms like
‘semantics,’ ‘etymology,’ ‘morphology,’ and the like. This time it will be a quick run-through of the
history of the English language. The purpose of this lesson is to lead into an activity involving Greek and
Latin root words and prefixes/suffixes . For this reason, the history lesson will be brief and lacking in
detail. We will, however, spend a moment listening to a part of the Old English poem Beowulf for the
sake of student engagement and interest. The link is on the Powerpoint as well as here:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/culturevideo/booksvideo/8135302/Beowulf-reading-in-Old-
English-with-translation.html

After I’ve finished this Powerpoint, I will immediately begin working through the Roots worksheet that I
will have handed out at the beginning of the hour. The students are not allowed to write on their
worksheets, but they will be asked to choose two Greek and two Latin roots and write an English word
based upon each.

I will take a few of them on the board and we will take turns guessing what they mean based upon the
other words that we know they sound like. We will do this for a few minutes.

Then, I will begin an activity. I will split the class up into two groups. Each group will have the same
assignment, but will be given a different set of 15 Greek/Latin roots. The lists are on the worksheet that
the students have in their hands. They will be asked to write them on a separate sheet of paper in order
to complete the assignment.

The two groups are:

Andro, Anthropo, Audi, Biblio, Bio, Cede, Circum, Dict, Duct, Fac, Fer, Gyn, Gen, Geo, Helio

And

Homo, Hydra/Hydro, Liber, Lum, Mega, Meter, Morph, Omni, Pater, Patho, Philo, Polis, Pseudo, Psycho,
Rect.
Use one 3 x 5 index card for each root.

On front side of index card, write the root in the center.

On the other side write the following: in the upper right hand corner, write the definition; in the upper
left hand corner, write two examples; in the lower left hand corner, use a word with the root in a
sentence; in the lower right hand corner, draw a picture or symbol that demonstrates the meaning of
the root

They will be given the rest of the hour to work on this assignment, and it will be due the following week.
When the students have completed this assignment, they will swap note-cards with the opposite group
and quiz each other using the note-cards that the opposite student created. This way the students all
get to share their answers with one another and have an opportunity to deepen their comprehension.

Assessment:

The partner quizzing will help determine how well the students have retained and comprehended. Also,
we will be giving a Quiz on Greek and Latin Roots at the end of the following week.