Teaching Vocabulary with Root Words Plus FREE Flashcards!

I have found the easiest way to teach reading is through phonics. That way, when a child sees a word they aren’t familiar with, they can easily sound it out. Likewise, I believe in teaching vocabulary words through root words, prefixes, and suffixes.

Why? Because when you see a word you don’t know, you can at least give a hypothetical guess on things like the SAT. As I begin to prepare for the SAT, root words have greatly come in handy.

For example:

Geology – This is an easy one. Geo means “of or relating to the earth.” Suffix -logy means “the study of.” Geology is the science and study of earth.

Hypochromia – Hypo means “under, less.” Chrom means “color” and ia is a suffix meaning “condition.” Therefore, on the SAT or while reading, you can come to the conclusion that hypochromia is loosely a condition that has to do with less color. Hypochromia is a condition where red blood cells have less color than normal. Cool, huh?

Dehydrate – Prefix De- means “down, away” and hydro means “water.” Suffix -ate means “denoting status.” Dehydrate is a verb meaning to cause to lose a large amount of water. Through this, you can learn the adjective dehydrated and the noun dehydration.

More Resources for Root Words:

Common Root Words and Origins
Root Word List
Root Word Online Games for all grades It also comes with free printables for easy review
Prefix, Suffix, and Root Word Worksheets
Vocabulary Packets: 40 Greek and Latin Roots (grades 4-8 approx)

More Resources for Visual Vocabulary:

As a visual person and marketer/graphic designer in training, I created these flashcards for my own use, as well as some great design practice! They were fun to create and helped me memorize some root words in the process. They’re memorable for kinesthetic learners and visual for visual learners. With a sibling’s help, they are also great for auditory learners.