Root Word Bell Ringers to Help Your Students Review Word Parts

Word parts are an essential component of English/Language Arts instruction. Root words and affixes are the basis for all words. That’s what I created root words bell ringers. They can stand alone, or they can be added to prefixes and suffixes to form new words. Because root words and affixes are so versatile, if students study those, then they can decipher the meaning of most unfamiliar words they encounter.

For example, a student may encounter a new word like “eject”. Then, they can rely on their knowledge of the root, -ject (to throw) to gain a better understanding of what “eject” means. This also helps build academic and content-specific vocabulary for students while also giving them the tools to be able to persevere through more difficult texts.

Root word and affix bell ringers give students opportunities to practice different skills related to given word parts each week! These ELA Root Words and Affixes Bell Ringers are perfect for upper elementary and middle school students to review word parts all year long!

Daily Root Word Bell Ringers

Each day students complete a task focused on a specific root word. The activities use prior knowledge and prior experience with that root word to build confidence and depth of knowledge. The ELA Root Words and Affixes Bell Ringers bundle has 36 weeks of Root Word and Affix Warm-Ups to use each class period Monday through Friday! All word work is focuses on 4th-8th grade most commonly used Root word and Affixes.

Monday:

Start each week with a root word or an affix. Students title their page, date their page, create a table, and write the root or affix and its origin.

For example, students may start with the Greek root “bio”. On the table, there will be room for three examples to take the students throughout the week.

Tuesday:

On the second day, students write example one, its definition, and illustrate the example.

For the root word “bio”, the example may be “biology” and have a picture of a cell. The definition, of course, is the study of life and living organisms. In fact, this may give you a chance to discuss the suffix, “ology”, which means a field of study.

Wednesday:

Example number two is shared on Wednesday on the table.

Another example for the root word “bio” is “biography” or a written account of a person’s life. When discussing the bell ringers, you may decide to share that “graph” is the root word meaning to write. Also, adding “auto” to the word “biography” changes the meaning to mean a written account of a person’s life written by oneself. The root, “auto” actually means self.

Your students may choose to draw a picture of a famous person or a book to remember the meaning of biography.

Thursday:

On Thursday, your learners write example three, its definition, and illustrate the example.

One example using the root word “bio” is “biotic” or resulting from living things. Students may draw plants, animals, or anything part of a living environment.

Friday:

Finally, on Friday, your students try to determine the meaning of the word part and use one example in a sentence. Given the examples for “bio”, your students should determine that “bio” means life.

For extra credit, they may illustrate their sentence.

The Monday through Friday bell ringers are short and simple, but they reinforce the root or affix throughout the week. By the end of the year, your student should have 36 roots or affixes committed to memory!

Teaching root words and affixes doesn’t have to take hours of planning, prep, and instruction. With daily root word bell ringers your students will improve their vocabulary and deepen their understanding of word parts. Use root word bell ringers to help review word parts and enhance your instruction.