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PREFIXES, SUFFIXES, and ROOTS

Chorus

Words are power, and that’s the truth
Prefixes, suffixes, and they all got roots
Words are power, they run this town
So let’s run the track back, and break ‘em on down

Verse I

Let me break this down, we start with root words the truest
Not a full word, just a linguistic unit
You get a lot of room here to improvise
Visualize words of small size as I summarize
“aqua” means water, “ami” means love
“bio” means life, “hemo” means blood
“geo” means earth, and “vita” means life
Let’s hit the next topic so y’all can get it right

Chorus

Words are power, and that’s the truth
Prefixes, suffixes, and they all got roots
Words are power, they run this town
So let’s run the track back, and break ‘em on down

Verse II

You want to know what’s next, it’s the prefix step
The initial portion of a term or object
Look at the word itself, it’s a two-part patch
“pre” means before, and “fix” is to attach
“anti-” means against, “inter-” means between
“poly-” means many, while “homo-” means the same
“pseudo-” means false, and “trans-” mean across
Prefixes start words, you should never take a loss

Chorus

Words are power, and that’s the truth
Prefixes, suffixes, and they all got roots
Words are power, they run this town
So let’s run the track back, and break ‘em on down

Verse III

If prefixes come before, then what’s the next chapter
Suffixes follows root words, so they must come after
And while this may sound absurd
A suffix can also change the grammar function of a whole word
“Wait, from adjectives to adverbs?” Like clear into clearly
“But then child into childish?” It’s semantics, can you hear me?
“-ology” means study of, “-ism” is belief in
“-cide” means killing, and “-or” and “-er” mean demonstration
“-phobia” means fear of, “-kenisis” means movement
And that’s what it is, now you’re getting some improvement

Chorus

Words are power, and that’s the truth
Prefixes, suffixes, and they all got roots
Words are power, they run this town
So let’s run the track back, and break ‘em on down

June 2010

OPEN COURT READING VOCABULARY  -  “Class President”

competitor            competition          creature            driver

Friday            proud           tripped           writer            occur

pressure            painter            election            represent

campaign            candidates            confidence            bore

nomination            parliamentary            procedure

OPEN COURT READING VOCABULARY  -  “The Marble Champ”

racket      knot      muscles      whispers      players

knuckles      disturbance      chanced      fumed      agate

racquetball      quivering      thumb      energy      matches

previous      contest      athletic      commotion      hubbub

OPEN COURT READING VOCABULARY  -  “Juggling”

everyone      volleyball     homework     digraph     shrugged

fractions     percentages     routes     flung     ignored

persuade     spike     shrill     pestering     pressure

serves     juggle     spare     spirit     deliberately

OPEN COURT READING VOCABULARY  -  “The Abacus Contest”

abacus     accuracy     imagine     incense     certificates

ancestors     burlap     glanced     practical     mischievous

exercise     column     frantically     breathing     collided

slumped     applauded     bewildered     aroma     unusual

OPEN COURT READING VOCABULARY  -  “S. O. R. Losers”

treason    volunteered    cringing    deodorant    defeatist

chant    embarrassed    thumping    automatic    scarlet

athletes     novelty    emergency   rejected    humiliation

terminal    beneath    plunging    penalty    occasional

OPEN COURT READING VOCABULARY  -  “Storks”

primly    composition    indignantly    accord    threat

dutifully    inquisitive    portal    mystified    reluctantly

intent    pickerel    rivulets    skulking    dawdling

wretchedly    deign    ponder    ramshackle    dike

OPEN COURT READING VOCABULARY  -  “Galileo”

perspective    obscure    convex    concave

precaution    demolish    magnification    clambered

tripod    deduction    myriads    blemish

indicating    triumphantly    primitive    apparatus

celestial    extraordinary    interrogation    constellation

OPEN COURT READING VOCABULARY  -  “Telescopes”

astronomical   satellite   refracting   optical   stabilize

dramatize   image   convenient   objective   faint

incision   dictator   reflecting   detect   orbits

galaxy   universe   bodies   frequency   revolutionize

OPEN COURT READING VOCABULARY  -  “The Heavenly Zoo”

ancestors  summoning  attendants  heavens  vain

regretted  journeyed  scared  eternal  myth

ascend  renounce  depended  legend  seek

eldest  learned  plain  ranks  weary

OPEN COURT READING VOCABULARY  -  “Circles, Squares, and Daggers”

archaeology    plateau    cairn    calculations    adobe

ingenious    rituals    tribute    stargazers    devised

alignments    society    spirals    horizon    diagram

shaft    solstice    petroglyphs    equinoxes    particular