Click here to read more about incorporating it into your curriculum. There are many strategies for teaching roots words, prefixes, and suffixes. If students are able to identify the different parts of a word including the root, prefix, and/or suffix, they are more likely to be able to determine the word’s meaning. In order to increase reading fluency and comprehension, students need to be equipped with the decoding skills necessary for reading harder and longer words.
With enough practice, the strategies will become an automatic function of independent reading. I like to think of the strategies listed below as tools students can utilize when reading independently. The ability to comprehend complex vocabulary is a fundamental component of literacy, especially when referring to new concepts and subject matter. As students progress through the grade levels, the volume of tier two and tier three terms increases.
If words are the building blocks of literacy, providing students with the tools necessary for understanding new vocabulary is critical for reading and writing development.