CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.3.4b
The Standard
Determine the meaning of the new word formed when a known affix is added to a known word (e.g., agreeable/disagreeable, comfortable/uncomfortable, care/careless, heat/preheat).
Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts
Teacher's field guide
What This Standard Means
What Students Need to Do
- Students identify a familiar base word inside a longer word. They use the meaning of a prefix or suffix to work out the longer word's meaning.
What Mastery Looks Like
- Students separate a word into its base word and affix. They explain how the affix changes the meaning and use the new word correctly in a sentence.
Common Misconceptions
- Students may treat the whole word as unfamiliar instead of finding the base word. They may confuse prefixes with suffixes or assume every affix changes meaning in the same way.
How to Assess It
- Give students the words unhappy, careless, and preheat. Ask them to circle each base word, underline the affix, and write the new word's meaning.
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Give pairs base-word cards and affix cards, then have them build words and write a meaning for each combination.
Ask students to explain how adding un- changes comfortable, then compare their explanation with how -less changes care.
Play Affix Match, where students race to pair derived words with their correct meanings and identify each base word.
Have students find affixed words on food packages or classroom signs, then label the base word, affix, and meaning.
Free download
Printable L.3.4b Worksheet
A ready-to-print activity worksheet aligned to CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.3.4b, with an answer key for the teacher on its own page. No account needed.
PDF, US Letter, prints cleanly in black and white.
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Where This Standard Sits
Before This Standard
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What This Unlocks
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Related Standards
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.2.4c
Use a known root word as a clue to the meaning of an unknown word with the same root (e.g., addition, additional).
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.K.4b
Use the most frequently occurring inflections and affixes (e.g., -ed, -s, re-, un-, pre-, -ful, -less) as a clue to the meaning of an unknown word.
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.1.4b
Use frequently occurring affixes as a clue to the meaning of a word.
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