CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.3.4c
The Standard
Use a known root word as a clue to the meaning of an unknown word with the same root (e.g., company, companion).
Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts
Teacher's field guide
What This Standard Means
What Students Need to Do
- Students spot a familiar base or root inside a new word. They use that word part and the sentence context to make a reasonable meaning.
What Mastery Looks Like
- Given words such as act, actor, action, and react, students explain the shared meaning and infer an unfamiliar word. They check that meaning against the sentence context.
Common Misconceptions
- Students may group words only because they share letters, such as car and carpet. They may copy the familiar word’s exact meaning without considering prefixes or suffixes. They may also ignore the sentence context.
How to Assess It
- Exit ticket: “You know cycle means a repeating series. What does recycling mean in ‘We placed cans in the recycling bin,’ and how did cycle help?”
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Give word cards such as act, actor, action, and react, then have students build root families and label the shared idea.
Students write how cycle helps them understand bicycle, cyclist, and recycle, then support each meaning with clues from the word parts.
Play Root Match: students pair familiar roots with unfamiliar words, read a context sentence, and earn a point for a fitting definition.
Students inspect food packages and school signs for words like reusable and transportation, then mark the familiar root and infer each message.
Free download
Printable L.3.4c Worksheet
A ready-to-print activity worksheet aligned to CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.3.4c, with an answer key for the teacher on its own page. No account needed.
PDF, US Letter, prints cleanly in black and white.
Download the worksheetLearning progression
Where This Standard Sits
Before This Standard
If students are struggling here, check these first.
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Related Standards
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.5.4b
Use common, grade-appropriate Greek and Latin affixes and roots as clues to the meaning of a word (e.g., photograph, photosynthesis).
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.8.4b
Use common, grade-appropriate Greek or Latin affixes and roots as clues to the meaning of a word (e.g., precede, recede, secede).
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.1.4b
Use frequently occurring affixes as a clue to the meaning of a word.
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