CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.9-10.4b
The Standard
Identify and correctly use patterns of word changes that indicate different meanings or parts of speech (e.g., analyze, analysis, analytical; advocate, advocacy).
Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts
Teacher's field guide
What This Standard Means
What Students Need to Do
- Students identify related words formed by changing endings or other word parts. They use each form as the correct part of speech and choose the form that fits a sentence’s meaning.
What Mastery Looks Like
- Students recognize how endings such as “-tion,” “-al,” and “-cy” change a word’s meaning or grammatical role. They select the correct form for a sentence and explain why it fits.
Common Misconceptions
- Students may assume related words can replace one another without changing the sentence structure. They also confuse noun, verb, and adjective endings, such as using “analysis” where “analyze” is needed.
How to Assess It
- Give students this exit ticket: Complete “The scientist will ___ the sample and write an ___ report” using forms of “analyze,” then label each form’s part of speech.
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Give pairs word cards such as decide, decision, and decisive, then have them sort the cards by part of speech and explain each ending.
Ask students to rewrite “The advocate made an effective argument” using advocacy, then discuss what else must change in the sentence.
Play a word-family relay where teams complete sentence frames with the correct noun, verb, adjective, or adverb form of a given root.
Have students find three related word forms in a news article and annotate how each form functions in its sentence.
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Printable L.9-10.4b Worksheet
A ready-to-print activity worksheet aligned to CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.9-10.4b, 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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Before This Standard
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Related Standards
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.2.5
Demonstrate understanding of word relationships and nuances in word meanings.
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.11-12.5b
Analyze nuances in the meaning of words with similar denotations.
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.9-10.4
Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative, connotative, and technical meanings; analyze the cumulative impact ...
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