2nd 4 Weeks Study Guide

Roots and Affixes

  • Be able to identify and work with various root words and affixes of words.
  • Practice on your own with words you see in books and magazines.

A base word is a word part that by itself is also a word.

For example, the word partition has a base word. (partition)

A root is a word part that is used to form other words. A root by itself is usually is not a word.

For example, the word hieroglyph contains two root words. (hieroglyph)

Hiero means “sacred,” and glyph means “carving.”

An affix is a word part of one or more letters that is attached to the beginning or end of a base word or root.

An affix at the beginning of a word is called a prefix. (begrudge)

An affix at the end of a word is called a suffix. (volcanic)

Pre-Reading: Predict with text support or rationale

  • Use support from a reading selection to predict.
  • Practice this skill on your own with various readings you find.

A prediction is an attempt to answer the question “What will happen next?” To make predictions, notice the following as you read:

  1. interesting details about character, plot, and setting
  2. unusual statements by the main character(s)
  3. foreshadowing—hints about future plot twists

During Reading: Inference

  • Use support from a reading selection to demonstrate your inference skills.
  • Practice this skill on your own with various readings you find.

When you make a correct guess about something in a story, based on information in the story and your own common sense, you are making an inference. As you read a story, record clues that help you understand it.

Post-Reading: Reflect and Draw Conclusions

  • Use support from a reading selection to draw conclusions about the material.
  • Practice this skill on your own with various readings you find.

Understanding literature requires you to draw conclusions about events, causes of events, characters, and so on. In drawing conclusions, you combine information from the text with your own prior knowledge. For example, reading that all a narrator seems to remember of her hometown is dirt and dust, and knowing that most people usually remember pleasant experiences, you might conclude that the narrator didn’t have many pleasant experiences there in her hometown.

Analyze types of conflict

  • Use support from a reading selection to identify/explain the types of conflict.
  • Practice this skill on your own with various readings you find.

The plot of a story always involves some sort of conflict, or struggle, between opposing forces.