Grab your notecards and help us solve the mysteries of words! Students will write the roots and accompanying information on a set of note cards. They will keep these note cards in a small binder. By the end of the session, they will have a nice resource to refer back to. 

At the beginning of each class, we will review the roots from previous weeks before diving into our new content. Each week we will study 2-4 Greek and Latin roots. The roots we study each week will all be related. For example, the first week we will look at roots having to do with numbers (uni, bi, tri). I will introduce one root at a time and ask the students if they know how to spell the root. We will discuss the spelling of the root and see if there are any spelling patterns we notice. We will then talk about the meaning of the root and think of words based on that root. I will also introduce some new words that have these roots. This is where the detective work comes in! We will dissect each of these words to see if we can figure out the meaning of these new words based on what we know about the roots.

I will post a print-out in the classroom each week. Please print it out, as we will use it during class. We will fill out the information on the print-out, then cut it out, and glue it on to the notecard. The students will need one notecard per root. They will use colored pencils to add information to each notecard so they can quickly locate the information they need. 

Each notecard will have the following information:
- root
- origin (Greek or Latin)
- meaning
- words containing these roots
- optional pictures to help them remember the meaning
 
We will also play some fun word games and puzzles. By working on these roots in varying activities, students will commit them to memory and have a good understanding of each root by the end of the session.

Why study Greek and Latin roots? 

1. Knowing the meanings of the Greek and Latin roots helps us to figure out the meaning of an unfamiliar word.
2. It helps us become better spellers. 
3. According to dictionary.com, over 60 percent of English words have Greek or Latin roots.
4. Studies show that students who study Greek and Latin roots score higher on academic tests.
5. Greek and Latin roots are the basis of many scientific and medical words, so students going into those fields will benefit from learning word roots.
6. Greek and Latin are two of the seven classical languages.
7. The romance languages are based on Latin. If your child is planning on learning Spanish, French, Italian, etc., having a strong foundation in Latin roots is helpful.

This course is also offered as a FLEX class so that students can watch the recordings on their own time. You can find it by searching "FLEX Enrichment: Vocabulary Supersleuths With Greek and Latin Roots Grades 3-6."