English Language Development

• Teach words: They are selective about which words to teach, generally targeting those that
  require more than a synonym for explanation, are vital to understanding of a concept or text,
  and have high applicability—in other words, general academic (Tier 2) words. They highlight
  relationships among words and ensure students have multiple exposures to target words,
  including through opportunities to use them in writing, discussions, hand-on experiences, and in
  the development of oral, visual, and multimedia presentations.


• Teach word-learning strategies: Teachers teach students
  to use word parts (i.e., roots and affixes, especially Greek
  and Latin affixes and roots), context, and resources (e.g.,
  dictionaries) to determine the meanings of words.


• Support students to develop language awareness: Teachers
  create many opportunities for whole class, small group,
  and paired discussions about how language works to make
  meaning. These discussions about language move beyond
  the word level (vocabulary) and into grammatical structures,
  the ways sentences are linked together in different type so
  texts through text connectives (e.g., The next day... , As a
  result... ,), and how different text types are structured and
  organized.
  A special target of instruction in grade four is the use of Greek and Latin affixes and roots as clues
  to the meaning of a word (L.4.4b). Because more than 60 percent of English is drawn from Greek
  and Latin, learning Greek and Latin word parts has an exponential effect on vocabulary development.
  See figure 5.10 for examples. (Lists can be found online; see, for example, McEwan’s article on the
  Reading Rockets Web site 2013, http://www.readingrockets.org/article/40406.)) Instruction should
  focus on the roots and affixes that are most applicable to students’ studies and experiences.

Figure 5.10. Greek and Latin Roots

Greek Latin

Root Meaning Examples Root Meaning Examples

astro star astronaut

astronomy

dict to speak,

to tell

dictate

predict

contradict

tele far, distant telephone

telescope

telecommunicate

port to carry export

import

support

auto self autograph

automobile

automatic

struct to build, to

form

construct

destruct

structure

micro small microscope

microphone

vid, vis to see vision

television

visible

Because more than 60

percent of English is

drawn from Greek and

Latin, learning Greek

and Latin word parts

has an exponential

effect on vocabulary

development.

428 | Chapter 5 Grade 4