Prefixes, Suffixes and Roots Game for Years 5 and 6: Clue Detective
Clue Detective: Guess My Word is a prefixes, suffixes and roots game for Years 5 and 6 by Teach This, an interactive whiteboard game aligned to the Australian Curriculum. Students use prefixes, suffixes and Latin and Greek roots to work out and spell new words. There are 5 rounds, and each round reveals up to three clues about one mystery word. Teams score 3 points for solving after clue 1, 2 points after clue 2 and 1 point after clue 3. Each answer slide breaks the word, such as transport or biography, into its parts. A game takes about 10 minutes. It opens in Microsoft PowerPoint on any interactive whiteboard, panel or projector, with no macros, no student logins and no student data collected.
Use it to launch a spelling unit on word origins, or as a team challenge at the end of a literacy block. The teacher notes give the meaning of every word part, so there is no etymology to research.
Learning goals
- We are learning to use known words, base words, prefixes and suffixes, word origins, letter patterns and spelling generalisations to spell new words.
- We are learning to use known words, base words, prefixes and suffixes, word origins, letter patterns and spelling generalisations to spell new words including technical words.
- We are learning to use known words, base words, prefixes and suffixes, word origins, letter patterns and spelling generalisations to spell new words.
- We are learning to use known words, base words, prefixes and suffixes, word origins, letter patterns and spelling generalisations to spell new words, including technical words.
Curriculum alignment
Australian Curriculum covers QLD / SA / WA / NT / TAS / ACT.
Differentiation
Modifications
Give students a printed list of the prefixes, suffixes and roots used in the game before they start. Read each clue aloud twice and allow longer talk time.
Extensions
Ask teams to list three more words that share each root, such as vision or portable, and write their own three-clue riddle for the class.