English Language Arts
Grade 4
15 min
Determine the meaning of a word with pre-, re-, or mis-
Determine the meaning of a word with pre-, re-, or mis-
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1
Introduction & Learning Objectives
Learning Objectives
Define the term 'prefix' and identify it as a word part added to the beginning of a base word.
State the meanings of the prefixes 'pre-' (before), 're-' (again), and 'mis-' (wrongly).
Isolate the base word in a word containing the prefix pre-, re-, or mis-.
Combine a prefix (pre-, re-, mis-) with a known base word to form a new word.
Determine the meaning of an unknown word by analyzing its prefix and base word.
Correctly use words with the prefixes pre-, re-, and mis- in original sentences.
Ever wish you could do something *again* or see something *before* it happens? 🚀 Prefixes are like word superpowers that let you do just that!
In this lesson, we'll become word detectives and learn about three special clu...
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Key Concepts & Vocabulary
TermDefinitionExample
PrefixA word part added to the beginning of a base word that changes the word's meaning.In the word 'unhappy', the prefix is 'un-'. It changes the meaning of 'happy' to 'not happy'.
Base WordThe main part of a word that has its own meaning. A prefix is attached to it.In the word 'remake', the base word is 'make'.
pre-A prefix that means 'before' or 'in advance'.To 'preheat' an oven means to heat it *before* you put food in.
re-A prefix that means 'again' or 'back'.To 'reread' a book means to read it *again*.
mis-A prefix that means 'wrongly' or 'badly'.To 'misspell' a word means to spell it *wrongly*.
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Key Rules & Conventions
The Prefix + Base Word Formula
Prefix Meaning + Base Word Meaning = New Word Meaning
To find the meaning of a word with a prefix, first figure out the meaning of the prefix and the meaning of the base word. Then, put those two meanings together to make a definition for the new word.
The No-Hyphen Rule
Do not add a hyphen between pre-, re-, or mis- and the base word.
These prefixes attach directly to the base word to form one single word. For example, write 'rewrite', not 're-write'.
The Unchanging Base Word Rule
Adding pre-, re-, or mis- does not change the spelling of the base word.
When you add one of these prefixes, the original base word keeps its spelling. For example, 'match' stays 'match' when you add 'mis-' to...
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Challenging
A character in a story is told to 'reconsider' their decision. This means the character is being asked to...
A.think about their decision again, possibly to change it.
B.make a decision wrongly.
C.think about a decision before making it.
D.forget about their decision completely.
Challenging
Read the two sentences: 1. 'The chef will precook the chicken before grilling it.' 2. 'The chef will recook the chicken because it was undercooked.' How does the prefix change the timeline of the chef's actions?
A.In both sentences, the cooking happens again.
B.'Precook' happens before the main cooking step, while 'recook' happens after an initial cooking step.
C.'Precook' means to cook wrongly, while 'recook' means to cook correctly.
D.The prefixes do not change the timeline; they only describe the chef's feelings.
Challenging
Imagine you are writing a story. Your character accidentally dials the wrong number. Which word best describes what your character did?
A.predialed
B.redialed
C.misdialed
D.dialed
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