Greek Roots Classroom Transformation
Greek and Latin Roots Worksheets: How to Increase Engagement!
Our school celebrates World Language Week in April, and during that week my students spend two days inside my Mount Olympus Hercules Classroom Transformation. In addition to that, I wanted to teach my students Greek roots and celebrate the Greek alphabet last year as well. Although this was one of my more last-minute transformations, I traced a few giant Greek letters to hang from the ceiling and employed the same desk setup I discovered while designing my Cyclops Day Classroom Transformation.
Many students choose to take Latin because of its affect on the English language. Taking a day to celebrate Greek roots enhances and engages the Latin roots that students already know! Using Greek and Latin roots in the classroom makes these ancient language applicable, which allows students to make connections more easily. Etymology is always a favorite topic to discuss among my students!
Some of my favorite lesser-known Greek roots include:
Hippopotamus (river-horse)
Cyclops (circle-eye)
Cynical (dog— since cynics were thought to sneer like dogs)
Mesopotamia (In between rivers)
All alpha-privatives (asymmetrical, asexual, Amazon!)
Creating Variety in Greek and Latin Roots Worksheets
Trace the Greek alphabet onto handwriting paper
Trace specific Greek roots and write their definitions, then come up with English derivatives
An abundance of Greek roots and definitions, with blanks for their English derivatives
A word puzzle for students to match up Greek roots to their English definitions
“Terminology Trees”: Use the Greek root to place English derivatives on each branch of the tree
Looking at no resources, create a Greek root out of sour gummy worms
Enjoy a Greek root chocolate chip cookie— if you can name a root it is a part of!
How to Create Classroom Flow Using Greek and Latin Roots Worksheets
Like any classroom transformation, spending a day studying Greek roots requires finesse. I find the most success in “stations” days when I separated my desks into clusters so that the students can focus in teams more easily. I also play light music without lyrics in the background (Vitamin String Quartet is great for this!).
A link to my resource of Greek and Latin Roots Worksheet is here. Honestly, there are tons of free Greek and Latin roots worksheet resources on TPT, but the bulk that I found were geared toward younger students and I wanted something to challenge my middle schoolers.
