Beginning Word Roots
Unlock your child’s vocabulary and reading skills with fun, bite-sized lessons on word roots, prefixes, and suffixes.
$15.99
Quantity:
Consumable
In a Curriculum Kit
Nonreligious
Supplemental Material
2026 Third-Grade Curriculum Kit
Beginning Word Roots
Beginning Word Roots gives students one of the most powerful reading tools they can develop: the ability to figure out unfamiliar words without reaching for a dictionary. By learning common prefixes, suffixes, and Greek and Latin roots, students begin to see how thousands of English words are constructed—and how those word parts unlock meaning.
Across 112 reproducible pages, students work with 26 prefixes, 59 roots, 41 suffixes, and 137 vocabulary words. Lessons introduce new word parts through short, manageable exercises that ask students to match meanings, complete sentences, analyze word structures, and use newly learned vocabulary in context.
Rather than treating vocabulary as a collection of unrelated words, Beginning Word Roots teaches students how words are built. As students learn common prefixes, suffixes, and roots, they gain the ability to decode unfamiliar vocabulary independently. The same word parts recur throughout literature, science, history, and academic writing, making this knowledge useful far beyond language arts.
The lessons are straightforward enough for independent work, and teaching suggestions, reviews, and answer keys are included for easy implementation. Because the pages are reproducible, the workbook can also be reused within the family.
For students who are ready to move beyond memorizing vocabulary definitions and start understanding how words work, Beginning Word Roots provides a strong foundation that supports reading comprehension, spelling, writing, and vocabulary growth for years to come.
How to Use Beginning Word Roots
- Begin with Lesson 1 and work through the book in order. Most families find that completing one lesson or review chapter each week provides a comfortable pace that allows students to absorb the material without feeling rushed.
- With 24 lessons and 3 review chapters, the workbook can be completed in approximately 27 weeks. That schedule leaves plenty of flexibility for holidays, busy seasons, unexpected interruptions, or additional review when a concept needs more time to stick.
- If you prefer to plan by page count rather than lessons, aim for about 3 pages each week. The exercises are short and varied, making them easy to fit into an existing language arts routine.
- Encourage your student to look for newly learned roots, prefixes, and suffixes in everyday reading. One of the most rewarding parts of the program is watching students begin to recognize familiar word parts in books, conversations, science lessons, and other subjects.
- As the weeks progress, you'll likely notice your child becoming more confident when encountering unfamiliar vocabulary. Instead of guessing or skipping difficult words, students begin using word parts as clues to unlock meaning independently.
For each lesson, students first learn the meanings of prefixes, roots, and suffixes.
Then they:
Answers are located in the back of this book.
Publisher's Information
Publisher: The Critical Thinking Co™
Authors: Cherie A. Plant & Stephanie W. Stevens
Age Recommendation: 8-9
Grade Recommendation: 3rd-4th
Faith-Based: No
Consumable: Yes (can be reproduced in your own home or classroom, but not for any commercial entity or organization)
Pages: 72
ISBN: 9781601441348
Format: Softcover
Awards and Endorsements from:
review by My Life on a Taffy Pull
"Each lesson is between 2 and 4 pages long, we usually did a page or 2 at a time. I was not able to completely let him do this independently, I probably could have if he were a little older. I was honestly surprised by how much he enjoys this book! I will definitely be getting the next one in the series when he completes this one!"
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review by Chocolate-Covered Boy Joy
"Trees have roots and so do words, I explained to Lionheart, who wondered aloud, "why do I have to do this!?" I wanted him to understand that the key to unlocking the meaning of new and unfamiliar words is understanding their roots. Sharing this tidbit made teaching this abstract concept a bit more relevant to his young life."
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- August 31, 2026
Catherine
Overall it's been good. We do one sheet per day and 3-4 pages a week.
- April 17, 2025
Challenging
Rachelle
This book is challenging for students with dyslexia. We are going to try again in 4th grade.
- March 10, 2025
My daughter really likes this
Melissa H.
My daughter enjoys the workbook. She said it really helps her, and she looks forward to doing it every week.
- February 16, 2025
Word roots
Kristen F.
This book is fine, but not my favorite. I feel the book could have been a little more detailed and explained more about what the words meant that she had to feel in the blanks with.
- December 18, 2024
This is so neat!
Lirpa
I LOVE IT! Learning along with him...I'm a math nerd!
- October 4, 2024
AMAZING!!!
Tasha G.
I wish I had found these books earlier, they have really helped close the gap in my daughters learning. She is reading better, spelling better, and her comprehension has sky rocketed. Well worth every penny spent and will be used for my younger kiddos as well!
- April 27, 2024
Its ok
Brittany O.
My 9 year old requires a lot of help with this. It is challenging for her as its teaching new word concepts.
- February 12, 2024
Simple Intro
Vanessa H.
This book offers a simple, quick introduction to word roots, prefixes, and suffixes. My daughter has enjoyed the lessons and understands the concepts of the word parts. However, retention of the word part meanings has not been strong. By adding some flashcards to review, that has been solved. I plan to use the upper levels of this program when she is ready for them. Possibly adding flashcards at those levels, as well.
- July 12, 2023
Awesome Book
stacey m.
Love this book to teach prefixes and suffixes. My son loves trying to make words using the base and adding prefixes and suffixes even if they don't make real words he tells me the meaning of the pretend words and we work to come up with the real word for the definition.
- April 18, 2023
Nice Book
Sheri
Very useful in helping young learners learn the prefix and suffix meanings to words. It can be a bit much for younger learners but we helped our little one when necessary versus making this independent work and that worked nicely for us.
