The Elementary Spelling Book, being an Improvement on the American Spelling Book · No. 150 · Part 11: Rules for spelling, numbers and marks
131. Endings -ful and -ist, and prefixes: ante, be, dis, fore
Goal: Your child knows the meaning of common beginnings and endings and uses them to read and spell new words.
You'll need
- The book, open to this table
- A slate, small whiteboard, or paper and pencil
What's in the book
Words made with -ful, then -ly and -ness (artful, painful, careful, graceful, peaceful); words in -ist meaning a person who does something (artist, organist, humorist); and prefixes with their meanings: ante (before), anti (against), be, con or co (with), counter (against), de (down from), dis (apart, or not), fore (before), in or im (in, or not), each with a list (antedate, befriend, coexist, counteract, debase, disagree, foretell, forenoon, immaterial).
The lesson, step by step
Review
Your child writes happiness and careless and shows the parts.
-ful words
care + ful = careful; then careful + ly = carefully, careful + ness = carefulness. Read the book's list across: artful, painful, careful, graceful, peaceful.
-ist words
An -ist is a person who does something: an artist does art, an organist plays the organ.
Prefixes
A prefix is a small part put in front of a word to change its meaning. Read the book's rules: fore means before (foretell: tell before), dis often means not (disagree), counter means against (counteract). Some of the words:
fore-tell, fore-noon
dis-agree, dis-able
be-friend, co-exist
Take words apart
Your child splits five words into prefix and root and says what each means: disagree, foretell, befriend, coexist, debase.
Dictation
Dictate: careful, peaceful, artist, disagree, foretell, befriend.