To Teachers
The blog is designed for grades 3-4 and up but would be appropriate for any students in the upper grades who are not familiar with the morpheme(s) being introduced. The main purpose of the blog is to develop students’ knowledge of bases (roots), prefixes, and suffixes so they can use these elements to derive the meanings of unfamiliar words and build their vocabularies. As part of presenting a new morpheme each week, words containing that morpheme are also introduced. Chances are some of those words will be unfamiliar, thus providing an opportunity for added vocabulary development. This week’s Morpheme Monday Lesson introduces Latin and Greek morphemes for the numbers one to five and the base ped (pod). The morphemes mono, tri, quad, tetra, penta, and quin are combining forms. (Combining forms are similar to affixes but are more flexible. Two affixes cannot be combined to form a word, but two combining forms can as in biology (bio+ology). Words can also be formed when an affix is joined with a combining form as in carditis (card+itis).) The morphemes uni– and bi– are prefixes. Du as in duo and quin as in quintet are sometimes classified as prefixes and sometimes as bases. Rather than getting bogged down in terminology, you might just refer to them all as word forms or morphemes that act as prefixes.
To Students
Number Morphemes
A number of morphemes mean numbers. Here is a list for morphemes for the numbers one to five
Morpheme Numbers Chart
| mono-, uni- | one | monoplane (mono+plane)
unicorn (uni+corn) Corn is a Latin word that means “horn.” |
| bi, du-(duo) | two | biplane (bi+plane)
dual (du+al) The road has dual lanes. |
| tri- | three | triangle, triple |
| quadr(i), tetra- | four | quadruped (quadru+ped) 4 feet
Ped is a base that means “foot.” tetragon (tetra+gon) 4 sides Gon is a base that means “side or angle.” |
| quin-, penta- | five | quintet (group of five singers or musicians)
pentagon (penta+gon) 5 sides |
Read the article and then answer the questions that follow.
How Many Wheels?
You can use number morphemes to tell how many wheels a cycle has. A unicycle has just one wheel, which makes it harder to ride. Bicycles have two wheels and are the most popular cycle. Tricycles have three wheels. Until recently, tricycles were ridden mostly by younger children who were not ready to ride bicycles. But now tricycles are being ridden by older adults. Adult tricycles are larger and may have baskets so their owners can carry things. A quadricycle has four wheels. This gives it extra stability. It is less likely to tip over. Quad pedal bikes are good for riding in parks, on trails, and around the neighbor. A quinticycle has the most wheels of all. One man built a quinticycle for his family. With a quinticycle, he and his wife and three children could all ride together
Use the Morpheme Numbers Chart above to answer the following questions.
- Triplets are children who are born at the same time. How many children are there in a set of triplets?
____________________
- How many children make up a set of quintuplets?
_____________________
- How many feet does a biped have?
____________________
- How many propellers does a monoplane have?
_______________________
- How many singers are there in a duet?
_______________________
ped-, pod-
Ped (pod) means “foot.” A biped has two feet. A quadruped has four. You step on a pedal with your foot to make a car go. You pedal a bike. A pedestrian (puh-DES-tree-an) walks. A podiatrist (puh-DIE-uh-trist) is a doctor who takes care of people who have sore feet. A pedometer (pih-DAH-muh-ter) counts how many steps you take.
Bipeds Versus Quadrupeds
– Gemini Generated Image
Read to find out how bipeds are different from quadrupeds. Then answer the questions that follow.
Bipeds have two feet. We are bipeds and so are birds. The biggest bipeds today are ostriches. Dinosaurs are also bipeds. Quadrupeds have four feet. Quadrupeds are faster than bipeds. Most four-legged animals can outrun humans. Quadrupeds are also more stable. They can run over uneven ground more easily and can make turns faster. However, since they only used two limbs for walking and running, bipeds can use their other two limbs –their arms– for carrying, picking up, and throwing things. Bipeds also use less energy.
Spider crabs are decapods. Deca means “ten.” Spider crabs have ten very long legs. Pod means “foot,” but is sometimes used to refer to the legs of sea creatures. When their legs are stretched out, spider crabs are four meters (13 feet) wide. They use their long legs and strong claws to catch and open the shells of other sea creatures. But they also eat dead animals.
Despite their large size and scary look, spider crabs are harmless. In fact, spider crabs try to hide from other creatures. They make a sticky liquid that they use to glue bits of sponges and shells on their bodies. They do this so their enemies will have harder time seeing them
1. Which of the following is a biped?
a. robin b. fox c. snake d. octopus
2. Which of the follow is the biggest biped?
a. elephant b. hippo c, ostrich d. giraffe
3, Which of the following is a quadruped?
a. tiger b. ostrich c. human d. spider crab
4. How many legs does a spider crab have?
a. two b. four c. ten d. twelve
5. Why do spider crabs glue sponges and shells to their bodies?
a. to hide from enemies
b. to attract a mate
c. to look good
d. to scare predators
Answers
How Many Wheels?
- three 2. five 3. two 4. one 5. two
Bipeds Versus Quadrupeds
- robin 2. ostrich 3. tiger 4. ten 5.to hide from enemies
Note: All Morpheme Monday Lessons are posted at Buildingliteracy.org under the Building Literacy Blog.
©Thomas Gunning, Ed. D.
Monday Morpheme Lessons
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