How We Teach Prefixes
How We Teach Prefixes by Marie Rippel You know what a prefix is. And you might even be able to explain what a prefix is. But do you know how to teach prefixes? An understanding of prefixes is an important step toward proficient reading and spelling. This mini teaching guide will fill your teaching toolkit with tricks and tips that will help your children master this skill and become better readers and spellers. So what is a prefix? A prefix is a word part that is placed in front of a base word. A prefix usually changes the meaning of the base word. Take a look at the example below. Think about the word happy . The prefix un placed in front of the word happy makes a new word with a new meaning— unhappy . The prefix un means not , so it changes the meaning of the word happy to not happy . The Two Most Common Prefixes The most common prefixes are un and re . These two prefixes are the most useful for beginning spellers to learn because they