Using Legos and Puzzle Pieces to Understand the Meanings of Latin and Greek Roots

We are learning about Greek and Latin Root words and how the English language is derived from these ancient roots. As readers and writers, this will help us figure out the meaning of unknown words in our reading and writing.

To introduce this concept, I used Legos in baggies (one per student) to help them discover how the root or "base" word changes in meaning when you add a prefix, a suffix, or both. The same goes for Legos, or puzzle pieces. For example, below you see a single brick, or a pile of Legos, but when put together, the meaning changes - in this case, into a hamburger or an elephant.



This is a great activity for tactile and visual learners. They can see and feel how one Lego brick changes just by adding to it. It works the same way when you add groups of letters to a root word. The meaning changes. You have created a new word. (Or you have broken down the meaning of an unknown word.)

Root/base words are also like puzzle pieces. As you add to them, the picture changes. The single puzzle piece is no longer just a jagged-edged piece of cardboard. It has transformed into something with meaning.


I used this YouTube video to explain my purpose for playing with Legos in 7th grade, lol! It is a fantastic instructional tool that describes the process of how our language was derived from Greek and Latin roots in a really cool way that everyone can enjoy! :)

Here are two lists of some common Greek and Latin Root Words we will be exploring in class...

Fact and Opinion Writing DRAFT Essays

The students have been working really hard using their graphic organizers, transition words, and fact and opinion definitions to write their DRAFT opinion essays. They started with their opening paragraphs, including their hooks (topic sentence to draw readers in), stated their opinions, and listed three reasons for these beliefs.

They also began typing the body of their essays. These paragraphs detail each reason they listed in their opening concluding sentence. The students have also provided feedback to peers on how to elaborate their opinions. Each paragraph must include at least one transition word.

Provided below, are some of the sample DRAFTS they have composed for their e-books vs. physical books opinion essays. Enjoy! :)

Opinion Writing: E-books vs. Physical Books! Which Will Win!? Using Graphic Organizers to Plot Our Thoughts!

Following our Tug-of-War lesson (see previous post), where we debated between the use of electronic books and physical books, my students used their research to create graphic organizers detailing their opinions and three reasons why they came to these conclusions. The writing from their organizers will then be transferred to persuasive writing pieces. They will use the graphic organizers to help plan and type their five-paragraph essay into Google Docs. They will also use a rubric to guide them in opinion writing. The rubric is also useful for peers to provide constructive criticism.

Tug-of-War E-books vs. Physical Books

My students engaged in a Tug-of-War lesson. This is a thinking routine from Project Zero - Harvard Graduate School of Education. They started the lesson with a thinking question - What is an opinion? Then they turned to a neighbor (think-pair-share) and shared their answers before sharing with the class. We then watched a young adult YouTube blogger give his opinion on the debate between e-books and physical books. After this, we read an article from CBS News and highlighted the important information to support both sides of the debate. They recorded their "supported evidence" in both columns during both the video and using the article differentiated to their reading levels. The students then chose their "tug" (opinion) and placed one of their supporting evidence on a post it and picked a side. After reading other students' "tugs" on the opposite side, they reflected on whether their opinions had changed.