Build-A-Word

This fun and fast-paced game helps students practice forming words using one base at a time, so all resulting words are in the same morphological word family. By adding prefixes, suffixes, and even other bases (for compound words), students create more complex words. This practice helps students recognize and segment the morphemes that make up longer words, improving both reading and writing skills.

Purpose:

• Deepen understanding of morphological word families

• Practice building multi-syllabic words

• Use competition and collaboration as motivation

Materials:

• Markers

• Blank Paper or Whiteboard

Instructions:

Start with “Roll-a-Base” - this is a more advanced activity

1. Using two markers, decide which color will represent the base and which will represent the affixes (prefixes and suffixes).

2. Students brainstorm out loud different words they want to add to the board.
   For example: David might call out “recalling”. The scribe will write this on the board or the paper using the different markers to show the base and affixes.

3. Once the board is filled or the time has expired (you can set a timer if this helps your student) you can count up the points!

4. Challenge your student to beat their high score every time!

Extension for those who are familiar with Structured Word Inquiry:

• Write out the words as word sum.
  Ex. call + er + s→ callers

• When you see an arrow, we say “is rewritten as”

  Ex. “c-a-ll PLUS e-r is rewritten as c-a-ll-er-s, callers.”
  

Points:

• 5 points - each prefix 

• 5 points - each suffix

• 10 points - each base

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Click here to download a file with the Build-A-Word instructions and our gallery of bases. We split the bases into 3 levels: Beginner, Intermediate, and Advanced.