Lesson video

Hi there, I'm Mr. Moss.

I love spelling and I'm really looking forward to teaching you.

With you for today's spelling lesson, you're going to need to bring your looking eyes, your listening ears, and your thinking brains, as well as something to write with and write on and someone or something to talk to would also be really helpful.

Let's get into today's spelling lesson then.

In this spelling lesson, we're going to be spelling words with the prefixes, ad- and al- and hyphens.

The outcome will be, I can spell a range of words with the prefixes ad-, al-, af- and a-.

Here are the key words for today's learning.

My turn your turn.

Prefix.

Root word.

Hyphen.

Brilliant.

Thanks for saying those back to me.

So let's have a chat about what these mean then.

A prefix is a letter or group of letters added to the start of a root word to change its meaning and create a new word.

A root word is that base word from which other words are formed, often by adding prefixes or suffixes.

And a hyphen can join a prefix to a base word to avoid confusion or ambiguity in the meaning or spelling.

So today we are going to be taking some root words and adding those prefixes, and in some examples we'll be using hyphens.

So keep an eye out for these today.

Here's the outline for today's lesson.

We're gonna begin by looking at hyphens and prefixes and then we're gonna look at the prefixes, ad-, al-, af- and a-.

And we're gonna finish the lesson by spelling some curriculum words.

Let's get on with looking at hyphens and prefixes then.

So let's think about what a prefix is.

A prefix is a letter or group of letters that we add to the start of a word to change its meaning and create a new word.

Let's look at some in action.

We have here the root word honest.

If I add the prefix dis-, it creates the words dishonest.

This is the opposite of being honest.

It's an antonym.

Here we have cycle.

If I add bi-, meaning two, I create bicycle.

That two wheeled vehicle.

Here we have vision as our root word and the prefix tele, if we add them together, it creates television, something that can be viewed from a distance.

So understanding prefixes can help us to work out the meaning of some unfamiliar words that might contain them.

It can also help us with our spelling.

And the important thing to remember here is, adding a prefix won't change the spelling of the root word.

The prefix does not change the spelling of that root word, remember? So let's read some words that contain some prefixes.

Consider what you notice about these words as we read them.

Pre-existing.

So something that already existed before.

Self-esteem, how you feel about yourself, how you view yourself.

Reevaluate, this is where we think about something again, we re-do it.

Ex-husband.

So a person who may have been your husband before but is no longer.

Non-stop.

Something that won't stop.

Keeps on going and going and going.

Co-author.

So if you're writing something, your co-author would be someone writing it with you.

So you can see here that all of these words contain hyphens, these dashes to separate our prefix and our root words.

We're gonna consider why some of these words contain these hyphens.

Prefixes can use hyphens for a number of different reasons.

Sometimes it can be to prevent two of the same vows appearing next to each other.

For instance, in re-enter we'd have a double E if we didn't add that hyphen or co-ordinate, which can sometimes be spelled without that hyphen as well.

But we can make it really clear that it is co-ordinate.

Otherwise, that double O might be confused for a different sound.

We can also use hyphens with the prefixes ex- and self-.

For example, ex-president or self-care.

And it can also be to avoid confusion as to what exactly the word means.

For instance, with re-cover, cover that up again, or to recover, to get better.

So can you re-cover the food after you finish? Covering it up again, re- there meaning again, but you also have to recover to get better again after you maybe had an accident.

You should recover after the operation.

They both mean slightly different things and we can use the hyphen there to be very clear about what that re-cover, as in to cover back up again, means.

So hyphens are sometimes used in prefixes where we would otherwise have a vowel next to each other.

So co-author, for instance.

If we were to put these together without the hyphen, we might end up making a strange O sound with our OA.

So we use the hyphen to really, really, clearly demarcate where our prefix is and where our root word is.

And to help us pronounce the new word co-author, someone who wrote something with you.

Pre-existing.

Again, we might have these Es together and expect it to make an "ee" sound.

So we use that hyphen to really clearly show where our prefix and our root word is and to help us pronounce the new word, pre-existing, something that was already there.

These can be quite tricky to say.

So we use a hyphen to separate the vows.

This isn't always the case though.

If we look at the words extraordinary and coexist, they don't use hyphens.

What do you think a hyphen has been used for in this word? We should re-enter the building.

Why do you think we've got a hyphen there? Have a think.

Great.

Absolutely.

The reason we've got a hyphen there is for one of those reasons that we've already looked at, which is we've got two vowel letters that would then be next to each other are E and are E, which could confuse people into thinking it's making a different sound.

The hyphen helps us here to read the word correctly.

Otherwise we might think it's making that "ee" sound.

Re-enter means you are entering again, going back in, having already been in.

Some prefixes use a hyphen very often.

For instance, ex-.

In many many words we see this hyphenated.

For instance, ex-Prime Minister.

So the person who was the Prime Minister before.

Ex-wife, a person who was your wife before and ex-boyfriend, no longer but was your boyfriend before.

We also use it a lot in self-.

Self-confidence, self-belief, self-conscious.

This is that stage of awareness about one's self.

Can you think of any other words that use these prefixes ex- and self-? Pause the video and have a think.

Brilliant job.

So the prefix ex- means out of or from.

For instance, to exit or extend.

You may not recognise these root words.

When the prefix ex- is used with a hyphen, though, it usually means former or past.

So ex-Prime Minister was the previous in the past Prime Minister, ex-wife was your former wife, ex-boyfriend was your ex former or past boyfriend.

So from the prefixes that we've looked at already today, I'd like you to match the prefixes to the root words here.

Try saying them to see if they make sense.

Take a prefix, say it with the root words on the right hand side and see if they make sense.

For instance, if I were to say non-girlfriend, that wouldn't make sense.

So I need to find the root word that matches with non-.

Pause the video and match these prefixes to the root words now.

Off you go.

Brilliant job team.

Really good work.

So our first one is non-negotiable.

Okay, something that is non-negotiable is something that is not up for debate and cannot be changed.

For instance, the terms of our agreement are non-negotiable.

Notice here we have a hyphen between non and negotiable.

Self-centered was our next word.

Great.

Someone who's self-centered only cares about themselves.

Ex-girlfriend was our next, the former or previous girlfriend, and pre-existing, something that came before, something that already existed before.

Brilliant.

You will notice that all of these prefixes are added using a hyphen to the root word.

Some pairs of words have the same spelling, but they have a different meaning when the hyphen is used.

For instance, I will resign from my job.

If you resign from your job, you leave your post.

He will re-sign from the team when his contract expires.

Notice how to pronounce slightly differently as well.

Re-sign means to sign up again.

She recoiled in horror at the mess.

You recoil, you move backwards and away.

She re-coiled the rope.

These sound similar but they mean two different things.

One is that idea of being fearful, maybe moving away and the other is to re-coil, to wind it back up.

Notice the difference here when the hyphen is used.

Don't repress your feelings.

Repressing in this way is that process of subduing something by force.

If you're repressing your feelings or swishing them down inside, you're not talking about them.

Please re-press the button.

Press again.

The prefix re- means again.

Notice here that although they have similar spellings and may be pronounced similarly or slightly differently, they mean different things when the hyphen is used.

So for our activity right now, what I'd like you to do for me is choose the correct word for each gap.

Need to read through the sentences and choose the correct words from the right.

Look carefully at them.

Consider their meaning.

Consider also if they're hyphenated or not and whether that changes their meaning and which context and which sentence they'll make sense in.

Read through the sentences now and add the correct words.

We have recover and re-cover.

Resign and re-sign.

Be careful with these.

Off you go team.

Great job.

So I'm hoping you managed to sort 'em like this.

After feeling sick for a few days, Andy finally began to recover and feel better.

So that's him getting better again.

Luca decided to resign from his position on the school council to focus on other activities, means he left that position.

Mum decided to re-cover the old chair with a bright new fabric to make it look brand new.

So cover something again.

And Aisha was so excited to play soccer again that she couldn't wait to re-sign for the team.

She played for them before, and now she's going to come back and sign for them again.

Re-sign, remember that prefix re- means again.

So we are now going to look at the prefixes, ad-, al-, af- and a-.

Read these words, my turn your turn.

Adjective.

Those words that are used to describe nouns.

Admire, looking up to someone.

Affirm, you give the affirmative, you agree.

Afflict.

Afflict is a verb being to cause pain or trouble to you or to have a negative effect on.

Altogether.

Already.

Always.

Apart.

We have grown apart.

So you may have noticed here that all of these words begin with the prefixes either ad-, al-, af- and a-.

And we're gonna be looking at these in a bit of detail.

Many of them don't have clear root words.

Some of them do.

We are going to investigate how these prefixes inform their meaning of the words and the related spelling patterns to them.

Let's begin by exploring the prefixes ad- and af-.

So let's look at some words.

Adjacent.

So something that's next to something.

Affable.

Someone that's friendly.

Advent.

So adjacent means located next to something else.

Affable means friendly or easy to talk to.

And advent is the arrival or coming of something significant or important.

What do you think these prefixes mean then? Ad-, af- and ad- again.

Pause the video and have a think.

Consider the definitions of each of these words.

Brilliant.

Well the prefixes ad- and af- mean towards.

Using your knowledge of the meaning of the prefix ad-, which means towards, what do you think the meaning of the word advance is? Advance.

Have a think.

Brilliant, some excellent thinking going on there.

So if you advance, it means to move forward or towards something or to make progress in a certain area.

Remember that prefix ad- or af- can mean towards, however, the meaning of the prefix and others isn't always clear in every word that you see the prefix in.

Let's explore the meaning of the prefix al-.

Alone.

Now the pronunciation here is a little bit different.

Almost.

So in alone it's making al, in almost, it's making all, and altogether.

Let's look at the definitions of these words.

Alone is by oneself and without others.

Almost is a nearly or very close and altogether is completely or in total.

What do you think this al- prefix might mean then? Have a think.

Brilliant.

Well the prefix al- means all.

One of the Ls here has been dropped though when it is used as a prefix.

Remembering this can help us with spellings.

We are never going to have that double L there in the word if we're using our al prefix, it means something similar to that word all, A-L-L, but we just have that single L.

It's really important we remember that.

With that in mind, can you choose the correct spelling of each word? Think about how you know, consider the rule that we just looked at for using that al- prefix.

Choose the correct spelling in each instance now of also, although, and already.

Off you go.

Brilliant job.

So it might sound like "allso" with that all in it, A double L, but we know it's just that single L for our prefix.

The prefix al- in our word so.

Although it's exactly the same, our prefix al- and in though, OU grumpy hippo, and already, it's just that al- for that al prefix, all.

And then the word ready.

I know that the prefix al- only has one L, unlike the word all.

Let's explore the meaning of the prefix a- then.

Afloat.

Notice the pronunciation here.

It's not a float, it's afloat.

Ablaze.

Aboard.

Kind of makes an "ugh" sound, doesn't it? So it is not particularly clear, but it's our a- prefix.

Afloat means plumbing that's floating.

Ablaze means something that's on fire burning fiercely and aboard means something that's on board, as in, on a ship, a train or a vehicle, on board.

What do you think this prefix a- then, making that "ugh" sound, afloat, ablaze, aboard, might mean? Have a think.

Think about the definitions I've shown you.

Great, really good thinking team.

So the prefix a- means in a state of, in that state of floating, okay? In that state of being on fire, and in the state of being on board.

Words with the prefix a- can sound archaic, which means old fashioned, like something you might hear in older poetry.

Let's look at some examples of this.

In fields afar where dreams take flight.

So these fields are far away, that state of being far away, aloft, the stars paint the night.

So aloft is up in the sky.

Abloom, the flowers dance in glee, that state of being in bloom.

and ablaze, we spoke about this one, that state of being on fire, ablaze with joy for all to see.

So it's quite an old fashioned way of referring to that stage of being that thing.

Let's test your memory now then.

What is the meaning of each of these prefixes? Pause the video.

Great.

A- means in a state of, afloat, ablaze.

Al- is all like all together.

And ad- means towards like advance.

So what we are going to do now is we are going to have a go at spelling some words that contain some of the prefixes that all we have been looking at so far this lesson.

Remember to sound it out, think of a root word if there is an obvious one, but there might not be.

Think of the spelling rules.

So think about what this prefixes mean and how they're spelt, for instance, that al- prefix, just having that one L and read the word and check and see if you think it looks right once you've written it down.

Just listen to me say the words first of all.

The first word is already.

I already have one of those.

The next word is admire.

I admire her greatly.

Number three is affable.

He is an affable young man.

Number four although, and number five, always.

So I'll say this one more time for you.

Already.

Number two, admire.

Number three, affable.

Number four, although, and number five, always.

Pause the video now and have a go at writing them.

Off you go team.

Excellent job.

Really great spelling, really careful consideration of those prefixes and the rules we've looked at.

And also really good checking.

So we're gonna go through now and you can make any corrections as you go along.

I've seen already written like this.

Let's think about this spelling.

It's our al-, isn't it? Our al- prefix, which is just spelled with one L.

Now I know it sounds like that word all and it has a similar meaning, but we're gonna drop one of the Ls and then our root word is ready.

Be careful the spelling of this word.

It's that EA making that S sound ready.

This is our correct spelling.

The next word was admire, with our prefix ad-, ad-, hmm, okay, meaning towards.

Similar in that meaning to admiration, okay? Showing that you respect and look up to someone or something.

So admire, ad- is our prefix here, isn't it? It's just gonna be the single D.

It's not add as in I'm adding, it's just that ad.

And mire is M-I-R-E, admire.

The next one was affable.

Okay, affable.

If you are affable, you're incredibly friendly, easy to talk to and get along with.

The correct spelling is this one here.

It's double F here, which is interesting.

It's our af- prefix and there's no clear and obvious root word here.

Although fable actually a word itself.

It's not quite linked in meaning here, but affable, A-B-L-E and that uh at the end is that LE, double F in that word.

Watch out for that one.

And then although, okay, we know we've got our all here, but it's our al- prefix.

So we're gonna drop one of the Ls and then though is OU grumpy hippo, T H O U, grumpy hippo.

So this one here.

And finally, always, always be careful with this one.

Again, all but our al- prefix.

So we're gonna drop one of the Ls and then ways, it's way and then s.

I know it sounds like a zz, but it's always, A-L-W-A-Y-S.

How did you do there? Make any corrections now.

Share your learning, off you go.

Onto our final learning cycle then team, which is spelling curriculum words.

Let's read through the following words together.

My turn your turn.

Experience.

I hope I enjoy this experience.

Extreme.

It was extremely cold, extreme.

There was an extreme temperature drop.

Extreme means reaching the high or highest degree of something.

For instance, extreme cold would be really, really very very cold.

So have a look at these words with me.

Consider, do you notice anything interesting about the way they're spelt? Compare how they sound when you say them to how they're spelt as well.

Is there anything maybe tricky about them? Pause the video and have a think.

Brilliant.

Well I've noticed a few things.

We both have that ex-, don't they? So they both have that prefix ex-, E-X, which means out of or from.

In experience, the letter I there that I've highlighted here in blue isn't making that "i" sound it's making an "ee" sound, experience.

So that can be a little bit confusing and it comes with our -ence suffix there.

Experience.

In extreme, we have that "e-e" spelling though, don't we? Extreme.

Also, we didn't really hear that ex- very clearly, do we? It can be sometimes have a bit like eck, extreme.

So be careful with that one.

So with that in mind, which of the words that we've just read are spelt correctly? Point to the correct spelling experience now.

What was the tricky letter? The naughty letter in the middle there.

Off you go, point to it.

Great.

Experience.

It's our ex-, isn't it, that prefix and then -perience.

So think about this.

It's our I, isn't it, That makes that "ee" sound, experience, and it's that -ence.

Brilliant.

The next one was extreme.

Point to it now.

Great job.

So it's that ex- prefix again and it's that e split e.

Extreme.

Great.

We're gonna look at another curriculum word now.

It is this word, my turn your turn.

Increase.

I'm hoping you'll increase your spelling knowledge during this lesson, to make greater, increase.

Increase in size.

What do you notice about this spelling? Is there anything maybe tricky or interesting about it? Pause the video and have a think.

Great job.

What I've noticed here that increase has that in, in- here prefix.

And it's the antonym of decrease, which means it's the opposite.

Increase has the prefix in in it at the start, obviously, 'cause it's a prefix.

The S sound, increase, has that "se" spelling.

So watch out for that at the end of the word.

So select the correct spelling of the word increase now, off you go.

Great.

The correct spelling is this one here.

It's our prefix in-, and then C-R-E.

And then that S at the end is S-E, increase.

Great.

So because these are curriculum words and they're gonna appear with such great regularity in our reading and writing, it's really important we're confident in both reading, writing, and spelling them.

So we're gonna use a really great strategy now called look, cover, write, check.

This is where you look carefully at the word and consider how it's spelt and what might be difficult about it.

I've got my ex- prefix in experience and I've got that strange I making that "ee" sound and then the -ence suffix at the end.

I then cover it up and stick it in here.

I then have a go at writing it, ideally in my neatest handwriting to make really good links through my hand and my brain.

And then I do the check part, which is where I look back and see how I spelt it.

Have I spelt it correctly? Let's have a look.

Yes, I have.

So what you need to do then is not just do it once, do it more than once, because you really want to embed that spelling into your long term memory.

So do it a few times.

Look, cover, write, check.

I'd like to do that now for these three words.

Off you go, team.

Brilliant.

Great job.

So I'm hoping you've got the three words, experience, extreme and increase written out a number of times like this.

Did you manage to spell them correctly? Share your learning with me and others now and make any corrections.

Off you go.

Brilliant job in spelling today team.

We've been looking at prefixes.

Remember the prefix is a letter or group of letters at the start of a word which changes its meaning and does not alter the spelling of the root word.

The prefix is ad- and af- mean towards.

The prefix al- means all, and a- means in a state of like ablaze or afloat.

A hyphen can join a prefix to a base word to avoid any ambiguity in meaning or spelling.

Keep up the great spelling, see if you can spot some of these prefixes in your reading and I'll see you again soon.