Suffixes -ing, -ed, -er; prefix un-
Add the suffixes -ing, -ed and -er to root words where no change is needed to the root, and use the prefix un- to change a word's meaning.
Board title: Adding word endings · Say it: “Today we're growing new words: -ing for now, -ed for yesterday, -er for the person who does it, and the root word never changes.”
root word · suffix · prefix · ending · opposite
Doubling when nothing needs doubling. jumpping, cookking, helpper. They have met doubled letters in words like running and now add one to be safe. Today's roots never change, say the root, add the ending, stop. Doubling has its own lesson later; do not teach it early, just name today's rule.
un- glued onto words that take no prefix. unsad, ungood, unhot. Once un- is a machine, they run everything through it. The check is simple and children enjoy owning it: say the word aloud, have you ever heard it? The Spicy sheet hunts unsad, and Spicy Task 4 gives Polpetta a bowl of unhot soup.
-ed read as its own syllable everywhere. jump-ed, cook-ed. Seeing -ed, they give it a beat, decide the word looks wrong, and respell it washt. Read the pairs aloud: jumped and cooked keep one beat; only roots ending in t or d, like wanted, earn the extra syllable. The core sheet plants wanted as the already-correct word for exactly this reason.
-er the person against -er the comparison. helper names who does it; bigger says more-than. Same two letters, different job, and the game clue always says which, a person who helps. If a child offers bigger today, praise it, park it, and keep -er for people until the comparison lesson.
Same four tasks on every sheet, in the same order, with the same look. Only the demand changes. Print the one each child needs; nobody does two.
Same four tasks as every other sheet, same order, same look, the demand is lower, not the dignity. Shorter passage in Task 2, and in Task 3 a word bank or words to tick, with printed sentence starters. Give it to anyone who needs a way in, and expect them to move up.
The core sheet. Give this to most of the class. No word bank; in Task 3 pupils choose from a few close options, then use one in a sentence of their own.
Same four tasks, more demand, a longer passage with a subtler error, and Task 3 asks for two things at once. Not extra work; harder work. Nobody should be doing Spicy and the Medium sheet.
Lesson code ENDSA at playspaghetti.com. The code is printed on the bottom of every pupil sheet with a QR, and Class Quiz in your dashboard opens the plenary quiz for this lesson pre-picked.