Teacher notes for this lesson. Two sides of A4, not for pupils.Mild sheetMedium sheetSpicy sheetAnswers
Teacher notes · not for pupils Spelling sequence

Grown-Up Endings

Suffixes that build longer words: -ation, -ly, -ous

Lesson 10 of 17
Year 3 45 min

Objective

Add the suffixes -ation, -ly and -ous to root words, applying the y-to-i change, and identify the root inside the finished word.

Board title: Adding suffixes to root words  ·  Say it: “Today we're adding the endings -ation, -ly and -ous to root words, and watching how the root changes to make room for them.”

Curriculum

  • Y3/4: add suffixes beginning with vowel letters to words of more than one syllable
  • Y3/4: the suffix -ation; the suffix -ous; adverbs formed with -ly
  • Terminology: suffix · root word · adverb · noun · adjective
  • STA domain: spelling (S)

Success criteria

  • turn a verb into a noun with -ation
  • swap a y for an i before -ly
  • add -ous to make a describing word
  • find the root hiding inside a long word

Key vocabulary

suffix · root word · noun · adverb · adjective · syllable

Run of the lesson

4 min
Starter: write prepare and preparation under each other. Ask what happened to the e. Take answers, say 'hold that thought', and move on, the tension is the point.
10 min
Model in write-and-ring style: verb on top, noun underneath, ring what changed, three times, prepare → preparation, admire → admiration, sense → sensation, and insist they write the verb first, prepare has an a so preparation has an a. Then the friendlier -ous: poison → poisonous, fame → famous, naming the spurious i of dangerious. Finish by saying the y-to-i swap, happy → happily, two steps out loud, and have them say it back. Then the two other -ly changes on the 'Put them together' slide: gentle → gently (le becomes ly) and basic → basically (-ic takes -ally), with publicly named as the one to learn.
9 min
Word Cellar on the whiteboard, Medium band, where the -ly items live (Spicy holds the longer endings if they are flying). Say the root aloud before anyone chooses an ending, and spell the whole word aloud, not just the ending. About 10 items with discussion.
5 min
The four vote pairs: a child says WHY before each reveal (answers: a-right, b-left, c-left, d-right). preperation is the unstressed-vowel trap, so send them back to the verb, and informasion shows why -ation is learnt as one fixed unit, not sounded out.
14 min
Worksheet, independent. Circulate on Task 3 with roots underlined as the rule. The trickiest hunt is Task 2: one long word is already right, and on Spicy that word is humorous, which has lost a letter on purpose, so catch anyone helpfully putting the u back in.
3 min
Plenary: two children read a Task 3 word aloud and the class calls out the root it grew from. Then the class quiz: Polpetta's evening-class notice says We teach it happyly, what happens to a y before -ly?
On screenSPAGhetti → Word Cellar → Medium. One screen only; no pupil devices needed. The -ly items sit in the Medium set; the longer endings come up in Spicy if the class is ready. ~10 items in 10 minutes with discussion.
SPAGhetti · Spelling sequence · Lesson 10 of 17  ·  Teacher notes 1 of 2
Teacher notes · not for pupils Grown-Up Endings · side 2

On the day

If the tech failsSkip the game entirely. Task 1 is the same content on paper, read the four pairs aloud and vote with thumbs. The lesson still works.
If they're on devicesLesson code SUFXC (on the worksheet footer) opens the right game, locks the café until 10 items are done, then unlocks it as the reward.

Misconceptions to watch for

Keeping the y before -ly. happyly, angryly, easyly. The commonest error in the whole suffix strand. Swap the y for an i, then add -ly, two steps, said out loud, every time.

-ation heard as -asion or -ashun. The ending sounds nothing like it looks. Treat it as one fixed unit to be learnt, not sounded out.

Spelling the root by ear. preperation, seperation. The unstressed vowel disappears in speech. Make them write the verb first: prepare has an a, so preparation has an a.

An extra i before -ous. dangerious, humourous. Some words genuinely take -ious, which is why this persists. Teach the handful of -ous words as a list rather than a rule.

The three sheets

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.

Mild

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.

Medium

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.

Spicy

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.

Adaptive teaching

  • Support: give the root written on the line already. They add the ending only.
  • SEN: gentle mode on; read Task 2 aloud before they edit.
  • Stretch: Task 3 extension, one sentence with a verb and the -ation noun made from it.
  • EAL: -ation has close cousins in French, Spanish and Italian. Say so, it is a rare free gift.

Play it

Lesson code SUFXC 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.

SPAGhetti · Spelling sequence · Lesson 10 of 17  ·  Teacher notes, not for pupils 2 of 2  ·  Ludora