INTERVENTION MATERIALS IN

ENGLISH V

BASED ON THE LEAST MASTERED SKILLS

IN FIRST PERIODICAL TEST

IDENTIFYING SUFFIX

1
I. INTRODUCTION

Once we start to consider what good teachers need to do, we come up with
enormously long lists, and come to realize just how complex the job of teaching is.
Teachers need to plan, to control, to present, to monitor, to react, to feedback, to offer a
model, to motivate, and so on.  

As teachers, we need to provide input yet also to promote learner discovery.  We
need to motivate in the short term while keeping pupils interested in the long term. We
need to plan but not to become the slaves of our plans but to remain receptive to what is
happening “in the moment.”
 
Above all, perhaps, we need to offer engaging, varied, non-trivial input in the form
of content and activities.  This implies finding things that learners will find both
interesting and relevant. It also entails being able to create an atmosphere where “flow”
can take place- where we lose ourselves in the activity we are engaged in - is helpful but
should not get us off the hook of actually achieving flow!

What if some pupil did not meet the academic standards required in learning
specific concepts or skills?

It is where intervention comes into picture. Intervention strategies or programs are

provided to pupils who have not been successful in meeting the academic standards
required in learning specific concepts, skills or knowledge.

This reminds me of Norman Whitney's wise observation: that any classroom event is
unpredictable, unrepeatable, unobservable (in every detail) and has unforeseen, long-
term consequences. 
 
So teaching is very much a process of seeing “through a dark glass.”  Perhaps the
best teachers are those who, while well-informed and well-trained, are also those best
able to live with the unexpected?  What do you think?

2
II. OBJECTIVE

In this lesson, you should be able to understand the terms “root” and “suffix.” Also,
it would help you with spelling and working out the meaning of unfamiliar words.

III. DISCUSSION

A. Explanation:

Concept Development

What is Root Word?

• A root word stands on its own as a word.
• You can make new words from it by endings (suffixes).
• Example: 'comfort' is a root word.

By adding the suffix 'able' you can make new word such as 'comfortable'.

What are suffixex?

• A suffix is a word ending. It is a group of letters you can add to the end of a root
word.
Example: walking, helpful, happily
• Adding suffixes to words can change or add to their meaning, but most
importantly they show how a word will be used in a sentence and what part of
speech (e.g. noun, verb, adjective) the word belongs to.

Example:
• If you want to use the root word 'talk' in the following sentence:
I was (talk) to Linda.
• You need to add the suffix 'ing' so that the word 'talk' makes better sense
grammatically:
"I was talking to Linda".

Children, when we add a group of letters, such as –ing (just like in our example) or
–less, to the end of a word, it changes the word’s meaning.
Sometimes a watermelon contains seeds; sometimes it is seedless, or without seeds.
Letters that are added to the end of words to change their meanings are called suffixes.

3
Samples of suffexes and how they are formed:
Suffix Example Suffix Example
ed walk + ed = walked ness happy + ness = happiness
ing say + ing = saying al accident + al = accidental
er tall + er = taller ary imagine + ary = imaginary
tion educate + tion = education able accept + able – acceptable
sion divide + sion = division ly love + ly = lovely
cian music + cian = musician ment excite + ment = excitement
fully hope + fully = hopefully ful help + ful = helpful
est large + est = largest y ease + y = easy
ing kick + ing = kicking less seed + less = seedless

Samples in sentence pattern:

Suffix + Suffix Meaning Meaning of Sentence
Word New Word
sleepless Sleepless means without Maria ate too much and had a
sleep. sleepless night.

seedless Seedless means without The seedless watermelon was

-less means seeds. easy to eat.
“without”

hopeless Hopeless means without Sam felt hopeless when he was

hope. lost in the big store.

Suffixes and their meanings:

Suffix meanings Sample Words
-less Without ageless, hairless, hopeless, cordless , sleepless,
seedless
-ing the action of adding, banking, crying, calling
-ly in a __ way, in manner of greatly, smoothly, fairly, clearly
-ment,- ity, act of, state of Enjoyment, curiosity, attribution, compression
-tion, -sion
-ian skilled in musician, physician, clinician
-al relating to historical, tidal
-able, -ible worthy of, capable of profitable, sensible

4
-ful, -ous, characterized by, full of Beautiful, dangerous, metallic, airy
-ic, -y
-an forms names of places, American, Asian, crustacean
systems, or founders
-ish denotes a certain action childish, boyish, snobish
-ance denotes a state, a quality Extravagance
or an instance

Teacher stresses that:

Always remember that the following are not examples of suffixes:
The letters “less” in bless are not a suffix because b is not a word.
The letters “ing” in bring are not a suffix.

(Teacher presents a graphic organizer decoding suffixes)

How did I/you decode the meaning of the new word with the suffix?

1.

2.

Does anyone else have a reason

why it is relevant to decode words
using suffixes. (Pair Share) Why
is it relevant to decode words using
suffixes? You may give me once
of my reasons or one of your own.
Which reason is more relevant to
you.? Why?

Now you will have some exercises……

B. Exercises
5
Exercise 1:
Decode these three bolded words into their word and suffix. Determine the
Meaning (1-4)

1. Ana picks up her cordless toothbrush. 2. Her second step is adding toothpaste.3
4. Then she brushes her teeth smoothly

1. cordless is ____________________ + ______________________

Cordless means _______________________________________

2. adding is _____________________ + ______________________

Adding means ________________________________________

3. smoothly is ___________________ + ______________________

Smoothly means _______________________________________

4. hopeful is ____________________ + _______________________

Hopeful means _________________________________________

5. calmly ______________________ + _______________________

Calmly means _________________________________________

Exercise 2:
Fill up the semantic web. Form the suffix of the base words on the middle and give
their meanings on the right.
Base/root
word
Meaning
Base + suffix

Teacher

Accident

Chemist

Speech

hope

Exercise 3:
6
1. Determine if the following words use the suffix –ly

A family O Yes O No B firefly O Yes O No

C fairly O Yes O No D weakly O Yes O No

2. Determine if the following words use the suffix –ing

A calling O Yes O No B ring O Yes O No

C sing O Yes O No D falling O Yes O No

Exercise 4:

Match the suffix to its meaning by writing the letter in the blank. Use the word after
each suffix as a clue.

____________1. -less hopeless A. female

____________2. -able comfortable B. in the direction
____________3. –er teacher C. able to
____________4. –ward backward D. without
____________5. –ess actress E. tutor
F. full of

Group Work:

7
Divide the pupils into 3 groups. Ask leaders to pick activity cards. Each group will
perform the required task as written on the activity cards.

Activity Card 1:

Fill-in the blank using the headings as clue to your answer.

Word Suffix Word + Suffix = Meaning of New Word
1. __________ means _____________________
taste -less
The mashed potatoes were tasteless.
2. __________ means _____________________
care -less
Do not be careless when doing your homework.
3. __________ means _____________________
kick -ing
I love kicking the soccer ball.
4. __________ means _____________________
paint -ing
She was painting a picture of her family.
5. __________ means _____________________
kind -ly
Susan’s kindly grandmother made her a scarf.
6. __________ means _____________________
quick -ly
We have to get to the airport quickly.

Activity Card 2:

Word Suffix Word + Suffix = Meaning of New Word

8
 __________ means _____________________

7. tooth -less If you eat too much candy, you might end up
toothless.

__________ means _____________________

harm -less
8. Although big, the dog was harmless.

__________ means _____________________

jump -ing
9. She spends recess jumping rope.

__________ means _____________________

talk -ing
10. She had detention because she was talking in class.

__________ means _____________________

brave -ly
11. The knight bravely fought the large dragon.

__________ means _____________________

calm -ly
12. She calmly told her parents about her bad grades.

Activity Card 3:

The group will act-out the following character and the class will guess it:

1. actress

2. musician

3. driver

4. teacher

5. laborer

EVALUATION:

Match the suffix to its meaning by writing the letter in the blank. Use the word after
each suffix as a clue.
9
 A. full of
____________1. –full colorful B. able to
____________2. –est fastest C. sound
____________3. –like childlike D. speed
____________4. –onym synonym E. the same as
____________5. phone telephone F. tutor

The result of the evaluation is above-satisfactory.

Summary closure

What did you learn today?

Remember, a suffix is a word ending. It is a group of letters you can add to the end
of a root word. By adding the suffix 'able' you can make new word such as
'comfortable'.

Example: comfortable, walking, helpful, happily

Adding suffixes to words can change or add to their meaning, but most importantly
they show how a word will be used in a sentence and what part of speech (e.g. noun,
verb, adjective) the word belongs to.

Decoding words using suffixes will help you figure out the meaning of unknown
words.

Decoding words using suffixes will help you do well in tests.

10