In this 19-page resource, we teach students that the prefix “de-” means “down” or “down from”.

It contains 10 activities designed to teach and consolidate this knowledge. Activities include:

• teaching the definition and etymology of the prefix, “de-”, for comprehension and spelling;
• a procedural word learning writing activity;
• auditory bombardment – listening to “de-” words in sentence context;
• a highlighting activity: spotting the prefix in sentences;
• a sentence rewriting exercise requiring students to replace words with a word using the “de-” prefix;
• a sentence formulation exercise with semantic constraints: making original sentences using words with a “de-” prefix;
• a divergent naming exercise: creative thinking using words with “de-” prefixes;
• a general knowledge investigation;
• a verbal reasoning/persuasive writing exercise: generating pros and cons for arguments including “de-” words; and
• a story-making exercise with “de-” words.

This resource is one of nine modules covering the most frequent prefixes uses in English. Fully scripted, the module is is suitable for one-to-one, small group and whole class instruction; and can be downloaded in PDF and Google Slides format.