Teacher Guide

Read the first two sections before using any activity. They are short, and they set the boundaries the whole resource depends on.

What this resource does

It teaches students to use Greek and Latin word parts as a sense-making strategy for science reading. A student who recognizes HYDRO and SPHERE has a way into hydrosphere before anyone defines it. That first prediction gives the student something to test against a diagram, a passage, or data — which is the actual scientific move.

Every activity is built so morphology opens the door and evidence decides what is behind it.

What this resource does not do

It is not official SST content, not approved by TEA, and not a reproduction of test items.
It is not a replacement for science instruction. Decoding a term is not the same as understanding the concept.
It is not evidence of TEKS mastery by itself.
It is not an etymology course. Classroom meanings are simplified on purpose, and where that simplification breaks down the data file records a caution.

Say this out loud to students, more than once. Word parts give you clues. They do not always give you a complete scientific definition. Context and science knowledge still matter.

Teach the routine

Five steps, in student language. Post them and use the same words every time.

Spot It — What part looks familiar?
Break It — What pieces can you identify?
Predict It — What might the word mean?
Check It — Does the science support your idea?
Use It — Can you apply the word somewhere else?

The step teachers skip is Check It, and it is the one that turns a vocabulary exercise into science. Several sheets are written so the first prediction is close but not right — a thermometer measures temperature, not heat; microwave does not mean a small wave oven. When a student revises, name it as the win.

Read the response, not the answer

A four-point shorthand for what a response shows. It is a teacher-facing interpretation layer, drawn from SOLO. Do not label students with a level, and do not put the level on a student sheet.

What you see	Evidence in the response	Next move
1 — One clue	Identifies one relevant word part.	Ask for the second part, then for a prediction.
2 — Several clues	Identifies multiple parts but does not connect them.	Ask how the parts fit together.
3 — Connected meaning	Combines word structure and science context.	Ask for a prediction about a new case.
4 — Transfer	Uses known word parts successfully in a new situation.	Give an unfamiliar term with a stimulus.

ACE, on the sheets that use it

Most activities end with a small ACE box. It is deliberately short and is not on every page.

A — Articulate. Name the parts and their meanings; restate the term in your own words.
C — Connect. Explain how the parts connect to the science, and what evidence confirms it.
E — Extend. Decode something new, or explain where the word part appears next.

Across the year

The same word part can carry all three checkpoints. GEOTHERMAL is the worked example:

BOY. GEO means Earth, THERM means heat. What do you predict GEOTHERMAL relates to?
MOY. Here is a diagram of hot rock and circulating water. How do GEO and THERM connect to what the diagram shows?
EOY. Here is a town where the rock stays 20 °C at every depth. Would a geothermal plan work? Use the word and the evidence.

The demand actually changes at each step. Relabelling the same worksheet BOY, MOY, and EOY would not.

Running the printables

Every activity has a colour edition and a black-and-white edition. The B&W edition is not the colour one with the ink removed: prefix, root, and suffix are distinguished by shape, border pattern, and a printed label.
Sheets are US Letter portrait with half-inch margins. Print at 100% scale; do not use "fit to page".
Exit tickets print several to a page with cut lines.
Teacher keys are separate files. No answers appear in a student handout.

Multilingual learners

Word parts are an unusually good entry point for Spanish speakers, because a large share of these roots arrive in English through Latin and appear in Spanish cognates — hidrosfera, termómetro, microscopio, fotosíntesis. Invite students to name the cognate first.

Sentence stems that work with any activity here:

The word part ___ means ___.
I think the word means ___ because ___.
The diagram helps because ___.
My first prediction was ___. I changed my thinking because ___.

Home-language discussion, drawing, and oral explanation are all acceptable evidence on these tasks. Do not simplify the science to reduce the English load.