Its All Greek to Me:

A unit on Greek and Latin Root Words in Content Area

Kayla Simpson
EDR 390
6 November 2014

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Classroom Scenario
I am at T.G. Scott Elementary in Mrs. Moores fifth grade class. While I was placed
here late, I could tell immediately that Mrs. Moore had a wonderful group of students. There are
twenty-six in all. This class is probably one of the least diverse classrooms that I have seen in
any school in Monroe County. There are only five boys. There are twenty-one girls. There are
only two African American students, both female, and one Hispanic student, also female. This
class is also lacking a diversity of learners. All of these students are on or above level, many
being in the gifted program. This being said, they are the most eager bunch of students I have
ever seen. They always go above and beyond, wanting to do more than is required.

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Overview of Thematic Unit

After discussing with my host teacher and what she was planning on her other classes
learning that week we agreed on Greek and Latin root words. The goal of this unit is to help
students develop their knowledge of vocabulary. By understanding the meaning of Greek and
Latin roots, they will be able to better comprehend and decode vocabulary in various content
areas. When I asked her if there was a specific list of words they needed to know, she informed
me that she just looked on Pinterest. Because there were no specific ones, I want to ensure that
they receive experience with a wide range of words for each content area.
This unit is a language arts unit, but it must be integrated with social studies, math,
science, and one more of our choosing, mine being art. This unit will contain one lesson for
each subject, having a total of five lessons. Because this grade is departmentalized, meaning
that my host teacher only teaches language arts to students and others teach them the rest of the
subjects, I will not be able to teach more than one lesson a day. I plan on this unit taking seven
days. One day will be their pretest, five days for five lessons, and on the seventh day, they will
take the post-test.
For my first lesson, I will be teaching language arts. The goal of this lesson is to have
the students begin seeing connections between the meanings of other words to determine the
meaning of the root word. This may be a bit backwards. I could have taught them what the root

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meant and then had them find words with the root, helping them make connections between the
roots meaning and the meanings of the words. However, I thought it would be much more
meaningful to not give them the definition of the root word, just yet. This activity will require
them to create their own meaning of the root based on the similarities of the definitions of the
words they will find. For example, if I had aqua, I could say that words with this root include
aquamarine, aquarium, aquatic life, and so on. After reading the definitions for all of these
words, I can see that they all have something to do with water. I can then make the connection
that aqua means water. They will need to record this in some way, and I would like to use the
Chromebooks that they have available to the classroom, because my school is getting ready for
GAPS and technology is of the utmost importance at the moment.
For my second lesson, I plan on teaching social studies. I had trouble coming up with a
lesson that would tie in with fifth grade social studies standards. Fifth grade social studies
standards are very much Civil War, Reconstruction, Geography, and Georgia. So why not
geography? It contains the Greek root geo! However, the geography standards refer to things
like knowing major areas, like the Grand Canyon and a desert. So, I planned on using the
standard of locating primary agricultural and industrial locations since the turn of the 20th
century and explain how factors such as population, transportation, and resources have
influenced these areas. I would first discuss that Greece and America have many similarities.

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First, we are both in the same hemisphere, which contains the Greek root for half, the northern
hemisphere. A difference is that we are located in the western hemisphere and Greece is the
eastern hemisphere.
Students will then use the Chromebooks to complete research on Ancient Grecian culture
and ours. I want them to look for specific things, including the government (democracy),
agriculture, foliage, and the geography. All of these things contain root words. By looking at
all of these things, we can: one, make connections between the roots and what they mean, like
foli is plants and agri is farming. We can discuss some of the advances that were made in both
Greece and America to help with farming. The Ancient Greeks did not live near any rivers and
yet they still could grow crops and have bath houses. How did they make this happen? What
was a tool that we created to help make the harvesting of cotton easier? What kinds of foliage
grow in different areas of Greece and America? We have plants that grow in the south that do
not in the north, and I am sure Athens and Sparta had different plants as well.
Math is my third lesson, and I will be using a read-aloud strategy to get them engaged.
This read-aloud will help me show them just how prevalent root words are in, not only math, but
also everyday life. We see these roots in weight, speed, distance, time, just about everywhere.
But we will not be looking at the vocabulary everywhere, just in this book. The unit of
measurement that this book will lead us into is that of the metric system. I will then explain to

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the students the meanings of each unit of measurement. Kilo is one thousand times a meter,
where meter is the base measurement of distance, and milli is 1/1000 of that meter. I will then
have them complete a few Greek related word problems using this vocabulary.
My fourth lesson will be a discovery lesson on science. To begin this lesson, I will ask
students to list off some things that interest them. That is what a scientist originally was, after
all. There are many sciences today that are laden with Greek and Latin roots. And it is because
someone back then was interested in or questioned something enough to study it. The students
will complete an interest survey, which was taken out of the 50 Instructional Routines to
Develop Content Literacy. Students will have to circle one thing that they are most interested in:
history, earth, animals, weather, or life. Each of these will determine which science group my
students will be in. Those who chose history will become experts on archaeology. Those who
chose earth will study geology. Animal choosers will become zoologists. People with an
interest in the weather will research meteorology. And anyone who chooses life will be looking
at biology. Each group will have to research their science and what it means to be a scientist in
that field.
Art shall be my last lesson. It will be a type of review of everything they have learned.
They will have to use their knowledge and understanding of what a root word is and does to
create their own. They will be archaeologists who have uncovered an artifact. For example, if

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they uncovered a pot and it had brown and green paints splattered all over it, we may call that
camoism. Camoism is the style of paint that is being used, camology is the study of this style,
and a camologist is a person who studies and presents information on this style. Students will
have to use their root word in a small writing piece and will have to draw their own artifact to be
included.

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Standards
The standards I will be using include the subject area standards, which are:
1. Students read a wide range of print and non-print texts to build an understanding of texts, of
themselves, and of the cultures of the United States and the world; to acquire new information;
to respond to the needs and demands of society and the workplace; and for personal fulfillment.
2. Students apply knowledge of language structure, language conventions (e.g., spelling and
punctuation), media techniques, figurative language, and genre to create, critique, and discuss
print and non-print texts.
3. Students use a variety of technological and information resources (e.g., libraries, databases,
computer networks, video) to gather and synthesize information and to create and communicate
knowledge.
The Georgia Common Core and Performance Standards:
1. ELACC5L4 Vocabulary Acquisition and Use: Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown
and multiple-meaning words and phrases based on grade 5 reading and content, choosing
flexibly from a range of strategies.
2. ELACC5L6 Vocabulary Acquisition and Use: Acquire and use accurately grade-appropriate
general academic and domain-specific words and phrases, including those that signal contrast,
addition, and other logical relationships.

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3. ELACC5W8 Research to Build and Present Knowledge: Recall relevant information from
experiences or gather relevant information from print and digital sources; summarize or
paraphrase information in notes and finished work, and provide a list of sources.
4. SS5G2 b. Locate primary agricultural and industrial locations since the turn of the 20th
century and explain how factors such as population, transportation, and resources have
influenced these areas.
5. MCC5.MD.1 Convert among different-sized standard measurement units within a given
measurement system (e.g., convert 5 cm to 0.05 m), and use these conversions in solving multistep, real world problems.
6. S5CS7. Students will be familiar with the character of scientific knowledge and how it is
achieved. Students will recognize that:
b. Some scientific knowledge is very old and yet is still applicable today.
7. VA5CU.1 Investigates and discovers personal relationship to community, culture, and the
world through creating and studying art.
a. Recognizes the unique contributions of contemporary and historical artists and art forms.
b. Explores and articulates ideas, themes, and events from diverse cultures of the past and
present.

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Text Selections
Language Arts

The common dictionary

Top 10 Worst Things about Ancient Greece You Wouldnt Want to Know by Victoria England
and David Antram

Eyewitness Ancient Greece by Anne Pearson

Democracy for Beginners by Robert Cavalier

Buried Cities by Jennie Hall

Comptons Precyclopedia, G-H, Volume 7

How Fast is It? A Zippy Book All About Speed by Ben Hillman

The Microscope by Maxine Kumin

The Chemist Who Lost His Head: The Story of Antoine Laurent Lavoisier by Vivian Grey

If I Were a Kid in Ancient Greece by Cricket Books

Social Studies

Top 10 Worst Things about Ancient Greece You Wouldnt Want to Know by Victoria England
and David Antram

Eyewitness Ancient Greece by Anne Pearson

Democracy for Beginners by Robert Cavalier

Buried Cities by Jennie Hall

Comptons Precyclopedia, G-H, Volume 7

Weather and Climate: Geography Facts and Experiments by Barbara Taylor

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Maps and Mapping by Barbara Taylor

Greek Art and Archaeology by John Pedley

The Archaeology of Greece: An Introduction by William Biers

If I Were a Kid in Ancient Greece by Cricket Books

Math

Top 10 Worst Things about Ancient Greece You Wouldnt Want to Know by Victoria England
and David Antram

Eyewitness Ancient Greece by Anne Pearson

Comptons Precyclopedia, G-H, Volume 7

How Fast is It? A Zippy Book All About Speed by Ben Hillman

Mathematicians are People, Too: Stories from the Lives of Great Mathematicians by Luetta
Seymour & Wilbert Reimer

Mathematicians are People, Too: Stories from the Lives of Great Mathematicians Volume
Two by Luetta Seymour & Wilbert Reimer

Archimedes: Ancient Greek Mathematician by Susan Katz Keating and Stefano Tartarotti

Hands-On Ancient People, Volume 2: Art Activities about Minoans, Mycenaeans, Trojans,
Ancient Greeks, Etruscans, and Romans by Yvonne Merrill

The Archaeology of Greece: An Introduction by William Biers

If I Were a Kid in Ancient Greece by Cricket Books

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Science

The common dictionary

Top 10 Worst Things about Ancient Greece You Wouldnt Want to Know by Victoria England
and David Antram

Eyewitness Ancient Greece by Anne Pearson

Comptons Precyclopedia, G-H, Volume 7

Here is Your Hobby: Science Equipment by William Moore

The Microscope by Maxine Kumin

The Chemist Who Lost His Head: The Story of Antoine Laurent Lavoisier by Vivian Grey

Weather and Climate: Geography Facts and Experiments by Barbara Taylor

The Archaeology of Greece: An Introduction by William Biers

If I Were a Kid in Ancient Greece by Cricket Books

Art

Top 10 Worst Things about Ancient Greece You Wouldnt Want to Know by Victoria England
and David Antram

Eyewitness Ancient Greece by Anne Pearson

Ancient Greek Art by Susie Hodge

Greek Art and Archaeology by John Pedley

The Archaeology of Greece: An Introduction by William Biers

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A Greek Potter by Giovanni Caselli

Hands-On Ancient People, Volume 2: Art Activities about Minoans, Mycenaeans, Trojans,
Ancient Greeks, Etruscans, and Romans by Yvonne Merrill

Ancient Greek Art and Architecture from The New Book of Knowledge by William Biers

Homer and the Artists: Text and Picture in Early Greek Art by Anthony Snodgrass

If I Were a Kid in Ancient Greece by Cricket Books

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Reflections on Planning and Implementing

This unit was the hardest unit I have ever had to complete. It is easier when you are
planning a whole unit on science and integrating language arts. It is a completely different task
planning a language arts unit and integrating the other subjects. The entire time that I was
brainstorming about what I wanted to teach, I felt like it had to be a lesson for those other
subjects, and not the language arts. Meaning, I felt that we needed lab coats and microscopes
and equations for science.
I began by searching Pinterest, like my teacher had suggested. I discovered little that
could help me plan an integrated unit. Instead, I began by asking myself what exactly I wanted
them to learn from this unit. My answer was that I wanted them to be able to develop an
understanding of what exactly a root word is and how it affects a word. Once they could
understand that, we could start discussing their appearance in, not only content areas, such as
science (which is full with them), but that we even use a lot of this language in everyday life.
Because I did not know where on earth to begin, and I knew what my unit needed to be, I
started brainstorming ideas for lessons. What could I do to teach vocabulary? How could I
make it interesting? How on earth can I connect it to a standard?! These were all challenges for
me.

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With all of this being said, I did experience some success through writing this unit. I
have discovered that some ideas in my head do not appear as pretty or useful when actually in a
lesson. I have also learned that some great ideas just will not connect to a standard, but some
can be modified to meet a standard. Another success was my joy and excitement (along with all
of the stress and panic) in writing this unit. It was both nerve-wracking and interesting trying to
come up with ways to complete this thematic unit.
One of the advantages of a thematic unit is being able to make connections across the
curriculum. This truly helps building understanding of the content because they are seeing it in
some form of context. It also allows for differentiated lessons, which is great because my
research completely supports differentiation in classrooms. But most of all, it requires you to be
creative in your thinking, and in your students thinking.
I feel that a one-week, one-day lesson thematic unit actually has some disadvantages.
Because I only taught one subject per lesson, with language arts being at the core of it, many
students missed out on my social studies lesson because of Project Soar. Because I did not teach
another social studies lesson, I could not follow it up with another lesson for them, meaning they
missed out on that whole subject. Another disadvantage of a thematic unit, at least for mine,

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was finding enough content. It was very difficult to find the types of books I would have liked to
have had. I ended up really stretching it to include, for example with science, texts that were
science texts, but contained some of the Greek and Latin roots we had discussed.
When implementing my unit, I really tried to include what I had learned from my
research. My research earlier in the semester suggested that differentiation really is a wonderful
tool to use. And it is especially helpful in content areas, because it meets so many different
learning styles and needs. Differentiation was already present by just have integrated lessons. I
also had the students complete an interest survey for what group they would be placed in. For
my last lesson, I will have them create their own word, write a small passage using that word,
and also draw their own artifact. While this is some differentiation, I do admit that I wish I could
have actually done more for them.
I have been really surprised at my students reactions to my lessons. I literally have not
been able to complete a lesson closure activity because we are always running over time, and the
students have to go to their next class. They just get so into every activity. But my organization
could definitely improve. I need to develop ways to be more efficient when explaining things
and passing out materials. I also need to work on my time management in general.
After having (almost) finished this unit, I can say that I enjoyed it, but there are definitely
things I would have changed. For starters, I would try to offer different activities for students to

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choose from, to make sure that my lesson is meeting everyones learning needs and styles. I
would also have created a more organized lesson plan. I feel that I focused too much on the
activity, and not enough on the lessons. Overall, this unit has shown me what I truly need to
work on in order to become a better teacher.