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Learner Level: Beginner +
Language focus: Prexes and Sufxes
Skills: Vocabulary building, predicting word meaning
Time: 10 minutes
Materials: Paper and pens, 2 large boxes (label one sufxes and
one prexes), a bag, a room with space, a class attendance list
Grouping: Whole class
Preparation: Make a list of 10 common prexes and 10 sufxes or
use the ones we recommend below.
Quick Reference:
Students make paper airplanes and
send them into the sufx or prex bin.
Warm Up
Flying Affixes
Teacher Instructions: !
1. Write 10 prexes and 10 sufxes (see page 2) on the board. Review the meaning for each. (Or use ones you have
already introduced in class.)
2. Hand out 1 blank paper to each student. Tell students to make a paper airplane. Give them one or two minutes. Tell
students to write their name somewhere on their airplane.
3. Tell each student to write a prex or a sufx on one of the wings.
4. Place two bins at the end of a hall or at the front of a large classroom.
5. Collect the airplanes in the bag.
6. Have students line up in two rows.
7. The students at the front of each row choose an airplane from the bag. They must use the afx to write a word on the
other wing of the plane. They then must send the plane to the correct bin (sufx) (prex). Give points according to the
example below.
8. Play a few rounds by collecting the planes when each student has had a turn. No duplicate words allowed.
9. Review the words on all of the wings after the game. Are they all correct?
For Example: !
1. Student A (Lori) chooses an airplane. (It!s Ivan!s plane.)
2. The wing on Ivan!s airplane says sub.
3. Lori writes submarine on the wing.
4. Lori ies Ivan!s plane to the prex bin. It goes in!
5. Teacher gives Ivan two points. (One because Lori wrote a correct word. One for landing it in the correct bin.) Or the
teacher can give one point to Ivan and one point to Lori.

Teacher 2 Teacher:
If a student can!t think of a word to write he/she can still try to shoot the plane into the correct bin.
Which plane ew best? Try to think of as many words as possible for the afx that is on the top yer.
Related Topics from the ESL-Library.com:
Grammar Stories
Easy Grammar Worksheets
Prexes
anti: against
de: remove; down
fore: in front of or prior to
inter: between or together
mid: in the middle
re: again
pre: before
sub: below
super: extra; beyond
post: after
Sufxes
able : can do (adjective)
ity: quality of (noun)
est: the most (adjective)
less: without (adjective)
ful: with (adjective)
ic: like (adjective)
ness: state of (noun)
ous: full of (adjective)
ment: condition of (noun)
y: characterized by (adjective)
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Copyright 2010. This eBook is produced and distributed by Red River Press Inc. All rights reserved. The contents within this e-book/document may only be
photocopied by members of ESL-Library.com in accordance with membership terms and conditions. Contact info@esl-library.com for complete details.