50 Morphology Activities

What is Morphology?

Morphology is the study of morphemes, the smallest units of meanings within words, and how they fit together. Morphology instruction builds students’ morphological awareness, which is the ability to recognize that words are made up of smaller units of meaning, such as prefixes, suffixes, and roots.

Within the Structured Literacy instructional framework, morphology is one of the six foundational components of literacy, alongside phonology, sound-symbol association, syllabication, syntax, and semantics.

What are some morphology examples?

• The prefix re- (meaning again) combines with the base word do to create the word redo (to do again)
• The inflectional suffix -ed combines with the base word jump to create the past tense form jumped
• The derivational suffix -ful combines with the base word joy to create the noun joyfulness
• The base word moon combines with another base word light to create the compound word moonlight
• The prefix pre- (meaning before) combines with the Latin word root dict (meaning to say) to create the word predict (to estimate what will happen in the future — that is, to say what will happen before it happens)

Free Morphology Practice Activities

Looking for fun, hands-on morphology activities? Here are 10 sample activities from our free guide, Hands-On Practice: 50 Fun Morphology Activities. Use these activities after explicit instruction to provide additional practice to build and reinforce students’ morphology skills.

1. Prefixes: Go Pre“Fish”!

Who doesn’t love a fun game of Go Fish? In this variation, students will play in groups of 3 or 4. Each group will need a set of 50 word cards featuring 3–5 prefixes; each student will start with 5 cards, with the remaining cards going into the pile.

In this case, players will ask each other for a word card with a specific prefix to try to make a match. For example, nonfiction and nonstop would be a match for the prefix non-. If there is no match, players take a new card from the pile to add to their hand.

Once students have a match, they should share the words with the group, use each one in a sentence, and then discard the two cards. The first student to discard all their cards is the winner!

2. Prefixes: What’s That Word?

Once students have learned several prefixes, use this activity to help practice and reinforce how prefixes change the meaning of a word.

Divide students into pairs. Provide each pair with two sets of word cards: one set with prefixes and one set with base words. That pair should also get a print-out with a list of definitions that are missing their words.

Have one student read off a definition, and the other student find the prefix and base word combination that forms a word that matches the definition. If both students agree the correct word has been formed, the first student should then write it next to the corresponding definition. Students then switch roles, and repeat until words have been formed for all definitions.

Here’s a word bank you can start with:

• Prefixes: un-, in-, dis-, mis-
• Base words: human, happy, behave, agree, spell, sincere, belief, known
• Definitions: (1) not human, (2) not happy, (3) behave badly, (4) not agree, (5) spell badly, (6) not sincere, (7) state of not believing, (8) not known

3. Inflectional Suffixes: Sort & Write with -ing

Hands-on word sorts can be a fun way to help students remember -ing spelling patterns.

First, provide students with a set of cards with base words such as: find, ask, burn, pack, sink, score, drive, ride, care, pose.

Next, have students sort the cards according to their spelling patterns (for the example words, the two patterns would be VCC and VCe).

After students have finished sorting the base words, have them apply their knowledge of spelling patterns by writing the correct -ing form for each base word. 

4. Inflectional Suffixes: Word Hunt for -est

Words with the -est ending are all around us! This activity will help students see how the skills they are learning apply to the texts they enjoy reading outside of class.

Provide students with a chart that lists all the spelling patterns they have been explicitly taught (such as VC = double + -est and VCe = drop the e + -est). Add a section at the bottom for “Oddballs” that don’t fit in any of the listed categories.

Now ask students to bring in their favorite texts (or select texts from the classroom library) — these could be trade books, textbooks, newspapers, magazines, comics, or other texts — and hunt for -est words.

For every -est word they find, have them write the word in the correct category. If they find words that do not follow any of the spelling patterns they’ve learned, have them place those words in the “Oddballs” category.

At the end of the activity, have students share their favorite word in each category. Then give students the opportunity to share and discuss any “Oddballs” that they found. Be sure to discuss the meaning(s) of any unfamiliar words that students find in their texts.

5. Derivational Suffixes: The Great Big Suffix Sort

Adding a suffix often changes the word’s class. For example, -y turns the noun sun into the adjective sunny, -ness turns the adjective happy into the noun happiness, and -ly changes the adjective quick into the adverb quickly. After explicit instruction and modeling with suffixes and word classes, use this activity for extended practice.

Organize students into pairs or small groups, and provide each with a set of word cards. Have students sort words into the following categories:

• Noun
• Adjective
• Adverb

Here’s a word bank you can start with: weak, weakly, weakness, color, colorful, colorfulness, colorless, pain, painful, painfully, painless, worth, worthy, worthiness, worthless, cheer, cheery, cheerful, cheerfulness, cheerless.

After students have finished sorting, have them examine words with two suffixes. Is cheerfulness an adjective because it has -ful or a noun because it has -ness? Explain to students that the final suffix tends to indicate the word’s part of speech. 

6. Derivational Suffixes: Why Does It End in -y?

Many adjectives end with the letter y, but that doesn’t mean they all have the -y suffix added. After explicit instruction, use this activity to help students practice differentiating between the suffixes -y, -ly, and -ily.

Using physical word cards, have students sort words into the following categories:

• Suffix -y
• Suffix -ly
• Suffix -ily

Here’s a word bank you can start with: sunny, cloudy, slowly, quickly, clearly, dimly, loudly, quietly, noisily, smelly, rainy, foggy, snowy, misty, sleepily, sleepy, chilly, breezy, easily, merrily, daily, lazy, lazily, hilly.

Tip: Watch out for students who may miscategorize words like smelly, chilly, and hilly as having the -ly ending. Help these students identify the base word, then compare the two words to confirm that only -y has been added.

7. Compound Words: Speedy Word Smash

After explicitly teaching students about compound words (words formed from two free morphemes), use this activity to help students practice forming compound words.

Provide students with a list of base words. Set a timer for two minutes. Challenge students to create as many compound words as they can before the timer runs out! At the end, have students share their words and their meanings with a partner.

Here’s a word bank you can start with: moon, sun, light, beam, down, hill, foot, ball, basket, hand, day, under, stairs, up, weight.

8. Identifying Morphemes in Complex Words: Word Rummy

Students will play this game in groups of three. Each group will need a set of 50 word cards featuring 3–4 word parts; to start the game, each student gets 6 random cards. The remaining cards are placed facedown.

At the start of each turn, a player picks up a new card from the facedown pile. Then, if they have 3 or more cards that share the same word part, they should show those cards to the other players and explain which word part they share. If the other players agree the cards all share the same word part, the player may discard those cards.

For example: unhappiness, unlawful, and unmade all share the un- prefix and could be grouped; unhappiness, sadness, and joyfulness all share the -ness suffix and could be grouped; unlawful, joyfulness, and respectful all share the -ful suffix and could be grouped.

If the player does not have 3 or more cards that share the same word part, they may discard one card only. Play continues until one player has discarded all of their cards!

9. Greek and Latin Word Roots: Word Web

Lots of words share the same Latin root! Give students a web chart with a Latin root in the center. Have them fill out the rest of the web with words that contain that root. At the end of the activity, have students share their web charts with a partner and explain how the root contributes to the meaning of each word.

Tip: If students struggle with this activity, provide students a word bank. For example, for the Latin root spect, the word bank might contain: support, inspect, portable, speculate, import, spectator, report, portfolio, transport, inspector, spectacle, respect.

10. Word Roots: One Meaning, Two Forms

Some roots have two different forms that carry the same meaning, such as duc and duct or ver and vert. Prepare a worksheet with sentences where one word is missing its root. For example:

• The con____or is the person who leads the orchestra. (duc / duct).
• The baseball coach and umpire had a long con____sation. (ver / vert).

Have students read each sentence and decide which form should be used. Have students write their answer to complete the word, then read the full sentence aloud.

Get Your Free Morphology Practice Guide

Be sure to complete the form at the top of this page to get your free copy of Hands-On Practice: 50 Fun Morphology Activities!

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