EFRU - Ideas for quizzing at end of week / review

[Julie in MN]

Hi: What did you all do for the "testing" or "quiz" at the end of the week? We are now on week 7 and my dc are having a tough time remembering all the roots that we learned. For example, I just have them number from 1-6 (or however many we have learned) and put the roots that they remember with definition and derivations. This is how I have been handling this end of the week "quiz.' However, at the end of this week, I actually wrote the root and then expected ds and dd to write in the definition and as many derivations as they could. This seemed to work better.

How did you all handle it as the weeks went on and more and more roots were being taught?

Tina,
Last year in CTG, I just tested my 4th grader orally. I put the cards he knew in one pile & the ones he missed in another, for review.

Then once in a great while, I made a crossword puzzle online. I think this was the site:
http://puzzlemaker.com/CrissCrossSetupForm.html
Sometimes I would enter the words, sometimes the definitions. He usually needed help with the ones that have similar meanings (e.g. syn & thesis) or vague meanings, but he had the majority down pat.

And when you get to about week 17 (?) in the CTG manual, there are review games that my son really loves.

This year with RTR & in 5th grade, I am thinking of having him test on paper at least occasionally. However, we're behind & have only done the Latin numbers so far. I already know he has them memorized, so I don't need the test yet. I'm glad to hear your experience for our weeks to come.

Julie

[Tina]

Thanks, Julie. My ds does much better orally, too. I am actually surprised with how well he is doing with this. He seems to like it! His sentences are comical when using the roots! I like the dictionary practice for him also. The whiteboard is a tool he also likes to use for roots review.

I need the encouragement by others too, that it's still "work" if we review orally!!!

[cbollin]

I need the encouragement by others too, that it's still "work" if we review orally!!!

that's the only way we did reviews. {blush} ok --- I did make two sets of cards and posted them above our white board (one card with root and other card with definition). That way they saw them all the time. We rotated through them. I didn't have all of them up at the same time.

--crystal

[kellybell]

I love the crossword idea! I've used a similar site for word searches!

We do most of our language lessons and Greek/Latin roots orally. Why bother them with "busy work" when they write for other subjects (namely ... creative writing!)?

I figure the goal is learning (and learning that sticks) and not to use reams of paper in the process. If they know it, then they know it, whether or not they wrote it down.

Just my opinion

[Tina]

Learning is our goal as well, and we really do not use reams of paper! I was just looking for encouragement and ideas on how you all handled your roots. Thanks for the responses and ideas.

[Lucy]

Tina,

I think I remember that the goal too is not to learn or remember all of the words that are derived from the root but to remember the definition of the root. So I would not be as concerned about if they can remember the words. I think one that will really help them to remember the definition would be helpful, but for that purpose. The idea of learning the roots is so that when you see it in an unfamiliar word or one that you already know you can understand its meaning.

I hope that helps too as you are testing them. We did a lot of it orally too until we started playing the games.

Lucy

[Tina]

Thanks, Lucy. I am really pleased with how well my ds has retained the definition of each root so far. I thought he would be opposed to this, but he is doing very well with it! They don't remember all the deriviations, but as you stated, to remember what the root itself means. It's really neat to see that lightbulb go off when the come arcross a word and say "hey, I know that part of the word" or, as each week progresses, having two roots in one word (photgraph, telegraph, bibliophile, and others) My dd has picked up on this quicker than my ds, but it is neat to see it happen.

I think I now have a better idea of how I will handle the end of the week "quiz" or "review". I like the idea of the crossword review and a memory game with index cards.

The main reason I asked this question was because last year I really fudged up the review of the ECC vocabulary words. We just didn't review as much as we should have and I think the dc could have done a little more work, review, games with those words. I would like to see us as a family be able to retain these roots a little better than we did the ECC vocabulary.

Thanks again.

[mdfriederich]

Tina,

I know you already got great advice. I just thought I'd share that I am quizzing my kids at the end of the week with a written list of the definitions and they need to write the root next to it (with all the words they've learned so far). (Will adjust the # of words I suppose as the list grows.) Thanks for posting; it helps the rest of us too. :-)

Diana

[my3sons]

I found a site that makes up a crossword puzzle (http://www.armoredpenguin.com/crossword/) for fun review of our Greek root words and also a worksheet that does matching ( easytestmaker.com ).

[cbollin]

We are doing CtG this year with my 5th-grade daughter and (modified for) my 1st-grade son. First-grader listens in on discussions & reviews of the roots, but only fifth-grader is assigned the card-making, dictionary lookups, and sentence-writing. We've been at this for six weeks now. DD's an avid (voracious!) reader and has always been intrigued by foreign languages, so I would think learning these word meanings would interest her. But I think this *approach* to learning the roots is not appealing to her. She dreads and drags her feet, even on making the card--way worse on the sentences. I think this is important for her to learn, and I think she *could* enjoy it if presented differently. Conversely, I doubt she'll retain much of it at all if we continue with what she perceives as pure drudgery--and that would make it a total waste of time for both of us. Unfortunately, I'm not feeling any creative inspiration about it all.

I did make a matching worksheet for her one day. And I saw in the archives Julie's suggestion to make a crossword puzzle. I might try that. Any other ideas you all can share? I'm really thinking we might need something more hands-on and active, perhaps some kind of game or fit-together-these-puzzle-pieces type of activity. Thanks!

This is how we did it. It took my children about 1 minute per card.
On one side, write the word
flip card, write the definition and maybe one or two words derived from it.
no sentence writing. sentences were out loud.

what if you did them together? you do one, she does one.
Now you have 2 sets of cards and you play something like go fish from your hand
or matching game (no worksheet)
or concentration with the index cards?

for a while we were making our index cards into a flap book in our notebook. We'd tape the card so it could still be flipped and seen on the back. open flap...

and for review I did it as out loud... I'm thinking of a greek root word that means book.

turn to week 17 of CTG, look at the daily notes for more activities.

but skip worksheets for this.

-crystal

[TriciaMR]

I printed 4 x 6 cards from the computer for each word, and I wrote the definition and a few of the derivatives on the back - my dd has writing issues, and writing in that small of a space wouldn't work for her. Then, I bought these pages for my daughter to write sentences on. In CTG I helped with the sentences. In RTR it was an "on your own" activity. I also made up a page in Word where I had already typed up the word, there was a box for her to draw a picture of the definition and she only had to write the definition, in CTG. In RTR I made her write at least one derivative.

-Trish

[Julie in MN]

Hi,
I see you found the archives. Wondering if you also peeked at the RTR archives for this short thread:
http://board.mfwbooks.com/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=8940

There are some games in the CTG manual. Not sure if you've hit those yet. My son liked those, and it sounds like Crystal has some more twists on games. Having those roots on cards helps play more games, I think.

As for using worksheets, I think it depends on the child and depends on how much pencil work you're doing in the rest of your day. I've heard of folks like Trish who make notebook pages instead of cards. Some kids might like that better than cards? Some like the crosswords or you can also create "matching" worksheets online at some teacher websites.

Non-paper ideas would include doing things orally like Crystal mentioned, or even quizlet type "virtual" flashcards.

And finally, some folks use the pre-made cards, so you could make the cards yourself & that would be the same thing. Like Trish, when I used EFRU with my older dd, I actually wrote all the roots on the one side. As I recall, EFRU was written by a classroom teacher and she suggested the teacher write those words so I did (before MFW) -- I think she felt it made the cards uniform, legible, and equally appealing throughout the class. So it wouldn't be cheating

As for the sentences, we have always done lots orally, so I'm all for that. But my son did type his sentences for EFRU. He actually had a lot of fun challenging himself to make up goofy sentences. Here are some examples of his work:
http://board.mfwbooks.com/viewtopic.php ... 875#p65875
But each child is different. My dd enjoyed the art & structure of making a card more than my ds.

Julie

[sojen]

M&M's, my friend

Anything with flash cards around here and we use candy!

As for the writing, I only make my girls write the number of sentences equal to the grade they are in (3rd grader = 3 sentences/ 6th grader = 6 sentences.)

My kids groan and complain about the dictionary, too. But they really need to get over it because that is absolutely an important skill. Even if they can look up words on the computer, they still need to know how to alphabetize.

So, Monday I use the dry erase board to write the word/ dentition/ and a few deviations, Tuesday they write sentences (only using the dictionary if they forgot the definition from the day before) and Friday I quiz them with the cards and they earn 1 M&M for each correct definition. Done. I know in CTG you do this over one week and in RTR you do this twice a week, so plan accordingly.

We have also done competitions between Dad and daughters. The girls always win and that certainly motivates them.

[cbollin]

I am needing some fun ideas on reviewing/testing root words.
Thanks for your help!

When we made our cards one of the years, we did one set as "lift a flap" notebook pages. So the side of the card with the root word was on top, then you could lift it up and read the definition underneath, or even on the back side of the card if you planned ahead. The card was taped along the "top edge" to the pages of the composition book. Then it was fun to review each one of those when we added a card.

2 sets of cards and did matching/concentration style game.

You could do something in the style of a quiz (out loud or written)
Here is a quick example
http://www.proprofs.com/quiz-school/sto ... vocab-quiz

I can remember doing some of them at times as out loud and showing the cards -- which one means _______
what is the root word that means __________

and if needed, show some of the cards as a multiple choice hint.

looking forward to hearing other ideas

-crystal

[Cyndi (AZ)]

Oh wow, I'm boring. That lift-the-flap thing sounds awesome!

[AnnieMarie]

We use http://www.spellingcity.com/

[schelean]

Thanks to all you wonderful ladies! This board is just the best place for great ideas! We are finishing up week 18. I realized dd doesn't really know the roots--even though she has been reviewing them. I am still open to anything else you may use to make this fun and productive.