Suffixes in Affixation for SS 1

Class: SS 1
Term: Third Term
Week: 3
Age: 15 years
Duration: 60 minutes
Subject: English Language Studies
Curriculum Theme: Vocabulary Development
Focal competence: Appropriately forming and using words with prefixes and suffixes
Key competencies/values: Communication; ICT and Digital Competencies; Digital Competencies; Collaboration; Information Literacy
Skills:

• discuss the functions and meaning of common prefixes and suffixes

Previous Lesson: Concept of Stress in Four-Syllable Words
Topic: Affixation: Suffixes
Subject Matter: Suffixes

Specific Objectives

By the end of the lesson, pupils/students should be able to:

Cognitive Domain

• Define what a suffix is.
• Identify common suffixes in given words.
• Explain the functions of various suffixes.

Affective Domain

• Appreciate the role of suffixes in expanding vocabulary.
• Participate actively in the suffix hunt activity.

Psychomotor Domain

• Form new words by adding appropriate suffixes to base words.
• Use words with suffixes correctly in sentences.

Social Domain

• Collaborate effectively with peers during group activities.

Reference Materials

The following resources were used in planning this lesson:

• 2025 New Revised Senior Secondary Education Curriculum (SSEC)
• Relevant State Unified Scheme of Work
• New Oxford Secondary English Course for Senior Secondary Schools 1
• The HeadTeacher Scheme of work For The New Revised Senior Secondary Education Curriculum (SSEC)

Instructional Materials

The teacher will teach this lesson with the aid of:

• Flashcards with base words and suffixes
• A short text or passage for suffix identification
• Standard English dictionary
• Online dictionary (if available)
• Whiteboard and markers
• Charts showing common suffixes and their meanings

Rationale for the Lesson

Understanding suffixes is fundamental to expanding vocabulary and improving comprehension in English. This lesson helps students recognise how suffixes modify the meaning and grammatical function of words, enabling them to decode unfamiliar words and construct more complex sentences. Mastering suffixes enhances both reading and writing skills, which are essential for academic success and effective communication.

Prerequisite/Previous Knowledge

Students should have a basic understanding of word formation processes and be able to identify root words and simple word parts.

Lesson Content/Board Summary

Affixation: Suffixes

Meaning of Suffixes

A suffix is a letter or group of letters added to the end of a word to form a new word. Suffixes can change the grammatical category (e.g., from a verb to a noun, or an adjective to an adverb) or the meaning of the original word.

For example, adding ‘-ness’ to the adjective ‘kind’ forms the noun ‘kindness’.

Functions of Suffixes

Suffixes perform various functions, primarily:

1. Changing Word Class: Many suffixes change the part of speech of a word.
   1. Verb to Noun: e.g., ‘govern’ (verb) + ‘-ment’ → ‘government’ (noun)
   2. Adjective to Noun: e.g., ‘happy’ (adjective) + ‘-ness’ → ‘happiness’ (noun)
   3. Noun to Adjective: e.g., ‘beauty’ (noun) + ‘-ful’ → ‘beautiful’ (adjective)
   4. Adjective to Adverb: e.g., ‘quick’ (adjective) + ‘-ly’ → ‘quickly’ (adverb)
2. Changing Word Meaning: Some suffixes add specific meanings or nuances to a word.
   1. ‘-less’ (without): e.g., ‘care’ + ‘-less’ → ‘careless’ (without care)
   2. ‘-able’ (capable of, worthy of): e.g., ‘read’ + ‘-able’ → ‘readable’ (capable of being read)
3. Indicating Grammatical Information (Inflectional Suffixes): These suffixes do not change the word’s part of speech but indicate grammatical features like tense, number, or comparison.
   1. Plural: e.g., ‘book’ + ‘-s’ → ‘books’
   2. Past Tense: e.g., ‘walk’ + ‘-ed’ → ‘walked’
   3. Present Participle: e.g., ‘sing’ + ‘-ing’ → ‘singing’
   4. Comparative: e.g., ‘tall’ + ‘-er’ → ‘taller’
   5. Superlative: e.g., ‘tall’ + ‘-est’ → ‘tallest’

Common Suffixes and Their Meanings/Functions

Here are some common suffixes, their typical meanings or functions, and examples:

1. -able / -ible (capable of, worthy of):
   1. ‘read’ + ‘-able’ → ‘readable’ (can be read)
   2. ‘access’ + ‘-ible’ → ‘accessible’ (can be accessed)
2. -ful (full of, characterised by):
   1. ‘beauty’ + ‘-ful’ → ‘beautiful’ (full of beauty)
   2. ‘care’ + ‘-ful’ → ‘careful’ (full of care)
3. -less (without, lacking):
   1. ‘hope’ + ‘-less’ → ‘hopeless’ (without hope)
   2. ‘fear’ + ‘-less’ → ‘fearless’ (without fear)
4. -ly (in a certain way, characteristic of):
   1. ‘quick’ + ‘-ly’ → ‘quickly’ (in a quick manner)
   2. ‘happy’ + ‘-ly’ → ‘happily’ (in a happy manner)
5. -ness (state, quality, condition):
   1. ‘kind’ + ‘-ness’ → ‘kindness’ (state of being kind)
   2. ‘sad’ + ‘-ness’ → ‘sadness’ (state of being sad)
6. -tion / -sion / -ation / -ition (act, process, state, result of):
   1. ‘act’ + ‘-ion’ → ‘action’ (the act of acting)
   2. ‘express’ + ‘-ion’ → ‘expression’ (the act of expressing)
   3. ‘inform’ + ‘-ation’ → ‘information’ (the result of informing)
   4. ‘compete’ + ‘-ition’ → ‘competition’ (the act of competing)
7. -ment (act, process, result, state):
   1. ‘develop’ + ‘-ment’ → ‘development’ (the process of developing)
   2. ‘agree’ + ‘-ment’ → ‘agreement’ (the state of agreeing)
8. -er / -or (person or thing that does something):
   1. ‘teach’ + ‘-er’ → ‘teacher’ (one who teaches)
   2. ‘act’ + ‘-or’ → ‘actor’ (one who acts)
9. -ist (person who practices or believes in):
   1. ‘art’ + ‘-ist’ → ‘artist’ (one who practices art)
   2. ‘science’ + ‘-ist’ → ‘scientist’ (one who practices science)
10. -ize / -ise (to make, to cause to be):
    1. ‘real’ + ‘-ize’ → ‘realize’ (to make real)
    2. ‘modern’ + ‘-ise’ → ‘modernise’ (to make modern)
11. -ify (to make, to cause to be):
    1. ‘pure’ + ‘-ify’ → ‘purify’ (to make pure)
    2. ‘simple’ + ‘-ify’ → ‘simplify’ (to make simple)
12. -hood (state, condition, quality):
    1. ‘child’ + ‘-hood’ → ‘childhood’ (the state of being a child)
    2. ‘neighbour’ + ‘-hood’ → ‘neighbourhood’ (a district, often with shared characteristics)
13. -ship (state, condition, quality, skill):
    1. ‘friend’ + ‘-ship’ → ‘friendship’ (the state of being friends)
    2. ‘leader’ + ‘-ship’ → ‘leadership’ (the skill of leading)

Teaching Methods/Instructional Techniques

Discussion, Explanation, Question and Answer, Pair Work, Guided Practice, Demonstration.

Instructional Procedures

Step 1: Introduction

Time: 5 minutes

Teaching Skill: Engaging/Activating Prior Knowledge

Teacher’s Activity: The teacher greets the students and asks them to recall what they know about word formation. The teacher then introduces the topic of suffixes as part of affixation, briefly distinguishing them from prefixes.

Pupils’ Activity: Pupils respond to questions about word formation and listen attentively to the introduction.

Learning Point: Introduction to suffixes

Step 2: Meaning of Suffixes

Time: 10 minutes

Teaching Skill: Explanation/Definition

Teacher’s Activity: The teacher explains what suffixes are, providing simple examples like ‘kind’ and ‘kindness’. The teacher writes the definition on the board and ensures students understand that suffixes are added to the end of words.

Pupils’ Activity: Pupils listen, ask questions for clarification, and copy the definition into their notebooks.

Learning Point: Definition of suffixes

Step 3: Functions of Suffixes

Time: 10 minutes

Teaching Skill: Elaboration/Illustration

Teacher’s Activity: The teacher explains the main functions of suffixes, focusing on how they change word class (e.g., verb to noun, adjective to adverb) and how they can alter word meaning. The teacher provides clear examples for each function using flashcards or the whiteboard.

Pupils’ Activity: Pupils observe the examples, discuss the changes in word class and meaning, and participate in a brief Q&A session.

Learning Point: Suffixes changing word class

Step 4: Common Suffixes and Examples (Part 1)

Time: 10 minutes

Teaching Skill: Demonstration/Examples

Teacher’s Activity: The teacher introduces a few common suffixes such as ‘-ness’, ‘-ful’, ‘-less’, and ‘-ly’. For each suffix, the teacher explains its meaning/function and provides multiple examples, showing how they combine with base words to form new words.

Pupils’ Activity: Pupils identify the base words and suffixes, practice forming new words orally, and write down the examples.

Learning Point: Common suffixes and examples

Step 5: Common Suffixes and Examples (Part 2)

Time: 5 minutes

Teaching Skill: Reinforcement/Practice

Teacher’s Activity: The teacher continues with more common suffixes like ‘-tion’, ‘-ment’, ‘-er’, ‘-or’, ‘-ist’, ‘-able/-ible’. The teacher uses flashcards to prompt students to form new words.

Pupils’ Activity: Pupils actively participate in forming new words with the given suffixes and examples.

Learning Point: More common suffixes

Step 6: Suffix Hunt Activity

Time: 5 minutes

Teaching Skill: Collaboration/Application

Teacher’s Activity: The teacher divides students into pairs and provides a short text or passage. The teacher instructs them to identify as many words with suffixes as possible within a given time frame (e.g., 3 minutes).

Pupils’ Activity: Students work in pairs to hunt for and identify words containing suffixes from the provided text, then share their findings with the class.

Learning Point: Identifying words with suffixes

Step 7: Evaluation/Review

Time: 5 minutes

Teaching Skill: Questioning/Assessment

Teacher’s Activity: The teacher evaluates the learning by asking the following questions:

1. What is a suffix?
2. Give two examples of suffixes that change a verb to a noun.
3. How does the suffix ‘-less’ change the meaning of a word? Give an example.
4. Form a new word by adding a suitable suffix to ‘develop’.

Pupils’ Activity: Pupils answer orally and in writing.

Learning Point: Understanding suffixes and functions

Step 8: Note-Taking

Time: 10 minutes

Teaching Skill: Guided Writing

Teacher’s Activity: The teacher guides pupils/students to copy the essential Board Summary notes on the meaning, functions, and common examples of suffixes into their notebooks.

Pupils’ Activity: Pupils/students copy the notes carefully into their notebooks.

Learning Point: Recording suffix knowledge

Step 9: Conclusion

Time: 5 minutes

Teaching Skill: Summarisation/Reinforcement

Teacher’s Activity: The teacher briefly summarises the key points of the lesson, reiterating the importance of suffixes in word formation and vocabulary expansion. The teacher encourages students to pay attention to suffixes when reading and writing.

Pupils’ Activity: Pupils listen and ask any final questions.

Learning Point: Suffixes in word formation

Continuous Assessment/Further Study

Type: Homework

Instruction: Complete the following tasks in your English notebook:

1. Identify the suffix and its meaning in each of these words: government, beautiful, quickly, sadness, readable.
2. Choose five base words and add a suitable suffix to each to form a new word. Use each new word in a sentence.
3. Find a short newspaper article or story and list ten words that contain suffixes.

Lesson Keywords

• Suffix – A letter or group of letters added to the end of a word to form a new word.
• Affixation – The process of adding affixes (prefixes or suffixes) to a root word.
• Base word – The main part of a word to which affixes are added.
• Word class – The grammatical category of a word (e.g., noun, verb, adjective, adverb).
• Inflectional suffix – A suffix that indicates grammatical features like tense or number without changing the word’s part of speech.

Differentiation

For students who grasp the concept quickly, encourage them to find more complex words with multiple suffixes or to identify words where the suffix changes both the word class and meaning. For students needing more support, provide a list of base words and a limited set of common suffixes, guiding them to form new words and use them in simple sentences.

Suggested Lesson Videos

For further understanding, search on YouTube for: suffixes English Language SS1 Nigeria