English class in Middle School also includes study of Latin and Greek root words, as seventh- and eighth-grade students build their vocabularies and learn how to decode unfamiliar words they may encounter.
Knowing how to break down words like these is a vital skill for reading, writing, and overall learning in high school and college, English curriculum leader Sandra Burgess said.
“This helps a student not only build a working vocabulary, but also construct a basic meaning for a new or unfamiliar word,” Burgess said. “Students who learn this skill see their vocabularies grow and their anxiety lessen.
“In college, approximately 60% of the terminology that students will face come from words formed from ancient Greek and Latin affixes and root words. As students face not only increased amounts of reading, but also increased difficulty in those readings, having the skill to navigate these readings, assignments, and exams makes academic success much more easily attainable.”
