Year 3 what is a prefix? (un-) worksheet and PowerPoint

The prefix un-

A prefix goes at the start of a word and changes its meaning. The spelling of the word does not change. The prefix un- means not or the opposite of: unhappy, unkind, unlock. Take care: some words start with un but do not have the prefix, such as uncle and under.

Examples

• The door was unlocked.
• I felt unwell.

Key words

prefix

letters added to the start of a word

un-

not, or the opposite of

root word

the word the prefix is added to

What is on the worksheet

Every sheet for this lesson has a short teaching box and 12 questions that get gradually harder: 8 fluency questions, then 4 reasoning questions that ask pupils to explain or choose. A writing challenge follows. The questions use the same styles as the key stage 2 grammar and punctuation test (circle, underline, tick, fill the gap, add punctuation, rewrite, explain). They are written for this website, not copied from past papers.

All the answers are on the last page of the same editable Word file. New questions are made every time, so you can print a different sheet for every group or for homework. The same sheet code always gives the same sheet.

Writing challenge: Make a list of ten words that start with un-. Write a sentence for each one.

Pupil target: I can add un- to a word.

The PowerPoint

A 20-slide lesson deck for the same lesson: a starter that revisits earlier learning, key words, an I do and a You do question on each slide with a countdown timer, answers that appear one click at a time, and a challenge. Download the what is a prefix? (un-) PowerPoint.

Where this lesson fits

This is lesson 43 of 53 in the Year 3 SPaG scheme, in the block “Prefixes and word families”.

Other lessons in this block

• Root words, prefixes and suffixes
• Identifying word families
• Adding super-, anti- and auto-
• Adding sub- and inter-
• Prefixes together

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