Word Family Trees

By Doug Buehl,
Madison East High School teacher
Member, Wisconsin State Reading Association

October 1999

Heritage sheds light on words' meaning and use

Can you remember the difference between a sonata and a concerto? What would you hear if you popped in a compact disk of Prokofiev’s 1st Violin Concerto: a soloist playing with piano accompaniment or the soloist with full orchestral backing?

Word origins provide a clue for remembering these forms of classical music composition. The word concerto is derived from the same Latin root (concertare - to organize or arrange) as concert, which means to act together, to work in harmony, as in: “It will take a concerted effort of our entire community to revitalize the downtown area.” A concerto is a composition that requires the soloist(s) to work together with a symphony orchestra to produce music.

The September Reading Room column emphasized that taking time to integrate word origins into the regular classroom routine can have significant pay-offs in learning. In the above example, a music teacher would find many opportunities to use word origins as a means for helping students master key musical terms. Students would be familiar with the use of the term “concert” as a public musical performance, but realizing that the root means cooperative behavior adds a dimension to their knowledge and helps them recall the meaning of “concerto” as well.

The Strategy

Students can be encouraged to examine new vocabulary with more depth and sophistication in a variety of ways. In addition to experimenting with word browsing activities like those described in September’s column, teachers can have students construct Word Family Trees:

Step 1: Select a group of target words for students to investigate. These could be pivotal words in a short story, key terms in a unit of study, or general high utility vocabulary words.

For example, key terms in a biology unit might include genetics, mutation, recessive, inherited, and dominant. Although students will encounter other biological terminology in this unit, the selected words should represent essential concepts to be learned.

Step 2: Introduce the Word Family Tree graphic organizer as a means of vocabulary study (see example). As an analogy, refer to a genealogical family tree to prepare students for this activity. Family trees usually list an individual’s ancestors, direct descendants, and other relatives, such as cousins, aunts, and uncles.

The Word Family Tree involves students in connecting a key term to its origins, to related words which share a common root, to words that serve a similar function, and to situations where one might expect the word to be used. In our “acquiesce” example, a word that students encountered in the history text is linked to a meaningful root that helps them gain insight into likely contexts where the word might appear.

In the music example, students creating a family tree for “sonata” will discover that the ancestor is the root sonare, which means “to sound.” Close relatives which share this origin are sound, sonar, sonic, sonnet, and sonorous. Similar words might include solo and recital.

In the biology example, students investigating the family tree for “genetics” will uncover a rich array of relatives: gene, genealogy, general, gender, genius, and generate all are derived from one origin.

Step 3: Next, have students work with partners or in cooperative groups to complete Family Word Trees for the target words. They may use any appropriate resource, including their textbooks, a thesaurus, dictionary, or other vocabulary-rich sources (as detailed in last month’s column). Some of the activity will also call for brainstorming on their part, as they determine what kinds of people might be heard using the word, and devising possible sentences for those contexts. Students may also brainstorm mnemonic clues.

Step 4: Allow time for students to share their Word Family Trees. They will discover that other students were able to identify related words that they may have overlooked, additional possible synonyms, and other useful contexts where the word might make an appearance.

Further resources

Klemp, R. (1994) Word Storm: Connecting Vocabulary to the Student’s Database. The Reading Teacher, Vol. 48, No. 3, November.

Posted September 30, 1999