Word Origins Graphic Organizer

This resource engages students in seeking, discovering, and understanding how words in other languages have become part of our modern language. You may assign words, or students may select words of interest to research. Students write words in the rectangle boxes going down the center of the sheet. They then use a dictionary or Internet search to discover the original language and past meaning of a word and connect it to the present word and definition in modern English. This activity can be used as advanced word study or to build vocabulary. It can also be used to study cognates for advanced ELL students.

For test prep or review of words, have students cut out some or all of their words and reassemble them on construction paper, matching origins to modern words and modern word meanings.