Description
Suffix Switch is a low-prep, engaging board game designed to strengthen morphological awareness for your striving middle school and older readers. By attaching correct suffixes to base words, students practice meaning, part of speech, and word formation in a purposeful, movement-based activity.
This resource emphasizes meaning and flexibility over memorization, making it ideal for intervention groups and small instructional settings.
What’s included
- Printable game board
- 50 base-word cards
- Optional challenge cards to challenge and scaffold
- Clear, student-friendly instructions for reading and play
Skills targeted
- Recognize and apply common English suffixes
- Understand how suffixes change words
- Build vocabulary through morphology
- Strengthen decoding-to-meaning connections
- Use academic language to explain word structure
How it works
- Students draw a base word card, examine possible suffixes, and move their game piece to the first matching suffix space on the board
- Challenge cards (optional) prompt students to use words in sentences, explain suffix effects, and justify their reasoning
Why this is valuable for struggling readers
- Concrete, hands-on manipulation of word parts promotes deeper understanding of how prefixes and suffixes shape meaning and parts of speech
- Interactive gameplay increases engagement, motivation, and retention for readers who may not respond to traditional instruction
- Small-group or paired formats provide immediate feedback and opportunities to articulate thinking
- Integrates seamlessly with existing literacy routines to build robust morphology, decoding, and vocabulary skills
Target audience and classroom applications
- Ideal for grades 5–8, intervention groups, literacy stations, and struggling readers
- Supports decoding-to-meaning transfer by linking word structure to comprehension
- Can be used as a warm-up, stations activity, or a structured small-group lesson
Why you’ll love it
- Low-prep, high-engagement morphology practice
- Builds foundational reading skills that support comprehension and academic language
- Clear alignment to morphology and decoding benchmarks for middle school literacy
- Designed to support diverse learners, including readers who benefit from hands-on, collaborative practice
