Greek and Latin Roots word search, scramble and crossword puzzle

Greek and Latin Roots word search, scramble and crossword puzzle

I made this Greek and Latin roots puzzle set for my 4th and 5th graders during our vocabulary unit. The kids were ready to move beyond simple root words and learn where our English words actually come from. So I put together a word search, a word scramble, and a crossword using Greek roots like bio (life), phon (sound), photo (light), geo (earth), and scope (look) and Latin roots like aqua (water), cent (hundred), multi (many), sol (sun), and terra (earth). Examples include biology, telephone, photograph, geography, telescope, aquarium, century, multiply, solar, and terrain. Nothing fancy — just puzzles to help the ancient roots finally make sense.

The PDF is four pages. Three puzzles plus one answer key page. The word search works well for quiet time after recess. The scramble gets them talking because they argue about whether "phone" and "phon" are the same root. The crossword I use for partners. I added a couple simple Greek column and Roman road drawings but nothing too busy.

Works for 4th through 6th grade. Print and go. Sometimes I have early finishers create a new word using one of the roots on the back. The kids actually ask for these now.