Suffixes word search, scramble and crossword puzzle

Suffixes word search, scramble and crossword puzzle

I made this suffixes puzzle set for my 3rd graders during our vocabulary unit. The kids knew the base word "help" but had no idea that adding "ful" made "helpful" or adding "less" made "helpless." So I put together a word search, a word scramble, and a crossword using words with common suffixes like ful, less, er, or, able, ible, ly, and ness. Examples include helpful, helpless, teacher, actor, readable, visible, quickly, slowly, happiness, and sadness. Nothing fancy — just puzzles to help the suffix meanings finally stick.

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 "teacher" and "actor" have the same suffix meaning someone who does something. The crossword I use for partners. I added a couple simple plus and equal symbol drawings but nothing too busy.

Works for 3rd through 5th grade. Print and go. Sometimes I have early finishers add a suffix to a base word and write the new meaning on the back. The kids actually ask for these now.