September, October, November, and December

As children develop an awareness of words and the units of meaning within words, it is good to give them then chance to explore related words and their literal or metaphorical meanings.

If you wish to try this out with your class, you can use this information sheet.  This week we are looking at the words which contain the root meanings of the last four months of the year.

Why does Sept mean seven and yet September is the ninth month of the year?

Why does Octo mean eight and yet October is the tenth month of the year?

Why does Novem mean nine and yet November is the eleventh month of the year?

And why is the twelfth month, December spelt with Dece, meaning ten?

You can use this in conjunction with the independent group work programme, Pick and Mix, or you may wish to work through the accompanying sheet with your whole class.

Working this way, not only links meaning to spelling patterns, but it also helps readers to understand words that are new to them.