The work of the eighth grade continues the work of the seventh grade in
word building by a careful study of prefixes and suffixes. The addition
of a prefix or a suffix makes a longer word and, because it is longer,
the word becomes harder to visualize as a whole. It is highly important
that the root part of the word should be pointed out, and it will be
found that in most cases it is a familiar word. When this is true the
prefix or the suffix becomes the part which needs to be drilled upon and
emphasized. On pages 48 to 54 are given a list of words having
troublesome endings. On pages 48, 49, and 50, for example, are words
ending in _ent_, _ant_, _ence_, and _ance_. These should be taught by
groups and, after the whole page has been carefully taught and studied,
drill lessons and reviews should be given until the pupil has the
endings learned. These reviews will tax the ingenuity of the teacher
that they may be interesting and not merely a mechanical word drill.
Attention may well be called to the fact that the plural of nouns ending
in _ant_ and _ent_ have the same pronunciation as the corresponding
words ending in _ance_ and _ence_. If given in a sentence the meaning
will clearly show him which one is meant. Care must be used that
confusion does not result. Thoughtful teaching is important.