5th Grade spelling
5th Grade Greek Roots Bio, Auto and Micro
Greek roots bio (life), auto (self) and micro (small): biology, automatic, microscope and more. Play hangman or print a spelling worksheet.
Read the spelling list
The pattern: Bio means life, auto means self and micro means small.
Bio means life, auto means self, and micro means small. They are among the most productive Greek roots in English. Biology is the study of life, automatic means acting by itself, and a microscope is an instrument for seeing small things. Because all three often sit at the start of a word, they are easy to see and give students a quick way into long vocabulary.
Each root has its own group. Bio includes biology, biography, biologist and biochemistry. Auto includes automatic, automobile, autograph, automated and automotive. Micro includes microwave, microscope, microscopic, microbe and microphones. Fifth graders meet these in science units on living things and in everyday technology, and the three roots are a good bridge to the next lists on suffixes and Latin roots.
30 entries. Our solver needed 1.0 wrong guesses on average: 21 easy, 9 medium and 0 hard. The toughest is micron (4 misses), the quickest biographical (0).
bio (life)
- biological Medium · 2
- biology Medium · 2
- biography Easy · 1
- biomedical Medium · 2
- biographical Easy · 0
- biochemistry Easy · 0
- biologist Medium · 2
- biologists Easy · 1
- biographies Easy · 1
- biologically Easy · 0
auto (self)
- automatically Easy · 0
- automatic Easy · 1
- automobile Easy · 0
- automotive Easy · 0
- automated Easy · 1
- autonomy Medium · 2
- automation Easy · 1
- autograph Medium · 2
- automobiles Easy · 0
- autoimmune Easy · 0
micro (small)
- microwave Easy · 1
- microscope Easy · 0
- microscopic Easy · 0
- microscopy Easy · 1
- microbes Easy · 1
- microphones Easy · 0
- micron Medium · 4
- microcosm Medium · 2
- microfilm Medium · 2
- microbe Easy · 1
Words worth a closer look
- biologyBio plus ology: the study of life. Link to the ology list in sixth grade.
- biographyBio plus graphy, writing about a life. Ends in graphy, not grafy.
- automaticAuto plus matic. Often misspelled with a missing second a.
- autographAuto plus graph: a self-written signature.
- microscopeMicro plus scope. The e on the end is a common slip.
Teaching it
Ask students to underline the root and say its meaning before spelling the rest. Bio words carry the same spelling every time, while auto and micro often lose nothing when added to another root. Typical errors are in the middle of the word: biografy for biography, automatic with a missing a, and microscop for microscope. The e on the end of microscope is easy to miss.
For hangman, begin by telling players which root the word uses, and let them solve the rest. Then print the worksheet and have students write a one-line definition of each word using the meaning of its root.
Print a 5th Grade Greek Roots Bio, Auto and Micro worksheet
Eight puzzles on one US Letter page, with a clue, letter blanks, an empty frame to draw in, an alphabet strip to cross off and circles to count misses. Page two is the answer key.
Need another sheet?
Draw eight different words from this list, right here. Same layout, new answer key.
Keep going
- 5th Grade Latin Roots Port, Spect and TractLatin roots port (carry), spect (look) and tract (pull) in transport, respect, attract and more. Play hangman or print a worksheet.
- 5th Grade Latin Roots Dict, Rupt and StructLatin roots dict (say), rupt (break) and struct (build) in predict, interrupt, structure and more. Play hangman or print a worksheet.
- 5th Grade Greek Roots Graph, Phon and TeleGreek roots graph (write), phon (sound) and tele (far) in photograph, telephone, telescope and more. Play hangman or print a worksheet.
- 5th Grade Words Ending in Ance and EnceSort words ending in ance and ence: performance, distance, science, difference. Play hangman with the list or print a worksheet with answers.
- 5th Grade Words Ending in Ant and EntWords ending in ant and ent: important, different, assistant, excellent, accident. Play hangman with the list or print a worksheet with answers.
- 5th Grade Words Ending in ItyWords ending in ity: ability, community, security, university, activity. Play hangman with the list or print a spelling worksheet with answers.