5th Grade spelling
5th Grade Greek Roots Graph, Phon and Tele
Greek roots graph (write), phon (sound) and tele (far) in photograph, telephone, telescope and more. Play hangman or print a worksheet.
Read the spelling list
The pattern: Graph means write, phon means sound and tele means far.
Many science and technology words come from Greek. Graph means write or draw, phon means sound, and tele means far. Telephone is a far sound, telegraph is far writing, and photograph combines photo (light) with graph. Greek words are easy to spot because they often contain ph for the f sound, and they combine roots freely, like building blocks.
The list is split into the three roots. Graph includes photograph, paragraph, graphic, telegraph and geography. Phon includes telephone, microphone, headphones, symphony and smartphone. Tele includes telescope, telegram, televised and televisions. Fifth grade is a good place for these because students already use these words every day, and seeing the pieces gives them an immediate payoff in spelling and meaning.
28 entries. Our solver needed 1.5 wrong guesses on average: 17 easy, 9 medium and 2 hard. The toughest is graph (6 misses), the quickest telephone (0).
graph (write)
- photography Medium · 3
- photographs Medium · 2
- photographer Easy · 1
- graphic Medium · 2
- photograph Medium · 2
- graphics Medium · 3
- graph Hard · 6
- paragraph Medium · 2
- telegraph Easy · 1
- geography Medium · 2
phon (sound)
- phones Hard · 6
- telephone Easy · 0
- smartphone Easy · 1
- headphones Easy · 1
- symphony Medium · 3
- microphone Easy · 0
- smartphones Easy · 1
- headphone Easy · 1
- phoned Medium · 3
- telephones Easy · 0
tele (far)
- telescope Easy · 0
- telegram Easy · 0
- televised Easy · 1
- telescopes Easy · 0
- televisions Easy · 0
- telecast Easy · 1
- telepathic Easy · 0
- telescopic Easy · 0
Words worth a closer look
- photographPhoto (light) plus graph (write): writing with light. Always ph, never f.
- telephoneTele (far) plus phone (sound). The ph spells f, as in photograph.
- microphoneMicro (small) plus phone. Notice the connecting o between the two roots.
- telescopeTele plus scope (see). A far-seeing instrument.
- paragraphPara means beside and graph means write; the word began as a mark written beside the text.
Teaching it
Have students highlight the Greek root in each word, then build a table: root, meaning, words. The commonest spelling mistake is writing f where ph belongs (telefone, fotograph). The ph in phon and photo is worth a full minute on its own. The other typical slip is losing the o that joins two roots, as in microphone, so students write micraphone.
In hangman, use root clues: this word means far writing. Players then guess t, e, l and g before anything else. Print the worksheet and ask students to invent a new word from two roots and define it, such as a phonograph or a telescope of sound.
Print a 5th Grade Greek Roots Graph, Phon and Tele 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 Bio, Auto and MicroGreek roots bio (life), auto (self) and micro (small): biology, automatic, microscope and more. Play hangman or print a spelling 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.