Skip to content
the grown-up commonsPlay togetherBack to room

← Learn

Old Words, Read Aloud

Four short lessons on where English words come from: the old layer and the French one, the roots inside long words, one myth told two ways, and one line in two translations.

For grown-ups, from what CognateForge teaches children at Spark & Anvil.

  1. Lesson 1Cow and beef
  2. Lesson 2Roots inside long words
  3. Lesson 3One myth, two tellings
  4. Lesson 4One line, two translations
At the table · a grown-up and a reader of 9 or older

The word family tree

You'll need: a large sheet of paper and a dictionary that shows where words come from.

  1. Write one word in the middle: "graph".
  2. Each finds a word that contains it.
  3. Write each new word on a branch.
  4. Read the tree aloud and say what each word means.

Print The word family tree as a card →

Print the guidebook (all lessons + the table activity) →