A Tree is Nothing Without it's Roots

Introduction

This quarter in humanities, we started studying new root words. But first, what are root words? This is the definition found on google: The root word is the primary lexical unit of a word, and of a word family (root is then called base word), which carries the most significant aspects of semantic content and cannot be reduced into smaller constituents. Content words in nearly all languages contain, and may consist only of root morphemes. What this means is that it that a root word is a word with no prefix nor suffix. 




We studied roots originated from either greek or latin words, which were two of the first languages, and where most of our language comes from.




We had 3 root lists, and each time we had one, we were told to make a presentation about that one root, and each student was assessed one root. After two or three days of preparing, we shared our presentations with our classmates, having them write down all of the new roots they learned, and two words that contain the root word.




These are my three presentations, from the first one I've ever made to the last and most current one I've made:

1 Presentation:


2 Presentation:


3 Presentation:


Improvement 

I can see evidence of growth between my three presentations through these areas: First is my content. The first presentation is simple and fast, not containing anything really interesting. There are some really interesting words, but it is just a quick presentation. The second one and the third one contain simple words and complex words. The sentences contain better context clues to understand the words, and the definitions are easier to understand.

Something else that I saw was the change of program that I used. i think the flow of the presentation was better when I used maze and prezi. In my opinion, they are way more interesting, and flow better. It is easier to portray information with prezi, since you have the option of inserting stickers and adding new transitions. I loved learning about new ways to present my work.

I think I improved because of was because of watching other presentations, and that I did not want my presentations to be repetitive. After my presentations, I would always look for another program to make my presentation, to have a nicer and fresher start.  I also think that looking at what others presented gave me an idea of what I should add on to my next presentation. 

One of my peer’s presentations, Nadya, inspired me in this way: I saw how nice her prezi went, so I decided to take in her way. Also, I loved how her explanations were nice and short, but really explained the word. I think that most of the time, the roots that I mostly remembered most about where the ones she presented.  I am more impressed with this work as opposed to the other one because she made in nice and short, but explanatory. I did not like the presentations in where the explanations were way too complex.

I got “stuck” working on finding words with the root because I was looking for interesting words, words that no one knows. I think that it was crucial to find complicated words, because if not, we would not be learning much. I think another big part of the presentations was learning new word. I was able to get “unstuck” first finding the word, and the searching up the definition. I also found a website in were it was filled with words containing my root. When I finally found words that I did not know, I wrote them down and used them. (This happened on the third presentation)

One core value I portrayed in the first presentation was perseverance because the root I had chosen was hard (magn), I could not find much information on words. I kept looking and looking, but most of the words did not fit in with the meaning of the root. I spend a whole night looking for words, and it was worth it, because at the end my presentation consisted really nice words!

One core value I struggled to portray in the second presentation was curiosity, because I was not interested in the root I had chosen, neither the presentation. I did not like the root (tele), which made it hard for me to be curios about finding out more information on the root.

Preparation

The presentations did take some work, but at the end, I really thing that they helped a lot. By making my own presentation, I learned so much about my own root, and after presenting so many times, I already new most of the words by memory. I also think that watching others presentations was good, expect that some presentations where not interesting, or did not teach me the correct idea. I think that studying on my own helped more.

I am a visual learner, and that is why I made cards to study. I need to see the roots and then say it in my mind, to remember. That is why I think that in class, the method that really helped me was the dictionary. I really enjoyed it, and at the same time remember most of the images. However, I would still say that flash cards worked best for me.

An online version of flashcards is Quizlet. I really enjoy quiz let, since it is so easy to work! If I had the time to make a set and work on it, I would have done it. But maybe I would still prefer flashcards, since I learn by writing things down. Overall, I loved studying with flashcards. I think it is the best way for me to learn.

The day before the tests, I tried getting some sleep, and study a lot the day before. This worked for the first two assessments, but the last one, I do not know if I did good or bad on. I had very little time to study the day before (45 min) because it is the end of the quarter, and I was stuffed with so many things I needed to do. I went to bed pretty late, and slept for about 6-7 hours. That is why I think that if for any reason my grade drops in the last assessment, it would be because I am stressing out on too many classes and assignments due all on the same day.