Classzone: The Language of Literature, Grade 7

Lesson 27 Words ending with ous/us and ize/ise

Tested List

1. marvelous 11. realize

2. industrious 12. criticize

3. adventurous 13. apologize

4. courageous 14. memorize

5. outrageous 15. sympathize

6. virus 16. despise

7. circus 17. televise

8. census 18. exercise

9. genius 19. advertise

10. surplus 20. compromise

Self-Correcting the Pretest and Discovering the Generalization

1. Write marvel + ous = marvelous on the board, a chart, or an overhead projector. Explain that when the suffix ous is added to a word, the resulting word forms an adjective that means "full of" or "having the characteristics of." Point out that the suffix is added to a complete word, and that no spelling changes are made when it is added. Direct students who have misspelled marvelous on their pretests to cross the word out and to rewrite it correctly.

2. Next write industry + ous =. Ask a student to write the pretest word. Lead students to recognize that a final y is changed to i before ous is added.

3. Write adventure + ous =. Cross out the silent e in adventure. Have a student write the pretest word. Continue a similar procedure with courageous and outrageous, but point out that the final e is retained in these pretest words. Lead students to explain that the e is needed to retain the soft sound of g in each word. Have students continue to correct their pretests as you present and discuss each spelling word.

4. Display the five words ending in us. Underline the us in each, and point out that the spelling us is part of the base word and not a suffix.

5. Write real + ize = realize. Point out that ize is a suffix used to form verbs that mean "to make or become." Ask students if the suffix was added to a root or a complete word.
Continue this procedure with the remaining list words that end in ize, and allow students to correct their pretests. Point out that in each case the suffix is spelled ize and is added to a complete word.

6. Write despise and underline the letters ise. Point out that the spelling ise is less common than ize, and that it is usually part of the base word itself rather than a suffix.
Display the remaining ise words and have students finish correcting their pretests. Point out in each case that the spelling ise is part of the base word and is not being added to a complete word. Give students time to correct their pretests.

Checking for Understanding

To verify students' understanding of the lesson generalization, direct them to read the spelling words and to answer the questions on the student page. Discuss the answers with them. Then have students read the lesson generalization and discuss it.