Illustration of two teens pointing across a river from a forest
Illustration by James Yamasaki
Root Power,

Greetings from Camp Chickaree

Explore the Latin roots bene and bon in a graphic-novel-style story.

From the May 2023 Issue
Featured Skill: Vocabulary Acquisition,
Common Core Standards
  • Anchor Standards
    R.4, L.4, L.6
  • Grade 6
    RI.6.4, L.6.4, L.6.6
  • Grade 7
    RI.7.4, L.7.4, L.7.6
  • Grade 8
    RI.8.4 ,RI.8.6 L.8.4, L.8.6
TEKs standards
  • Grades 6, 7, 8
    2a, b, c

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Greek and Latin roots form the basis of many words in the English language. Knowing these roots empowers you to unlock the meanings of unfamiliar words. This story includes words with the Latin roots bene, which means well, and bon, which means good.

Illustrations by James Yamasaki

Greetings from Camp Chickaree

Mateo and Aria were expecting to love their three weeks at Camp Chickaree. What they weren't expecting was to find evidence of Tessie, the legendary monster of Lake Tahoe.

“What is that?” 

“It's a bona fide Tessie skull! Actual proof of a cryptid!” 

“We'll be famous—the ones who proved that Tessie is real! This could really benefit us financially.” 

“And what a bonanza for Camp Chickaree! Everyone will want to come here now.” 

“I suppose the benevolent thing to do would be to donate the skull to a museum.” 

“We'd be benefactors! Maybe they'd name the exhibit after us.” 

“Bon voyage.”

Root Challenge

Directions:

  1. Write down the meaning of each word in red. Use context clues or, if needed, a dictionary.
  2. Think of another word that contains bene or bon. 
  3. Write a sentence using that  word and draw a picture that shows the word’s meaning. 

This article was originally published in the May 2023 issue.

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