A school-y craft for you today! An interactive display to encourage kids to use more interesting words in their writing.
It was very easy to make and the kids not only loved it but actually used it. :) I got the idea here.
First get a cheap pocket shoe holder, you know - the ones that hang on a wardrobe door. For this one I only used half the shoe slots so I just tied the other ones up at the back so I can expand it later and add more words.
Then print out the words on corresponding coloured paper. You could mix the colours and challenge the class to sort the words but colour coding makes it easier to keep them organised and means its easier for kids who struggle with synonyms to use them (which is after-all the point!).
So whenever they do some writing ask them to check it when they're finished for any of the tired words and then go and look through the options and pick an alternative. They can then bring that word back to their seats to make sure they can spell it.
It was also helpful to play a few games with the more unfamiliar words. Print out a tired word or its match for each child (only one synonym for each word so you might have to add more tired words depending on how many kids you have). Mix them up and hand a random word to each child. Ask the kids to walk around the room and find their match. This can be a great way to see who is comfortable with the words and who is still not sure. Or you can be more strategic in the way you hand the words out and give a little confidence boost to everyone!
Downloads:
Tired words in Bed
Synonyms
(And if you like them and want to show your appreciation by clicking on a few ads I promise to keep supplying you with free stuff for your classroom! :)
There's nothing much to this display but seeing as I have the templates I may as well upload them. I always love when someone makes life easier for me! :)
Linked up to:
It was very easy to make and the kids not only loved it but actually used it. :) I got the idea here.
First get a cheap pocket shoe holder, you know - the ones that hang on a wardrobe door. For this one I only used half the shoe slots so I just tied the other ones up at the back so I can expand it later and add more words.Then print out the words on corresponding coloured paper. You could mix the colours and challenge the class to sort the words but colour coding makes it easier to keep them organised and means its easier for kids who struggle with synonyms to use them (which is after-all the point!).
So whenever they do some writing ask them to check it when they're finished for any of the tired words and then go and look through the options and pick an alternative. They can then bring that word back to their seats to make sure they can spell it.
It was also helpful to play a few games with the more unfamiliar words. Print out a tired word or its match for each child (only one synonym for each word so you might have to add more tired words depending on how many kids you have). Mix them up and hand a random word to each child. Ask the kids to walk around the room and find their match. This can be a great way to see who is comfortable with the words and who is still not sure. Or you can be more strategic in the way you hand the words out and give a little confidence boost to everyone!
Tired words in Bed
Synonyms
(And if you like them and want to show your appreciation by clicking on a few ads I promise to keep supplying you with free stuff for your classroom! :)
There's nothing much to this display but seeing as I have the templates I may as well upload them. I always love when someone makes life easier for me! :)
Linked up to:
Thanks for the idea and download! I love the idea of doing a "search for your synonym" activity. Guess what I will do with my grade 3s this week!
ReplyDeleteBJ
No worries! Hope it works well for you! Thanks for visiting. :)
DeleteThanks Emily! Love your blog, lots of great ideas!
ReplyDeleteGreat idea - it gives such a nice visual to the idea!
ReplyDeleteStopping by from the Manic Monday link-up.
Stef @ Miss Galvin Learns
I love the idea of this!
ReplyDelete