Simply provide a theme such as Out Of My Window or In The Garden and set the challenge of spotting items on the list. It develops a consciousness of the subcategories of common nouns. This idea is based on the old (but still available) series of i-SPY books. They could compete with each other to supply alternative names such as: “looking glass” for mirror “basin” for sink, “bedspread” for blanket or “lavatory” for toilet! Parents with English as an additional language could add their home language onto the sticky notes.Ĭan they spot similarities in any of the words? 2 | Nuanced nouns Grab a pack of sticky notes and start labelling! Adults could support children to label familiar household objects with synonyms. Ideas that work in home or schoolĮxtend learning to the home, inviting families to participate in activities that will expand children’s repertoire of words in their own setting. Whilst “The old woman lived in a dark, scary forest” works, “The antique woman lived in an opaque alarming forest” does not! The more often children meet the words, the more precise their categorisation will become, and the better they will be at selecting the most appropriate word for the context. It is only when used in context that children will truly embed language and learn (by trial and improvement) that simply swapping out words does not always create the desired effect. If the children are to write a setting description based in a dark, scary forest, anticipate that they may well overwork these adjectives and use the game as a stimulus for a word bank so that children have the means to write “foreboding forest”. Keep categories as tight as possible to ensure children can see the links.īroadening vocabulary enables children to select more specific words to enhance their independent writing, eg “The old crone lived in a shack in the gloomy forest” vs “The old woman lived in a house in the dark forest.” Try: job roles that end in “-er” / “-cian”, or words that end in “-ful”. Other words that work well are synonyms for overused verbs (such as “eat”, “walk”, “sleep”, “go”, “sit”) for adjectives (such as “big”, “red”, “hot”) or for adverbs (“fast”, “happily”, “suddenly”).Ĭhildren could be invited to use a thesaurus to help them generate possible synonyms.Īlternatively, you could link this game to spelling patterns that you have been studying in class.
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