Shades of Meaning: From a Little to a Lot

Six rows of three words fill this 1st grade page, each word with a dashed box beneath it. A key at the top shows three bars growing from pale and short to dark and tall, numbered 1, 2 and 3, and a small copy of the bars starts every row. The child reads the three words and writes 1, 2 and 3 to order them from the weakest to the strongest. The six word sets are tap, knock and bang; damp, wet and soaked; sip, drink and gulp; nibble, eat and gobble; like, love and adore; and warm, hot and boiling, each printed in mixed order.

Shades of meaning is the first grade idea that words for the same thing can be stronger or weaker. The page uses action words and describing words together: tap, knock and bang are all ways of hitting a door, but they are not equal. The words in each row are mixed up, so the child cannot simply copy 1, 2 and 3 from left to right. Acting out a row is the quickest way to settle an argument: sip, drink and gulp a cup of water and the order is obvious.

One sheet, six rows, eighteen numbers. Some rows invite debate, and knock versus tap is a good one to leave open if a child can defend their order. This face is the first grade entry to the synonyms family; the grade 2 base page asks for words that mean the same, and this one shows that the same is often only nearly the same. A thermometer drawn on the board makes a good anchor for warm, hot and boiling.