Synonyms: Circle the Word That Means the Same

Eight numbered cards fill this 2nd grade page in two columns. Each card has one big word in a pale band at the top and four words in chips below it, and the child circles the one that means the same as the big word. On the sheet shown the big words are quiet, shut, yell, jump, amazed, noisy, peaceful and grumpy, and the words to find are hushed, close, shout, leap, astonished, loud, calm and angry. The other three chips on each card are words with a different meaning altogether, such as sleepy, lovely and yummy under quiet.

A synonym is a word that means the same, or nearly the same, as another, and second graders are asked to notice how words relate. The page keeps the task clean: on every card only one choice is close in meaning, and the others are unrelated rather than opposites, so the page does not blur synonyms with antonyms. Some pairs are exact, like shut and close; others are near, like grumpy and angry, where angry is stronger. That difference is worth a word, and the shades of meaning face is built on it.

One sheet, eight cards, eight circles. Say each pair in a sentence to check it, shut the door and close the door. This is the base page of the synonyms family, and it owns the plain task of finding the word that means the same; the faces add pictures, matching pairs, shades of meaning, words for said and word fields. A class chart of the eight pairs keeps the new words in sight for the week.