A synonyms sheet for Year 3 about shades of meaning, over three pages. Page 1 gives six ladders, each with four words in a jumbled order, such as warm, hot, boiling and scorching. Pupils write them from weakest on the bottom rung to strongest on the top. On page 2 they build two ladders of their own for angry and scared, then use their strongest word in a sentence. The key accepts close neighbours in either order and gives example ladders for page 2.
Writing - composition
“composing and rehearsing sentences orally (including dialogue), progressively building a varied and rich vocabulary and an increasing range of sentence structures”
Pupils choose between words of different strength, and the challenge sentence on page 2 puts their strongest word into their own writing.
Reading - comprehension
“discussing words and phrases that capture the reader's interest and imagination”
Placing heartbroken above sad, or minuscule above small, shows pupils how one word changes the strength of a feeling or size.
Six ladders with four jumbled words each, such as cool, chilly, cold and freezing, or sad, unhappy, miserable and heartbroken. Pupils write the weakest word on the bottom rung and the strongest on the top.
Two empty ladders headed angry and scared. Pupils think of four synonyms for each and order them from mild to extreme.
Pupils choose the strongest word from one of their ladders and use it in a sentence on three dotted lines.
The order for each of the six ladders, with a note that near-equal words such as chilly and cool can swap. Example ladders for angry and scared and a model challenge sentence.
Vocabulary starter
Draw the first ladder on the board with cool and freezing at the ends. Ask where chilly and cold belong and let pupils argue it out before they start.
Before a story
Use page 2 as a model. Pupils pick the angry or scared word that suits their character and keep the ladder beside their draft.
Early finishers
Pupils who finish quickly can make a third ladder for tired on the back of the sheet.
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