Using a Thesaurus

Year 3 EnglishSynonyms3 pages

About this worksheet

A dictionary-skills sheet for Year 3 over three pages. Page 1 shows a small thesaurus page, My Junior Thesaurus, with entries for eat, look and walk and index tabs down the side. Pupils use it to replace the underlined verb in six sentences, such as The hungry wolf ate the pie, and change the ending to the past tense. Page 2 asks why entries are in alphabetical order and which walk word shows someone is happy and relaxed. The key gives example answers. It follows England National Curriculum work on word meaning in Years 3 and 4.

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Curriculum objectives covered

Reading - comprehension

โ€œusing dictionaries to check the meaning of words that they have readโ€

A thesaurus is used like a dictionary, and the alphabetical order question on page 2 checks that pupils know how to find a word.

Writing - composition

โ€œproposing changes to grammar and vocabulary to improve consistency, including the accurate use of pronouns in sentencesโ€

The six sentences on page 1 are improved by swapping one verb for a stronger synonym and keeping the past tense.

What's inside this worksheet

My Junior Thesaurus

A thesaurus page with eat (munch, nibble, gobble, devour, chew), look (glance, stare, peer, gaze, peek) and walk (stroll, march, tiptoe, stomp, wander).

Improve the Sentences

Six sentences with one underlined verb each, from the hungry wolf that ate the pie to the quiet cat that walked past the sleeping dog. Pupils write the improved sentence on two dotted lines.

Using a Thesaurus

Two questions, one about why entries are in alphabetical order and one asking for a walk word that shows someone is happy and relaxed.

Answers

An example sentence with accepted alternatives for each of the six, plus answers to both page 2 questions.

How teachers use it

Dictionary skills lesson

Hand out real thesauruses alongside the sheet. Pupils find eat, look and walk in the book and compare it with the junior page.

Tense check

Do sentence 1 together before pupils write. Show that gobble becomes gobbled and tiptoe becomes tiptoed.

Mini plenary

Ask who chose stomped for the angry giant and who chose marched. Let pupils argue about which is angrier.

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