Synonyms...Mmmmm, Delicious!
You say cinnamon, I say synonym. More like I say synonym, my kids can only say cinnamon. Oh well. No matter how you say it, this activity was a blast.
I got the idea last year after one of my kiddos told me "I bet these synonyms taste good too!"
Weird as th quote may be (it was completely unprovoked and unclear what he was specifically talking about) it reminded me of delicious cinnamon rolls. A year later, I decided to try my hand at an activity that could weave these ideas for my synonym mini-unit. After searching on Pinterest, I ended up finding this blog post, that helped me really hone in on what I wanted the activity to be. I was less focused on how it looked, and more focused on teaching the skill of identifying and creating synonyms, but it turned out to be the best of both worlds :)
We started out our synonym/antonym mini-unit learning about synonyms and antonyms, learning how to use the thesaurus, and the importance of using synonyms and antonyms in our writing. I found that it was easier to provide my students with a list of words, instead of asking them to generate a "boring" word on their own. I also didn't want to classify a word as "boring" to the kids, because I can just see where that would go. (Me: Wow great job! Kid: Ms. S. You can't say that word. It's boring!!! *endless discussion on how I need to choose a more "exciting" word*)
After the students were provided with a list to choose from (or in some cases, a specific word), they were then asked to generate a list of at least 3 synonyms. They could use thesauri or their handy-dandy brains to come up with their lists.
After the lists were created, students were either provided a "cinnamon roll" template, or asked to draw a spiral on brown construction paper. In the middle of the roll they wrote their original word in bold letters, and around the spiral they wrote all the synonyms. After they finished writing, they decorated their rolls with glitter for "icing". Once they dried, we hung our rolls on our clothing line (because we have no more wall space!) and I taped cut-out letters to a roll of aluminum foil for our title.
And just in time for Back-to-School Night!
Cheers,
R
I got the idea last year after one of my kiddos told me "I bet these synonyms taste good too!"
Weird as th quote may be (it was completely unprovoked and unclear what he was specifically talking about) it reminded me of delicious cinnamon rolls. A year later, I decided to try my hand at an activity that could weave these ideas for my synonym mini-unit. After searching on Pinterest, I ended up finding this blog post, that helped me really hone in on what I wanted the activity to be. I was less focused on how it looked, and more focused on teaching the skill of identifying and creating synonyms, but it turned out to be the best of both worlds :)
We started out our synonym/antonym mini-unit learning about synonyms and antonyms, learning how to use the thesaurus, and the importance of using synonyms and antonyms in our writing. I found that it was easier to provide my students with a list of words, instead of asking them to generate a "boring" word on their own. I also didn't want to classify a word as "boring" to the kids, because I can just see where that would go. (Me: Wow great job! Kid: Ms. S. You can't say that word. It's boring!!! *endless discussion on how I need to choose a more "exciting" word*)
After the students were provided with a list to choose from (or in some cases, a specific word), they were then asked to generate a list of at least 3 synonyms. They could use thesauri or their handy-dandy brains to come up with their lists.
After the lists were created, students were either provided a "cinnamon roll" template, or asked to draw a spiral on brown construction paper. In the middle of the roll they wrote their original word in bold letters, and around the spiral they wrote all the synonyms. After they finished writing, they decorated their rolls with glitter for "icing". Once they dried, we hung our rolls on our clothing line (because we have no more wall space!) and I taped cut-out letters to a roll of aluminum foil for our title.
And just in time for Back-to-School Night!
Cheers,
R
This is such a fun lesson! I love how our kiddos can teach us to use more exciting words...and so many other things! =)
ReplyDeleteI am happy to be your newest follower. If you get the chance, I would love for you to hop over and visit me. =)
Heather
Heather's Heart
Thanks for stopping by my blog!! I'm your newest follower! Love your synonym rolls!
ReplyDeleteTori
Your cinnamon/synonym rolls look like so much fun! That's one of my upcoming focus skills; I'll have to try your lesson when we start that.
ReplyDeleteYou have a great blog! Thanks for visiting my blog.
ReplyDeleteLatoya
Flying into First
What a great idea! Thanks so much for sharing and thanks for visiting me! I am "booing" you. Come by my blog and follow the fun directions. This is a great way to meet new blogging buddies and gain some followers.
ReplyDeleteSmiles,
Laura
TIPS: Teach, Inspire, and Prepare Students
I love the idea of the cinnamon/synonym. We will be working on word choice in our writing soon and this would be such a great thing for my kiddos - I would probably have my kids make multiple cinnamon rolls for various words so mine would be a bit smaller(and without glitter - too much of a control freak for that kind of mess). Thanks for visiting my blog!
ReplyDeleteO my goodness. This is too cute!! I love that your student said they must taste good :)
ReplyDeleteI have a new special education blog if you'd be interested in checking it out - Breezy Special Ed
I'm a new follower of your blog and look forward to getting to know you!