Adjectives and synonims

[Т А Кузнецова]

Adjectives and synonyms.

It is always difficult to encourage students to use a variety of adjectives and synonyms; here is a readymade lesson plan from www.readwritethink.org. You will also find a lot to create your lessons more appealing.

Introduce adjectives (45 minutes)

Adjectives and synonyms provide students with a variety of ways to express themselves both verbally and in writing. People, places, and things come alive when students are able to describe them using unique or "visual" words. Which sounds more interesting to you: "The bumpy moon is in the black sky" or "The cratered moon shines in the dark, onyx sky?" Dark and onyx are adjectives but are also synonyms for the word black. The second sentence provides richer details about the moon and the sky by using more vivid—and unexpected—descriptors.

1. Read Apples by Gail Gibbons aloud to the class. This book has minimal text but provides illustrations of various types of apples. Guide students to focus on the appearance of apples, both inside and out, as Gibbons has done throughout the book.

2. Divide the class into groups of three to four students. Give each group two apples of the same variety—one whole and one cut into enough pieces so that each team member gets one—and copies of the Describe Your Apples handout. Give them 15 minutes to brainstorm and record words that describe their apples.

3. Gather the entire class together and ask teams to share words from their lists. Descriptive words might include: red, green, round, shiny, waxy, bruised, ripe, speckled, spotted, or wet. Record the class list on a board or flipchart.

4. Explain to the class that they have created a list of words called adjectives to describe their apples. The list includes words that describe how the apples look, smell, feel and even taste.

5. Ask students to define adjective, working toward the definition that it is a word that describes a person, place, or thing (noun). Talk about why adjectives are important. Questions for discussion include:

• How might adjectives be used in driving directions? (Take a right turn; follow the windy road for five miles; go through the flashing, yellow light; we're the second, blue house on the right.)