BUILDING VOCABULARY

continued from No. 1, 3/2007

How to Learn New Words

Strategies for Building Vocabulary

UNIT 3: PRACTICE

Using Synonyms and Antonyms

Activity 1.

Study the 4 pictures. Read the words.

small or tiny                        gigantic

wild or fierce                        tame

terrible or awful                        terrific

smile or grin                        frown

Now finish each sentence below with your choice of boldfaced words. Use the words only one time.

1. Bobby’s pet raccoon is __________.

2. Carol thought the roller coaster ride was _______.

3. The birthday gift was too ___________ to wrap.

4. That clown has a _____________ on her face.

5. This banana tastes _____________.

6. I saw a _______________ ant on the TV screen.

7. The animal trainer fed the __________ animals.

8. “It’s time to go now,” said Mother with a ____ on her face.

Just for fun, read your sentences to the class. How many different answers did you get?

______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________

Answers: (Answers may vary.) 1. tame; 2. terrific; 3. gigantic; 4. smile; 5. awful; 6. tiny; 7. wild; 8. grin

Jack-in-the-Box’s rule number 3 for learning words: Try to figure out meanings of words you don’t know from synonyms or antonyms of those words.

Activity 2.

Study the 5 pictures. Read the words.

sick or ill                      healthy

fix or repair                      break

cry or sob                      laugh

top or peak                      bottom

good-bye or farewell                         hello

Read the sentences below and the clue after each sentence. Then finish each sentence with the correct word.

1. Dad likes to _____________ old cars. (synonym for fix)

2. My baby sister doesn’t __________ when she falls down. (antonym for laugh)

3. The cowboys left their horses at the __________ of the mountain. (antonym for peak)

4. My grandfather is ______________. (synonym for sick)

5. All the Scouts at camp greeted one another with a friendly ___________________. (antonym for farewell)

6. Eating lots of fruit helps keep me ___________. (antonym for ill)

7. I heard Sally _________ herself to sleep. (synonym for cry)

8. On the last day of school the kids said __________ to their teachers. (antonym for hello)

9. The mountain climber reached the ___________ in four hours. (synonym for top)

10. I saw Henry ____________ that pretty vase. (antonym for repair)

Answers: 1. repair; 2. cry; 3. bottom; 4. ill; 5. hello; 6. healthy; 7. sob; 8. good-bye; 9. peak; 10. break

Synonym and Antonym Word Search

Activity 3.

Look at the words in the Word Box. They are words you have learned.

A. First read the clues. Then write the correct synonym or antonym from the Word Box on each line.

Clues

1. antonym for gigantic tiny

2. synonym for fierce ___________

3. synonym for terrible ___________

4. synonym for tiny ___________

5. antonym for grin ___________

6. synonym for peak ___________

7. antonym for break ___________

8. synonym for sob ___________

9. antonym for ill ___________

10. synonym for good-bye ___________

11. antonym for farewell ___________

12. antonym for top ___________

Answers: 2. wild; 3. awful; 4. small; 5. frown; 6. top; 7. repair; 8. cry; 9. healthy; 10. farewell; 11. hello; 12. bottom

B. Now find words from the Word Box in the puzzle below. Circle each word you find. The words go across and down. The first one is done for you.

Activity 4.

Practice spelling synonyms and antonyms you have learned. Write words from the Word Box in the puzzle. The letter clues will help you.

Test. Show All You Know About Synonyms and Antonyms

Draw lines to match each word below with a synonym.

A.

B.

C. Choose words from the Word Box to finish each sentence below.

1. Many pretty flowers grew in the ____________.

2. The ___________________ bug rested on the leaf.

3. The ____________ animals hunted for food in the jungle.

4. Cindy has a _____________ cold.

5. The _____________ on Mother’s face meant she liked the gift.

Draw lines to match words on the left with an antonym.

D.

E.

F. Choose words from the Word Box to finish each sentence below.

1. We could see the ___________ tree from far away.

2. The Scouts marched down the ___________ path and into the woods.

3. We watched the ___________ lions jump through hoops.

4. The ________ on my face told Dad I didn’t like the soup.

Answers:

A. peek – look; dwell – live; scared – afraid; town – village; beautiful – pretty
B. forest – woods; too – also; thief – robber; wise – clever, wagon – cart
C. 1. field; 2. tiny; 3. wild; 4. terrible; 5. smile
D. begin – complete; empty – full; wealthy – poor; warm – cool
E. crooked – straight; smile – frown; ugly – pretty; strong – weak
F. 1. gigantic; 2. narrow; 3. tame; 4. frown

Compiled by Erin Bouma

to be continued