What do you do when you've written page 1 of the next Harry Potter or Owl Moon, but you've already used the word "good" 11 times? If you don't have a thesaurus and haven't been exposed to "splendid", "magnificent", or "exceptional" vocabulary, you have to ask a friend or an adult.
Every child in my classroom has difficulty writing and reading.
Despite the challenges they face, my students want to grow into independent writers and readers. They want to develop their writing so they can tell their own stories. Outside of school many of my students have limited opportunities to express their thoughts and ideas. They have vivid imaginations that need to be harnessed and expressed with words and pictures as colorful as their hopes and dreams. Sometimes my classroom is the only place where their voices can be seen, heard, and valued.
My Project
These colorful visual Thesauruses will be available to my students throughout the day. They are not a resource that will sit on a shelf gathering dust. My students will use them to complete their weekly spelling and vocabulary work. After using a dictionary to define a spelling word, they will use a thesaurus to help them fully understand the word by studying the word's synonyms and antonyms.
Students will also use the thesauruses to revise their fiction and non-fiction writing throughout the year. Instead of writing about "good ideas", "big things", and "fun stuff", students will be guided to independently expand their writing to include "terrific notions", "gargantuan gadgets", and "exhilarating experiences"!
In my classroom, we spend as much as 2.5 hours each day working on reading and writing.
This magnificent resource will be an integral part of that instructional time on a daily basis. This set will allow each student to take charge of his/her own written expression and give them the power to paint the literary pictures that only they can see in their minds.
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As a teacher-founded nonprofit, we're trusted by thousands of teachers and supporters across the country. This classroom request for funding was created by Mr. Friedman and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.