Synonyms

: "Okay, one word, and it's an action?" : "I know! Jump!" : "You are close but the word was actually hop!" : "Isn't that the same thing?" : "It's a synonym." : "What is a synonym?" Dee and Kala are playing charades but are having trouble with the words they are guessing. Let's help them by learning about synonyms. What does the word synonym mean? A synonym is a word that has the same or close meaning to another word. Synonyms can help us when we are writing to describe things in a new way. They can also help us when reading to understand a story or text better. Let's take a look at the next charade word to learn more. : "One word and it's an action, okay!" : "Hmm, you look frightened... oh I know! Is the word afraid?" : "Almost, it's a synonym of the word afraid." Can you think of a synonym, a word that means the same, or something similar to the word afraid? Scared is a synonym of the word afraid. : "Is it the word scared?" : "You got it! Good job, Dee." Sometimes when trying to figure out which word to use, we can look at synonyms, and decide based on how strong the word is. For example, what words would you use to describe the fire? You could use words like warm or bright... or, you could use stronger sounding words, like hot or blinding. These words are synonyms because they have a similar meaning. I wonder if Dee and Kala have acted out any synonyms with stronger words. : "Another action word, okay! I'm getting the hang of this." : "You look like you are yelling, is the word yell?" : "Not quite, but it IS a synonym of yell." Can you think of a synonym, or another word that means the same thing or something similar to the word yell? The word scream is a synonym to the word yell. : "I know! Is it scream?" : "That's close too, but this word isn't as strong." We need to help our friends by thinking of another synonym to yell, can you think of any? The word shout is also a synonym to the word yell. : "Oh! Is it the word shout?" : "YES! And now I can shout!" Before we find out what Dee shouts, let's remember. Today we learned about synonyms. Synonyms are words that have the same or close meaning to another word. We learned that synonyms can help us when deciding which words to write... and that we can decide which word to use based on how strong it is. Now, let's see what Dee is shouting. : "SURPRISE! HAPPY FRIEND-AVERSARY, KALA!"