Alisa Potter 1

Lesson Plan
Synonyms & Antonyms

Introduction
Lesson topic Review of synonyms and antonyms
Length of Lesson 25 minutes
VA Standards of Learning
4.4 The student will expand vocabulary when reading.
b) Use knowledge of roots, affixes, synonyms, antonyms, and
homophones.
Context Knowledge of synonyms (words with similar meanings) and antonyms
(words with opposite meanings) can help to understand the meanings of
unfamiliar words.
Global Themes There are a variety of strategies and word recognition skills to
support comprehension.

Content Objectives
Students will:
Produce synonyms and antonyms for given words.
Identify synonyms out of a list of words.

Assessment Aligned to Objectives
Formative
The teacher will ask key questions including:
o What are words with similar meanings called?
o What are words with opposite words called?
o Can you give an example of two synonyms?
o Can you give an example of two antonyms?
Summative
The students will record the synonyms and antonyms for given words during the
board on a recording sheet.
The students will identify synonyms from lists of words and produce synonyms
for given words on the Synonyms worksheet.

Materials/Technology and Advanced Preparation
Game boards copied on 3 different colors of paper
Dice
Game pieces
Copies of recording sheets
Copies of Synonyms worksheet

Teaching and Learning Sequence

TIME TEACHER ACTIONS STUDENT ACTIONS
Introduction/Anticipatory Set
2 min Ask students to explain what they know about
synonyms and antonyms. Ask for examples.
Explain and give examples of
synonyms and antonyms.
Lesson Development
17 min Pair students according to their guided reading Break into partners.
Alisa Potter 2
groups and pass out game boards. The easier board
is on green paper, yellow is moderately difficult, and
orange is the higher difficulty level. Assign the boards
appropriately for the first round of the game.
Pass out recording sheet, dice, and game pieces.
Explain how to play: Play rock paper scissors to
decide who goes first. Roll the die and move that
many spaces forward on the game board. Read the
word that you land on and record it in the first column
on the recording sheet. Come up with a word that is
either a synonym or antonym to it and write that in
the second column. In the third column, tell whether
your word is a synonym or antonym to the word on
the game board. Keep playing until someone
reaches the end of the board. When finished trade
boards for a different color and play again.
Walk around, checking for understanding and
providing assistance as needed.
Play game as directed.
Closure
5 min Ask key questions again to review.
Pass out Synonyms worksheet for students to
complete.
Raise hands to answer questions.
Complete worksheet.



Lesson Organizer

Prior Knowledge and NEW Instructional Content
Prior Knowledge:
Affixes are added to root words to form new words (e.g., prefixes, suffixes).
Prefixes are added to the front of the root (e.g., likedislike).
Suffixes are added to the end of the root (e.g., shortshorten).
Homophones are words that are pronounced the same and have different meanings regardless of their spelling (e.g.,
principle/ principal, prince/prints).
Antonyms are opposites (e.g., off/on, fast/slow).
Synonyms are words that have similar meanings (e.g., small, little, tiny).

Review content:
Antonyms are opposites (e.g., off/on, fast/slow).
Synonyms are words that have similar meanings (e.g., small, little, tiny).

Instructional Modifications to
ASSIST Students
Main Events of Instruction
Instructional Modifications to
CHALLENGE Students

The game boards are differentiated.
The green game board has simpler
vocabulary.

Review terms.
Play board game to practice producing
synonyms and antonyms.
Review key terms with the class.
Complete worksheet.


The orange game board has more
challenging vocabulary.