Looking for a ‘Wheely’ Good Synonyms Activity?

You’ve found one! Use this resource when students are going through the editing process after writing a piece of text. Students can refer to this wheel, helping them choose a better, less overused word and making their writing much more descriptive.

How this resource works:

• The words in the centre should not be used very often. They are a guide for finding better words to use instead.
• The words in the second ring are synonyms for the middle words. They can be used more often.
• The words in the outer ring are especially descriptive and can be used in very specific circumstances when you want to be more precise with your descriptions.

Print a wheel for each student and have them glue it into their writing journal for future reference.

Encourage Your Writers to Use Precise Verbs

To use this resource:

1. Cut out the wonderful word wedge, carefully leaving the paper centre circle as a pivot point.
2. Place the word wedge over the word wheel and insert a split pin through the centre circle on the ‘X’.
3. To choose specific words, turn the wheel until the base word is completely inside the wedge.
4. The synonym and descriptive words are now isolated, making them much easier to find.

Verbs included on the wheel are: walked, got, said, saw, put, laughed, ran, gave, ate, liked.

Download This Verb Synonyms Resource

This resource downloads as a quick-print PDF file. The PDF contains a colour and a black-and-white version of the word wheel.

More Word Wheels for Exploring Synonyms

Click below to check out more wonderful word wheels from the Teach Starter team!

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Wheely Wonderful Words – 'Very' Alternatives

Replace the word 'very' in your students' writings by giving them a 'wheely' good synonyms reference guide.