Mr. Salsich's Class
Third Grade Explorations in Learning
Similes, Synonyms, and Snowballs
During reading and writing we have been learning about similes, synonyms, and… snowballs?
"Snowballs"
First, let’s focus on similes and synonyms. These are two ways to make our writing more descriptive.
Similes are comparisons between two different things using the words like or as.
Here is an example from Madison: The chameleon’s tongue was as fast as lightning.
And here is one from Jacob: The new student is tall like a skyscraper.
The comparisons in similes help the reader visualize the writing.
*
Synonyms are words that mean almost the same thing as another word.
We have been learning a lot about synonyms at The Reading Round-Up. We added comments with synonyms we found in our reading books to a post called “Circle Up Your Synonyms.”
Circle Up Your Synonyms
Here is a synonym that Alexandra found and posted as a comment:
I found a synonym for said in the book Molly Moon’s Hypnotic Time Travel Adventure. It was, “No you fool!” he thundered.
Thundered means he yelled it.
Synonyms can “spice up” our writing by replacing tired, worn-out words.
*
What do snowballs have to do with all of this? Hmm, that’s a good question…
Sometimes we need to move a little bit in the afternoons. It gets hard to do our best work if we are sitting too long. So, we have been having “snowball” fights in our classroom!
Well, they aren’t really snowballs. First we do some writing work on a small piece of paper. Then we crumple up the paper. These are our “snowballs.”
Paper "Snowballs"
When Mr. Salsich gives the signal we throw our snowballs around the room and at each other. After everyone gets a few throws we stop and pick up the nearest snowball. Then we gather on the carpet and share what other people wrote on their snowball. It is a fun way to get some movement and share our ideas.
Caution: Classroom snowball fights can cause uncontrollable excitement and laughter.
Snowball Fight!
Here is a simile from Derek about what the room was like when we were writing our similes:
The room was quiet like a street at midnight.
And here is a simile from Amanda about what the room was like during our snowball fight:
Suddenly the room was as noisy as a cage full of monkeys.
*
What do you think about having “snowball” fights in class?
Can you think of any similes for dark, heavy, tiny, soft, or bright?
19 Responses to “Similes, Synonyms, and Snowballs”
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November 22nd, 2010 at 1:02 pm
Dear Mr. Salsich and class,
Having snowball fights in class would be like celebrating your birthday every day! I think if I did this in my classroom, my students’ smiles would be as wide as the Grand Canyon!
We are out on Thanksgiving break this week, but we’ll be sure to have a snowball fight when we return.
Hey, I’ve got another idea…maybe everyone writes a new word that they learned on a piece of hot colored paper. They include the context clues found in the sentence. When everyone is ready, we have a Vocabulary Volcano! You always get me thinking with your posts!
Your pal,
Sheriff Y♥llis
P.S. Love the alliteration in your title! Super! (Does anyone know what alliteration means?)
November 27th, 2010 at 3:08 pm
Dear Mrs. Yollis,
I love the idea of a Vocabulary Volcano! (You have some nice alliteration there as well.)
The snowball fights are certainly fun, but they can get a little wild. I joined in one last week, and by the end half of the students had ganged up on me! I was getting bombarded by snowballs from every angle. But it definitely woke us up for some good learning. Sometimes you just have to move a little bit to get the mind alert.
From,
Mr. Salsich
November 22nd, 2010 at 2:33 pm
Dear Mr.Salsich,
I liked having the snowball fights. It was fun sharing the other ideas that other people had . I think it was a good idea to do the snowball fights. I wondered where did you get the idea to do a snowball fight with our synonyms. I found a lot of synonyms. I hope we do another snowball fight soon!
Your student, Taylor*
November 22nd, 2010 at 5:26 pm
Dear Mr Salsich
“The sn♔wball fight looks like fun ♣ ”
shouted jiajia
November 22nd, 2010 at 9:50 pm
Dear Mr Salsich’s class,
2KM and 2KJ enjoyed reading this post this morning. We loved it as much as … ice cream on a hot day!
When we did our descriptive writing last week (inspired by you), some of us used similies but we did not know that is what they are called!
When we do weekend writing on Mondays we like to try different synonyms for “then”. Some of our favourites are
★ next
★ later
★ before long
★ soon
★ that night
★ shortly after
I loved your idea for the snowball fight and I also loved Mrs Yollis’ idea for the vocabularly volcano! You two give me so many great ideas!
Your friend,
Miss McGeady
November 27th, 2010 at 3:20 pm
Dear Miss McGeady,
Thanks for the wonderful comment!
We have also been focusing on synonyms for “then.” Last week we learned about “red flag phrases” – words or phrases that you can use instead of “then” to tell the reader that something important is about to happen. Here are some examples:
* Suddenly,
* In the blink of an eye
* To my surprise
* a moment later
* All of a sudden
* The next thing I knew
Of course, these are only used when something important or unexpected is about to happen, so they aren’t always synonyms for “then.” But they have helped us to spice up our story writing.
From,
Mr. Salsich
November 22nd, 2010 at 10:12 pm
Dear 3rd Grade Students at Deans Mill School,
I love your post about synonyms, and I love the idea of the snowball fights. I’m going to try that with my 8th grade class!
I want to tell you that just today my teaching lesson was all about using synonyms, and tonight my students, for homework, are revising an essay and inserting at least two good words from the thesaurus. Plus, when I write — which I do every single day– I constantly use the thesaurus to find exciting synonyms for old, stale words.
Thanks again for your wonderful post!
Sincerely,
Mr. Hamilton Salsich
November 23rd, 2010 at 1:23 am
Dear Mr Salsich,
Awesome post.
I thought the snowball fight was awesome. My mum and I
had a snowball fight too.
I think I can think of one Synonyms. The boy shouthed to the girl Wendy in a loud voice.
What do you think of my Synonym sentence?
From your friend in Australia Bianca.
November 27th, 2010 at 3:24 pm
Dear Bianca,
Your synonym sentence is excellent! You could also turn it into a simile by comparing the boy’s shout to something very loud. For example, “The boy shouted to Wendy as load as a lion roaring.”
Similes and synonyms improve our writing, and they can also be a lot of fun!
Your friend,
Mr. Salsich
November 23rd, 2010 at 1:55 pm
Dear Mr Salsich
The children in B4 love using similies in their writing. Here are some examples from our wiki pages.
Tristan noted,”my legs remember floating like an astronaut in space,”
Adam wrote, “my face remembers going swimming like a professional diver with my face under water”.
“My body remembers burying my body in the sand like a mole digging in the sand,” described Jack.
The B4 children can’t wait to have a snowball fight!
from Mrs M♔Kenzie
November 27th, 2010 at 3:36 pm
Dear Mrs. McKenzie,
The students’ similes on their wiki pages were wonderful. In fact, they were as clear and brilliant as sparkling diamonds.
Reading over their memories of summer got me thinking about my summer as well. I remember riding on the crashing waves like a speeding boat. Sometimes I would duck under a huge wave and hear it crash as loud as thunder.
Unfortunately, our winter is just starting, and summer is a long way away.
From,
Mr. Salsich
November 25th, 2010 at 12:55 am
Dear Mr. Salsich’s class
I really liked your idea about snowballs. We are definitely going to have a snowball fight in our class, and I think I may have to lead a snowball fight in our next staff meeting too! I also like the vocabulary Volcano idea from Mrs. Yollis.
I think that using similes and synonyms really help writers to create a great picture for their readers.
Happy Thanksgiving
Your blogging friend
Mrs Toa
November 26th, 2010 at 3:55 am
Dear Mr. Salsich and Grade 3′s,
Thanks so much for sharing this wonderful idea! I know that the students in my class would love to have a snowball fight. We will have to give it a try before Christmas break.
I also hope that we can try the idea Mrs. Yollis suggested. What a great way to tune into interesting words!
Thanks for your inspiration!
Mrs. W
November 26th, 2010 at 3:33 pm
Dear Mr. Salsich,
Wow…how cool is that! We are learning about the exact same thing in our class right now. When we saw that your class was talking about Similes and synonyms, we looked at your students’ writing on your blog as examples for our class. You really have some GREAT writers! We talked about similes and we tried your snowball idea..but we changed it a little. We each wrote a simile on a “snowball” and then threw it to someone in the class. Once we each had one we shared it with the whole group and discussed if it was indeed a simile. We had to tell what made the sentence a simile (comparison using like or as). You always inspire our classroom! We hope you are having a great day!
Your blogging buddies,
Mrs. Webb-Scheers and the students of 4WS
(The Classroom Connection)
November 27th, 2010 at 3:41 pm
Dear Mrs. Webb-Scheers and 4WS,
I just checked out your post about similes and synonyms – what great writing! And I’m getting ready to publish a post with a video about numberline subtraction like Mallory did. So, we learn a lot from all of you also!
I like your idea of passing the snowballs. Sometimes the snowballs fights get a little too wild. So, we’ll try the passing idea next week.
From,
Mr. Salsich
November 30th, 2010 at 12:52 pm
Dear Mr. Salsich,
I liked thinking of similes and synonyms to share with our class. It was especially fun having snowball fights! Maybe we could have more snowball fights because they were really fun!
From,
Margot*
December 9th, 2010 at 6:28 pm
Dear Mr Salsich and class,
We really liked your idea so in our class we did the same thing. It was really fun.You know how some people are shy to say their answers…Well in this activity you weren’t saying your own simile or synonym so it was easier!! Well see ya later, either on our blog or yours,Kaitlyn!!!!
December 15th, 2010 at 3:14 pm
Dear Mr. Salsich,
I think snow ball fights with paper is really fun!
A synonym that I know is mini. This means small.
Oh by the way it’s a great idea! You should spread the idea.
Your class buddy,
Erik
P.S. when will we have another snowball fight?
December 20th, 2010 at 2:29 pm
Dear Mr. Salsich,
I think it was fun doing the paper ball fight. I have a simile for soft- “it was as fuzzy
as my new blanket.”
from,
Sean
p.s. I got it at job lot!