A House for Synonyms

Wow, it's already Wild About Books Wednesday! I've been so busy this week... I think it's time to stop and smell the books!

First, if you have a new or recent post about how to use a specific book in therapy please join the linky party! Just use the above picture and link up below!

This week I'm highlighting one of my favorite Eric Carle books, A House For Hermit Crab. This book is perfect for teaching sequencing, time concepts, ocean vocabulary, adjectives, and synonyms! Carle wrote this book in a pattern and each time Hermit Crab stumbles across a new animal he describes the animal using synonyms for pretty! For instance, "how pretty you are!" and "how beautiful you are!" In addition, when he picks up each animal he uses synonyms for carefully. For instance, "carefully, hermit crab picked it up with his claw" or "gently, hermit carb...."

When Hermit Crab and his friends run into a forest of seaweed, each animal calls out a synonym for "dark." Examples: "How dark it is!" or "How murky it is!"

My students who are working on synonyms always get a kick out of Eric Carle's patterns! It's perfect for building upon vocabulary knowledge. In the past, we've decorated shells with synonyms, made colorful word lists, and one of my favorite activities: Hermit Crab's Thesaurus.

Hermit Crab's Thesaurus is super easy! Just throw together a few pages of scrap paper, staple it, and provide students with markers/pens/etc. Each page should contain 3-4 synonyms that are found in the book. A page can be dedicated to "pretty," "carefully," "dark," "said," and more! You can also print colorful ocean pictures so that students can decorate their thesaurus or provide them with ocean-themed stickers. Here's a quick example:

I hope you enjoy Hermit Crab as much as I do. He's darling. Have a great Wednesday!