English Lesson Plan - Utilizing a Computer's Thesaurus

As a middle school English as a Second Language teacher I often take my students to the Computer Lab to do projects. This particular project incorporates using the computer's thesaurus. The students really enjoyed doing this activity.

Directions: Copy each sentence and replace each underlined word with another word using the computer's thesaurus. Add clip art to each sentence when finished.

1. The smart student passed all of her hard classes and graduated high school.
2. All after school activities were canceled because of the terrible snow storm.
3. The entire family went away for a long vacation.
4. The little boy was a genius in all of his work and activities.
5. Sometimes I am happy especially when I remember to complete all of my chores.
6. The broken toy was faulty so we had to return it back to the store when it opened.
7. I was late to work because there was an obstacle in my way on my commute this morning.
8. Were you right to sell your sister's favorite book at the fair?
9. I can't withstand the extremely loud ongoing annoying siren.
10. Scientists are trying to prove different theories daily.
11. The witness in the trial said he watched the burglar steal the money.
12. At school the big mean bully demanded everyone else's lunch money.
13. The lights went out and it got extremely dark very sudden.
14. I blushed when I was awarded with a beautiful medal for first place in the contest.
15. The twin brothers are total opposites.
16. I treasure my entire family.
17. There was a horrible explosion that shocked all of us.
18. The man proposed marriage to his surprised girlfriend.
19. What a sunny, hot, wonderful day to be involved in outdoor activities.
20. Dinner was so yummy and delicious I yearned for more.

As a continuation of this computer project the students can write entire stories using some of these sentences they have created using the computer's thesaurus. They can share their stories with the rest of the class for extra credit.

Follow Up - The students will have to create their own sentences for others to try to change using the computer's thesaurus.

Assessment - I will collect their work and check to make sure they used the correct synonym for each underlined word in the sentences. I will also walk around and make sure they are using the computer program correctly.

I hope you are able to use this lesson with your class. The students really had fun with it and were extremely creative.