Synonyms is a board game where players move along colored spaces.  Each space is lettered with one of the letters in the word, "Synonym."  When a player lands on a certain color, she picks the corresponding color card.

Players roll to move, and then that same number (the number of spaces moved) is the number of synonyms a player will have to name, as determined by the corresponding color card, for her turn. 60 seconds is the allotted time.  Some examples of the words that are on the cards are bear, word, drunk, love, kiss, intelligent, naked, odd, speak, funny, laugh, abandon, and bond.

If a player is successful, she gets the letter on which she landed. 

If she is unsuccessful, she does not get the letter and has to complete the number of synonyms on the next turn.

A player wins by getting all the letters in the word, "Synonym."

My fourth grade class had to troubleshoot just a little bit in order to feel successful in the game, because many of the word cards are challenging (the suggested age level is beyond grade 4).  However, the modifications were easily made. 

In groups, the students sorted the cards into ‘Manageable for Fourth Graders’ and ‘Too Hard for Us.’  We then played with the manageable words.  After that, there were plenty of positive comments.  The students expressed that the game was fun and they really liked it. They enjoyed challenging each other and all three of the times we played the game they were disappointed that I called time.

They particularly enjoyed the ‘Challenge’ feature of the game, where they could take an opponents letter card.

As a teacher, I love this game.  The students can make up additional word cards for vocabulary that we use in the classroom. They can also have a thesaurus nearby to check if an opponent’s suggested word is actually a synonym.  Students were smiling, laughing and engaged!

Negative comments included that there were just some words that they could not finish, even if it took multiple turns.  This occurred when the unlucky roll of the die was a 6.  We discussed how perhaps more time could be given in those situations.

Students also found it hard to work their personal scoreboard when someone got challenged, because they would have to make changes on it. 

Additionally, some children felt that words, such as naked, were inappropriate.  We discussed that those cards could be removed if they were embarrassed by them.

However, the overall sentiment was one of fun and enjoyment.  Students ask again and again to play the game.  

Between the fun and the direct connections to language arts standards, Synonyms is appropriate for use in the classroom!