What is a thesaurus?
Sometimes you might want to find a different way of saying something. A thesaurus can help you with this.
If you look up a word in a thesaurus it will show you a list of synonyms. These are other words that mean the same thing or something similar.
One of these synonyms might be a better way of saying what you want and you could use it instead.
Watch: A thesaurus
Giant: Me huuuuunggggryyyyy!!
Me MORE than hungry! Me… uurrrr…
Narrator: Sometimes you want to find a different way of saying something.
These words are known as 'synonyms'.
Other words that mean the same thing, but are maybe a better way of saying it.
That's what a thesaurus is for.
Giant: Me… famished! Me… peckish!
Me… ra-ve-nous! Me… starviiing!!
AAAAHHHHH!
Narrator: If you're hungry for words, a thesaurus will fill you up.
How to use a thesaurus
A thesaurus is set out in alphabetical order, like a dictionary, so you look up words in the same way.
For example, if you wanted to find another word for ‘nice’ in a thesaurus:
You start by finding the words beginning with ‘n’, then ‘n-i’, then ‘n-i-c’ until you eventually narrow it down to ‘n-i-c-e’.
You'll then see lots of other words that mean the same as 'nice' that you can use in your writing, such as 'lovely' or 'pleasant'.
Instead of saying 'The man has a nice smile', you could use a thesaurus to find some more descriptive words.
For example, 'The man has a pleasant smile' paints a clearer picture for your reader.
Activity 1
Activity 2
Watch this video about baby animals in spring and complete the activity below.
[“Good Vibrations” by The Beach Boys]
NARRATOR
It’s spring!
Shoots are shooting up, flowers are bursting out and baby animals are appearing everywhere!
We love seeing them, but what does it really take to raise a baby animal?
This little blue tit is ready to start a family of baby birds.
He’s found the perfect hole for a nest and now he’s started singing!
[BIRDS SING]
NARRATOR
In fact, all the birds are singing.
They might look as though they are just enjoying the nice spring weather, but actually they’re hard at work.
Singing is their way of finding a partner and telling the world they are going to build a nest and that no-one else is allowed here.
But once they’ve got their patch sorted, their mission begins.
[“The Pink Panther Theme” by Henry Mancini]
These birds are called shags. They live on an island near Newcastle.
They build nests out of sticks.
Some collect their own.
But others steal from birds nesting near them.
Sometimes from right under their beaks!
[SHAG CALLS]
Other birds make nests out of moss, straw, or even spider webs.
Our little blue tit makes his nest out of feathers, and dried-out plants. And then, it’s time for the eggs!
[“Good Vibrations” by The Beach Boys]
Not chocolate eggs!
Whilst we’re having a feast, the birds are having the real eggs, which is a far more serious business.
The birds heat the eggs up with the warmth from their tummies. If the eggs get cold, the chicks inside will die. For some birds, mum and dad take it turns to do the egg-sitting. But sometimes mums do all the hard work.
Eider duck mums sit on their eggs without eating for four whole weeks. They must get very hungry!
It’s even harder when it starts to rain. The birds can get very cold and wet.
Luckily, the blue tit mum laid her eggs in a nice cosy tree hole.
And look! The chicks have hatched!
[CHICKS CHEEP]
NARRATOR
But the hard work has only just started. Now they’ve got to get lots of food into all those hungry beaks!
But these blue tits have done something really clever.
[SOLO JAZZ PIANO MUSIC]
NARRATOR
Like lots of birds, they’ve timed their eggs to hatch just as the leaves start to come out on the trees.
But hang on a minute, baby blue tits don’t eat leaves!
Well, there’s something else that does eat them. Caterpillars love munching on the tender new leaves. And there’s something else that likes eating caterpillars. Baby blue tits!
So, there are lots of caterpillars for the baby birds, which is lucky since each chick can eat 100 caterpillars every day!
Now you know just how hard animal parents have to work to keep their babies happy and healthy.
[CHICKS CHEEP]
Now write five sentences about what you saw in the video.
Try and include an adjective (describing word) or adverb (describes a verb) in each sentence.
For example:
The delicate birds sang beautifully.
Activity 3
Look back at your five sentences from Activity 2. Underline an adjective or adverb in each sentence.
Now use a thesaurus to find a synonym for each of your underlined words. If you don't have a thesaurus, there are lots online - just search for one to help you.
Write the word in a different colour above or below your original word.
For example:
The delicate birds sang beautifully.
The delicate birds sang delightfully.
You may need to look for the root word when searching in a thesaurus.
For example, ‘beautifully’ might not be there, but ‘beautiful’ will be.
You can then change the synonyms you find into adverbs if you need to by adding -ly.
Play Crystal Explorers to get ready for SATs. game
In this game, use grammar, punctuation and spelling skills to explore jungles, caves and tombs on your mission!
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