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Say It Differently

Overview

Students practise changing sentences while keeping the same meaning.

Learning Objective
Students express the same idea using different words and structures.

Resources needed

  • None

Lesson stages

0 / 8 done
  1. 1 Say a simple sentence to the class and check that everyone understands its meaning.
  2. 2 Explain that students must say the same idea in a different way without changing the meaning.
  3. 3 Model one or two examples so students can see how to change words or structure.
  4. 4 Put students into pairs and give them time to create new versions of the sentence.
  5. 5 Encourage them to think about synonyms or different sentence patterns.
  6. 6 Invite pairs to share their sentences and compare them with others.
  7. 7 Discuss how the meaning stays the same even when the words change.
  8. 8 Repeat the activity with a slightly longer or more complex sentence.

Tap a step to mark it as done.

Variations

  • Use short texts instead of sentences.
  • Turn it into a timed challenge.
  • Work in small groups.
More information

Teach: same meaning, different words, change, similar.

Use very simple sentences at first.

Can students keep the original meaning while changing the language?

No materials needed.

Students change meaning instead of rephrasing.

Paraphrasing is important for flexible language use.

Activity details
Secondary Challenging 20 minutes no prep Pairs Indoor & Outdoor
Topics
Paraphrasing