✦A small step for today
Pick three familiar words. Play one game. Finish by explaining a tricky choice.
Game 1: guess my word
Choose a word from your review pile and describe it without saying it. For adjacent: ‘The two houses are next to each other.’ Your child guesses, then makes a different clue for you. Offer another clue if needed; there is no countdown.
Game 2: match and justify
Write three words and three meanings on separate slips. Match them, then ask each player to explain one match in a sentence. Add one deliberately unrelated meaning once the first round is easy, and discuss why it does not belong.
Game 3: repair my silly sentence
Say ‘The sociable stone invited everyone for tea.’ Is it a story about a magical stone, or an odd description of an ordinary one? Encourage your child to repair the sentence or create a context that makes it work. Meaning matters more than enforcing one answer.
Finish with one useful discovery
Ask which word was hardest to explain and why. Revisit that word tomorrow with a new clue. Keep the words you use within your child’s understanding; the game is a review activity, not a race through a huge new list.
Try this together
Play guess my word with adjacent, sociable and futile. Take turns giving a clue and a new example, rather than awarding points for the guess alone.
See an example answer
‘This effort cannot achieve its purpose’ clues futile. ‘Trying to catch rain in a fork is futile’ gives a new example to discuss.
Words in action
adjacent
Meaning
Next to something.
Example
“The library is adjacent to the school, next door.”
sociable
Meaning
Enjoying meeting and spending time with other people.
Example
“The sociable girl invited the new pupil to join the game.”
futile
Meaning
Unable to achieve the intended purpose.
Example
“It was futile to fill the bucket because it had a large hole.”
Audio uses your device’s English speech voice. Voice availability and pronunciation vary by device.
A quick check
