Our Fox: Selecting Sensible Synonyms resource is based on the picture book, Fox by Australian author Margaret Wild. It allows students to demonstrate their understanding of synonyms. The science of reading has proven that teaching semantics concepts, such as using synonyms in context, helps improve students’ reading and writing.

To complete this task, students will read a sentence from the text with a word underlined. They will need to apply their vocabulary and semantics knowledge to determine which synonyms could be used as a substitute.

To cater for the various needs of your class, we have included three versions of this resource:

• Version 1 requires students to decide which synonym could be used as a direct substitute in the sentence. They will then write an appropriate sentence for the remaining synonym.
• Version 2 requires students to decide which synonym could be used as a direct substitute in the sentence. They will then write a sentence that justifies their choice.
• Version 3 requires students to add three synonyms of the underlined word and decide which one could be used as a direct substitute in the sentence. They will then write an appropriate sentence for each of the three synonyms.