In Other Words ... with Grade 5

Fifth graders are practicing their paraphrasing skills. First we worked together to come up with synonyms and ways to recast a sentence.

ORIGINAL: The automobile that went by very quickly was maroon. It went through a big puddle and splashed us.

NEW RM 12: The big puddle got us really good when the dark red car flew through it.

NEW RM 13: We got soaked because the dark red car sped through a ginormous puddle.

ORIGINAL: The educator removed the unruly student from the learning environment because of the sounds he was making

NEW RM 12: Because the disobedient student was making loud noises, he got kicked out of the classroom by the teacher.

NEW RM 13: The student was disrupting the class, so he got sent out.

ORIGINAL: In the metropolis, the recreation area was dilapidated. Youngsters received injuries when they attempted to utilize the equipment.

NEW RM 12: The young'uns who lived in the city were trying to play with deteriorated playground equipment, and they got booboos.

NEW RM 13: In the city, the children were wounded by using the worn-out playground equipment.

Then they worked on an individual assignment, putting the following sentences into their own words:

During my earlier years, I experienced much conflict with my male and female siblings who were born before me. Now that we are more mature, we have overcome some of our differences and have the ability to interact pleasantly.

Here are some of the new sentences the students came up with:

When I was younger, I would have problems with my older siblings, but now that we are older we can get along much easier. - J.L. 

When I was little, me and my older siblings would fight, but now that we are adults we don't fight anymore. - A.R

In the past, I faced a lot of problems with my older siblings. Now we are older, and have outgrown our differences, and have less conflict. - E.L. 

When I was younger, I went through a problem with my older siblings. We are older now and can get over our issues and get along well. - A.S. 

A few years back, I was bullied by my older relatives, but now we're grown up, the problems fade away. - T.K.

When I was younger I argued with my older brothers and sisters. Now we are older, we have stopped arguing and we have fun. - A.J.