In Other Words ... with Room 10

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: We got splashed with water when a fast-moving car went in a puddle.

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

NEW: The student was making rude noises, so the teacher pulled him from class.

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

NEW: The chubby little babies got booboos when trying to use the trashy dump of a city playground.

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 had lots of problems with my older brothers and sisters. Now that we are older, we are nice to each other and talk politely. - V.M.


• I had problems with my family who are older than me, but since we are grown up, we are able to have fun together. - N.M.


• My brothers and sisters and I don't fight anymore because they are less annoying now that they are older, and we play together nicely. - A.S.


• When I was younger, I would have problems with my older siblings. Now we are more polite and act with kindness. - A.W.


• When I was a youngling, I was arguing with my older brothers and sisters. But now we are older and talk and act nicely to each other. - Z.B.


• When I was little, I had many conflicts with my family, but now we get along with each other. - J.M.


• Now that my bossy older siblings and I are more classy, we can be friendly around each other, unlike our baby times when we used to argue and fight. - J.S.

Common Core standards addressed: L.5.3.A - Expand, combine, and reduce sentences for meaning, reader/listener interest, and style; W.5.8 - ... summarize or paraphrase information in notes and finished work ...