Dolch Antonyms « Mrs. Perkins

#8 Dolch Antonyms

Lesson Title/Subject/Grade Level
Dolch Antonyms
Reading
Grades 1, 2, and 3

Materials Needed
- Printing paper and pencils
- On the chalk board, print the following Dolch words, vertically:

First Grade Words		Second and Third Grade Words
big		far
boy		before
come		under
stop		always
up		came
here		drink
in		cold
me		first
run		found
no		day
good		off
he		start
new		these
father		bring
cat		brother

Cover the words with paper until the instruction part of the lesson begins.

Goal Statement
Students will learn what antonyms are and use known Dolch sight words as antonyms.

State Standard Addressed
In this section, the teacher cites the state standard focused on in the lesson.

Review Previous Skills
Review the Dolch words, which should have been introduced prior to this lesson.

Anticipatory Set
The teacher should say, "Have you ever played a game in which you had to think of words that were opposites? For example, one person might say 'hot' and the other person would say the opposite, 'cold.' Or, one person could say 'stop' and the other one would answer 'go.' Today we are going to learn about words that are opposites."

Instruction
The teacher says, "Opposites are two words that have completely different meanings, like 'love' and 'hate' or 'sad' and 'happy'."

"Can anyone think of two words that are opposites?" Call on several children to answer the question.

The teacher says, "Well, that is great; you do know some words that are opposites! Words that are opposites are also called 'antonyms.'"

"Let's think of an antonym for each of these words." (Uncover the words on the chalkboard.) Ask the children to think of an antonym for each word and write them on the board. If they think of a different word than the ones listed here, and it is correct, write it on the board too.

For First Graders		For Second and Third Graders
Original Word	Antonym	Original Word	Antonym
big	little (small)	far	near
boy	girl	before	after
come	go	under	over
stop	go	always	never
up	down	came	went
here	there	drink	eat
in	out	cold	hot
me	you	first	last
run	walk	found	lost
no	yes	day	night
good	bad	off	on
he	she	start	stop
new	old	these	those
father	mother	bring	take
cat	dog	brother	sister

Read the word pairs aloud as a group. Tell the students again that they are called antonyms. Repeat the word 'antonym' often as you teach the lesson.

Guided Practice
Next, hand out printing paper and pencils. Ask the students if anyone can use one of the words to make a sentence. As the students think of sentences, print them on the board as they print them on their papers. Then ask if someone else can use the antonym of the word to make a sentence. Continue this for several pairs of words. Read the sentences aloud.

Independent Practice
Ask the students to take a word and its antonym and make two sentences on their own. Monitor the students as they write, giving help as needed.
Let them continue until you are almost out of time for the lesson.

Closure
Ask several students to read their sentences aloud.

Review
Assign specific antonyms to use in sentences for homework.

Create a matching words game for your classroom. Print words on 3" by 5" cards that can be matched to their antonyms. Store the game in a manila envelope or small box.