Word Choice Task Cards: Practice Revising Sentences to Improve a Writing Piece

Word Choice Task Cards: This set of 44 task cards is designed to give your upper elementary students an opportunity to practice replacing dull, overused words with more interesting, exact words. Each task card consists of a sentence with an underlined word and four multiple-choice options. Use these engaging task cards as part of a writing minilesson that focuses on how to revise a piece of writing and how to improve your writing piece by analyzing your word choice!

The task cards follow two different formats:

1. For the first 32 task cards, the directions state, "Which of the following words would serve as the best replacement for the underlined word in the sentence below?" A sentence containing an underlined word is in the middle of the task card, and four multiple-choice options follow. Students must determine which of the four words would be the best replacement for the underlined word in that sentence.
2. The final 12 task cards contain sentences where dull, overused words (happy, went, etc.) are underlined. Students are instructed to replace the underlined word with a more "colorful" word. For these cards, students generate their own replacement words.

Like most of my task card sets, I have included a bonus game-like answer sheet in addition to the more traditional recording sheet. For the game-like answer sheet, students record their answers on a themed worksheet that asks "Which artist wins the award?" Once they have recorded all their answers, students tally their A, B, C, and D answers to reveal the winning artist!

My hope is that using these task cards will help students understand word choice, and will be able to apply what they learned when they are tasked with revising their own sentences. I originally designed these to help my students with the skill of choosing the most exact word from a list. I noticed that my students were eager to use a thesaurus, but then often used a "pick and plunk" method, where they randomly picked a word from the listing and then plunked it in the sentence! The result was sentences like "One zesty day last July..."

Many teachers report posting the task cards around the room to give their students an opportunity to get up and walk around the room. Others say that they use these as a whole class formative activity where they place a task card under their doc cam, and then have students write their chosen answer on whiteboards. Both activities provide an engaging alternative to a traditional worksheet activity!

********This resource is available in three formats:

1. Traditional Printables- Print the PDF and distribute paper task cards and recording sheets.
2. Easel Activity- With this digital format, there is one task card per slide. Students read the sentence and identify which word is the best replacement for the underlined word in the sentence. They push the correct paint stroke image to select their answer. No checking is necessary for slides 1-32! When your students turn in the assignment, you will see their scores and the number of attempts they made on each card. For cards 33-44, students type a short answer in the answer box.
3. Easel Assessment- Students complete this self-grading quiz on a device, as well. After reading each question, students select the correct answer from a list of four possible answer choices. With this option, the teacher chooses whether or not his or her students receive immediate feedback. (This version contains 32 multiple-choice items.)

Here's what teachers like you had to say about using these task cards with their students:

⭐️ Mrs. Nix said, "Great practice for word choice and vocabulary. My students really enjoyed thinking about which words would make the writing stronger and learning the meaning of new words along the way."

⭐️ Dee B. said, "My students used this resource as a center activity. They loved it. It kept them engaged and wanting more."

⭐️ Suzanne T. said, "I love having the multiple choice and open-ended questions. Great way to push students to improve their own writing!"

⭐️ Emily C. said, "This helped my students use more interesting words!"

⭐️ Darla W. said, "I love this as a reinforcement to help my kids understand choosing more interesting words in their writing...also good for reinforcing synonyms."

***If you would like to have a Google Slides and/or Google Forms version of this activity, click on these links to access the digital version or the bundle.

Feel free to take a peek at my related resources:

Word Choice PowerPoint: Painting our Sentences with Colorful Words

Word Choice Worksheet and Craftivity

Word Choice Challenge Worksheet Packet

Copyright by Deb Hanson

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