Word Market

Little levels (ages 4 to 6)

1. Opposites Big and small, hot and cold, up and down, wet and dry, full and empty.
2. What goes together? Sort fruit, animals and vehicles; then clothes, food and toys.
3. Where is the cat? In, on top of, under, next to, behind the box.
4. Action words Who is jumping, swimming, sleeping, eating, reading, singing?
5. Color and size The big red ball, the small blue ball, the tall tree, the long snake.

Big levels (ages 7 to 9)

1. Same meaning Big and large, happy and glad, start and begin.
2. Weak to strong Warm, hot, boiling; walk, jog, sprint; whisper, talk, shout.
3. Un and re Unhappy, unlock, redo, refill: what do they mean?
4. Ful, less and er Careful, fearless, teacher, farmer.
5. Use the clues Famished, enormous, drowsy, soggy, timid, chilly from the sentence.
6. Two meanings Ring, fly, watch, trunk, bark: which one does the sentence mean?

The big ideas

• Words come in pairs and groups. Opposites (big and small) and categories (fruit, animals, vehicles) are how children organize new words. Sorting is remembering.

• Some words tell where, some tell what you do, some describe. Position words (under, behind), action words (jump, swim) and describing words (red, tall) are the building blocks of talking about the world precisely.

• Synonyms are shades. Large means big, but huge and gigantic are bigger still. Choosing between warm, hot and boiling is what makes writing and speaking exact.

• Word parts carry meaning. Un means not, re means again, ful means full of, less means without, er means a person who. Knowing a few prefixes and suffixes unlocks hundreds of words.

• The sentence tells you the meaning. A new word can be worked out from the words around it, and a word like ring or bark means different things in different sentences. Reading for clues is how vocabulary grows.

Try it at home

1. Opposite day Say a word and have your child shout its opposite: hot... cold! Up... down! Then switch roles.
2. Grocery groups At the store or unpacking bags, sort things into groups: fruit, vegetables, things in boxes, things that are cold.
3. Stronger words When your child says something was good, ask for a stronger word: great? amazing? When something is big, is it huge? gigantic?
4. Prefix spotting Hunt for un and re words in a book: unhappy, untie, redo, replay. Say what each one means by taking the prefix off.

Ask after playing

• What is the opposite of the last word you said?
• Can you make a word stronger: warm, then...?
• What does unlock mean? What does the un do?