Onomatopoeia: sound words
Use onomatopoeia, choosing words that sound like the noise they name, and tell a sound word from the name of the thing that makes the noise.
Board title: Onomatopoeia · Say it: “By the end of today you'll be able to use onomatopoeia: words that sound like the noise they name, so the reader can hear your writing.”
onomatopoeia · sound word · noise · verb · exclamation · effect
Naming the noisy thing. The drum, the bell, the kettle. Children list loud things instead of their sounds. Ask: does the word sound like the noise? Drum does not; boom does.
There is one right spelling. A brand new sound word has no fixed spelling, but common ones do (buzz, not buz). The test is whether a reader can say it and hear the noise.
Only loud noises count. Drip, hush, hum, rustle are onomatopoeia too. Quiet sound words are often the more effective ones in a tense scene.
More sound words is always better. A sentence of nothing but bangs and crashes reads like a comic strip. One or two well-chosen sound words do more than six.
Same four tasks on every sheet, in the same order, with the same look. Only the demand changes. Print the one each child needs; nobody does two.
Same four tasks as every other sheet, same order, same look, the demand is lower, not the dignity. Shorter passage in Task 2, and in Task 3 a word bank or words to tick, with printed sentence starters. Give it to anyone who needs a way in, and expect them to move up.
The core sheet. Give this to most of the class. No word bank; in Task 3 pupils choose from a few close options, then use one in a sentence of their own.
Same four tasks, more demand, a longer passage with a subtler error, and Task 3 asks for two things at once. Not extra work; harder work. Nobody should be doing Spicy and the Medium sheet.
Lesson code ONOMD at playspaghetti.com. The code is printed on the bottom of every pupil sheet with a QR, and Class Quiz in your dashboard opens the plenary quiz for this lesson pre-picked.