Strong Powerful Verbs
When teaching writing, we often find ourselves asking children to use stronger, more powerful verbs. In this short article, I look at the impact of using strong verbs, how we can model their use to children, and share some examples of strong verbs we can use in our writing sessions. Let’s start with a sentence:
Jodie ate the slice of pizza.
The sentence is grammatically sound. It has a subject, verb and object telling us: what went on (some eating); who undertook that action (Jodie); and to what they did that action to (the pizza). But it doesn't tell us how this action (the eating) was done because eating, albeit a perfectly good verb, isn’t particularly strong (or powerful if this is your preferred terminology).
One way we could add this how is to model adding detail with an adverb.
Jodie slowly ate the slice of pizza.
Jodie ate the slice of pizza quickly.
Both additions are improvements, and improvements that most of us would welcome. Furthermore, if you’re familiar with using ARMS and CUPS for revising and editing writing, you’ll recognise that this type of modelling exercise exemplifies Adding to your writing to improve its effectiveness.
But if we're looking for impact without adding to the sentence, then substituting the somewhat dull verb for a stronger one can really change the mood of a sentence.
Jodie devoured the slice of pizza.
This strong substitution certainly leads us to infer that Jodie was extremely hungry. It is definitely an example of showing without telling.
And if we were writing for a less formal audience, what about this substitution?
Jodie polished off the slice of pizza.
We can still infer that Jodie was extremely hungry, but our strong phrasal verb polished off suits the tone of writing we're aiming to create. Again, if you’re familiar with ARMS and CUPS, you’ll recognise that Substituting is a key approach for revising writing.
Encouraging children to use strong verbs has been a teaching aim for as long as I've worked in education, and it will certainly continue to be so. Why? Because, as shown in this article, using powerful verbs can increase the effectiveness of a piece of writing. However, it’s challenging for children because it requires vocabulary knowledge (something all children are growing throughout the primary years) but also an appreciation of making appropriate vocabulary choices based on an understanding purpose and audience. To reflect this challenge we've created a range of strong verb posters that you can download here.
Enhance Vocabulary with our Strong Verbs Word Wheels Poster Pack
Transform your classroom with our eye-catching Strong Verbs Word Wheel pack of posters. Designed to grow children's vocabularies, these attractive posters provide synonyms for common and frequently overused verbs, offering children powerful alternatives.
Each Word Wheel presents synonyms in a visually appealing wheel shape, making them easy to read and eye-catching for young learners. By displaying these posters, you can create an enriching environment that encourages students to explore language and discover new words.
Key Benefits:
Synonyms at a Glance: Each wheel focuses on a specific overused word and its synonyms, providing students with instant alternatives.
Versatile Learning Tool: Ideal for use across the curriculum, the posters can enhance writing tasks and spoken language.
Simple to Use: Easily download, print, and display in your classroom. Our vibrant designs will capture your students' attention.
Elevate your classroom's vocabulary resources today with our Word Wheel packs. Give your students the tools they need to grown their vocabularies.
This pack includes:
Other ways to say cry
Other ways to say eat
Other ways to say look
Other ways to say talk
Other ways to say walked
Other ways to say went.
And to find out more about using ARMS to revise writing and CUPS to edit, read this article which includes a link to our free ARMS and CUPS posters.
And, just for fun, you may enjoy this animated version of our Word Wheel for eat.