Overused Words or Worn Out Words

WORN-OUT WORDS

Our students often overuse words when describing a character's feelings or when retelling a story. We call them Worn-Out Words because they have been used already. The most common we see in our speech room are describer words and connector words (and or then). Here are our top 20 Worn-Out Words and a few activity ideas to get your students out of the habit of using these words.

1. happy
2. good
3. fun
4. dad
5. mad
6. big
7. little
8. fast
9. pretty
10. bad
11. nice
12. cool
13. awesome
14. and
15. next
16. then
17. boring
18. smart
19. mean
20. fine

Organize:

Make a synonym chart for each student so they have it as a reference. Have each student come up with their top Worn-Out Words. Have them look up 3 synonyms to go with each one. Then keep it in their Writing folder or Speech folder for a quick reference. Here is one way to do it easily:

Fold a piece of paper (so there are 6 boxes)

Write one Worn-Out Word in each box along with 3 alternative words

Make a Worn-Out or Tired Word Wall:

If you hear a word being used too much send it to the Worn-Out Wall. This not our idea, but is still amazing:

                                                   
                                                         Here is where we found it.

Rewrite A Fairytale: 

Take The Three Bears or Little Red Hen find Worn-Out Words and then have students replace them

Example :

 Here is where we found it.