This analogies word bank worksheet gives 3rd Grade students eight analogies, a ten-word bank with two distractors and an answer key, so vocabulary reasoning is practiced and checked in one page.
Bird is to nest as you are to... school!
An analogy compares two pairs of words that go together the same way. Second graders start with friendly patterns: puppy : dog :: kitten : cat, read as "puppy is to dog as kitten is to cat." They learn the common relationships behind analogies, like opposites, parts of a whole, babies and grown-ups, and things and where they live. The trick is to name the connection in the first pair before looking for the missing word. When kids say "a puppy is a baby dog, so a baby cat is a kitten," analogies click.
Analogies grow vocabulary and thinking at the same time. Here is how we teach them.
For every analogy, model a "secret sentence" that names the link: "A fish lives in water. A bird lives in the... sky!" Kids say the sentence before they fill in the blank. It keeps them from guessing.
Why it works: handing over the work step by step, from teacher to student, is one of the most widely used teaching frameworks (Pearson and Gallagher, 1983).
Try it withAnalogies Word Bank WorksheetWorksheetsOpen it →Give kids a word bank and have them build their own analogy pairs before solving any. Sorting words by relationship first makes the puzzles much easier.
Why it works: going from real objects to pictures to symbols is a core recommendation of the U.S. Department of Education's elementary math guide.
Try it withAnalogies Word Bank WorksheetWorksheetsOpen it →Kids draw the first pair with an arrow and label it, like "lives in" or "opposite." Then they draw the second pair with the same arrow. Seeing the link makes it real for visual learners.
Why it works: children learn more from words and pictures together than from words alone (Mayer, 2009).
An analogy compares two pairs of things that are connected in the same way. Hot is to cold as up is to down, because both pairs are opposites.
Start with easy relationships like opposites and baby animals. Have kids say the connection out loud for the first pair, then use it to solve the second.
Opposites, synonyms, part to whole, object and use, animal and home, and young and adult. Second graders do best when you teach one type at a time.
They build vocabulary and teach kids to think about how words relate. That helps with reading comprehension and problem solving.
Loved by 2 million teachers & families
Printables, songs and games for every subject, Preschool through 6th. Ready to teach today, and kids beg for more.
