"Synonym" Roll Pocket Chart

UPDATE 02/22/2018: Short on time or low on energy for creativity? I now offer a printable version of this resource here in my TPT store!

I found the original "'Synonym' Roll" idea on Pinterest (love that site!). It showed cinnamon-roll-shaped pieces of paper with a swirl drawn on them, on which students wrote a word and some synonyms. I loved the idea and tucked it away in a corner of my mind. Then I found another pin (I'm telling you, Pinterest is my new addiction) for a synonym pocket chart, originally from usefulwiki.com. The idea is that when students are writing they can go to the chart and pull out synonyms for overused words. I also liked this idea, so I started to think of how I could combine the two, and this is what I came up with:

I decided to make the original "boring" word the icing on the roll, because I thought it dressed up the idea a little bit. Each "synonym" roll is a pocket in which to store synonyms.

Now students can select words from the pocket when they need to "spice up" their word selections. Of course, I teach reading, so I have other plans for it, too. I'm going to use it as a game by taking all of the cards out and having students sort the synonyms. This will help their reading comprehension as they learn all of these new words.

I came up with 16 overused words, and it was too crowded on one poster board, so I actually made two boards. I will either switch them out from time to time or just have two groups doing this project at once.

I just think this looks so cute; I can't wait to have my students try it out next week.