Word Ladders

Dr. Timothy Rasinski, Professor of Literacy at Kent State University in Kent, Ohio, created a vocabulary strategy called “Word Ladders”. He has several books available for all ages.

In Word Ladders, you start at the bottom with one word. Then follow the clues to step your way to the top word. The word at the top of the ladder will have some sort of relationship with the starting word. They might be synonyms or antonyms among other possibilities.  To do an extension activity, have your students create their own word ladders. It’s a great way to dig a little deeper into their knowledge of a word.

Word Ladder books can be found at IMSE.com here!