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Rich vocabulary associated with happiness

Lesson details

Learning outcome

I can effectively use the words ‘ecstatic’, ‘gleeful’ and other rich vocabulary associated with happiness.

Key learning points

  1. 'Ecstatic' is an adjective which means blissful or perfectly happy.
  2. 'Gleeful' is an adjective which means cheerful or merry.
  3. 'Exhilarated' is an adjective which means excited or thrilled.
  4. 'Light-hearted', 'overjoyed' and 'contented' are other rich vocabulary associated with happiness.

Keywords

  • Noun - a naming word for people, places or things

  • Adjective - a word that describes a noun

  • Synonym - a word that has the same or similar meaning to another word

  • Word pair - words that often appear together

Common misconception

Pupils may find 'exhilarated' hard to use in a sentence with the word pairs provided.

Provide pupils with additional sentences using this word so they can hear how to use it in context.

Teacher tip

If you have extra time, you could ask pupils to write a sentence using each word. Encourage pupils to use the word pairs to help them.

Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2025), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

Lesson video

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Prior knowledge starter quiz

6 Questions

Q1.
What is the definition of an adjective?

a naming word for people, places or things
Correct answer: a word that describes a noun
a doing, being or having word

Q2.
What is the correct definition of a noun?

Correct answer: a naming word for people, places or things
a word that describes a noun
a doing, being or having word

Q3.
What is the definition of a verb?

a naming word for people, places or things
a word that describes a noun
Correct answer: a doing, being or having word

Q4.
Match each word class to the correct example.

Correct Answer:adjective,careful

careful

Correct Answer:noun,desk

desk

Correct Answer:verb,sitting

sitting

Q5.
A synonym is a word that has the same or similar meaning to another word. Select the synonyms for 'loud'.

clear
calm
Correct answer: noisy
wet
Correct answer: deafening

Q6.
Word pairs are words that often appear together. Match the word pairs that make the most sense together.

Correct Answer:scrumptious,pudding

pudding

Correct Answer:meagre,portion

portion

Correct Answer:irresistible ,charm

charm

Correct Answer:stale,bread

bread

6 Questions

Q1.
What word does this image represent?

An image in a quiz
contented
light-hearted
Correct answer: ecstatic

Q2.
What word does this image represent?

An image in a quiz
gleeful
Correct answer: contented
exhilarated

Q3.
What word does this image represent?

An image in a quiz
light-hearted
contented
Correct answer: exhilarated

Q4.
Which of the following are synonyms of 'overjoyed'?

annoyed
Correct answer: delighted
parents
Correct answer: elated
successful

Q5.
Fill in the missing word in the following sentence: 'Bearnice made a __________ joke to try to lift the serious mood in the waiting room.'

ecstatic
exhilarated
Correct answer: light-hearted

Q6.
Fill in the missing word in the following sentence: 'The baby smiled with a __________ giggle as it made funny faces in the mirror.'

ecstatic
Correct answer: gleeful
exhilarated
Q1 © Copyright Mrs Wordsmith 2023 Q2 © Copyright Mrs Wordsmith 2023 Q3 © Copyright Mrs Wordsmith 2023

To help you plan your 6 English lesson on: Rich vocabulary associated with happiness, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...