Paraphrase Sprint
writingvocabularyaccuracyfluencypracticeindividuallow prep10-15 min
A single sentence is shown. Students have 2 minutes to write as many valid paraphrases as possible. Scores reward both volume and structural variety. Trains on-demand paraphrase skill for exams and academic writing.
Procedure
- Display a source sentence. Example: Many young people struggle to find affordable housing in major cities.
- Start the timer. 2 minutes. Students write as many paraphrases as they can that preserve meaning.
- Stop. Students count sentences and underline the word or structure that differs most from the original in each.
- Pairs compare. Each pair votes on their single best paraphrase.
- Best paraphrases go on the board. Class analyses: what moves did each use — synonym? word-class shift? passive? nominalisation? clause re-ordering?
Paraphrase Moves to Name
| Move | Example |
|---|---|
| Synonym | struggle → find it difficult |
| Word-class shift | struggle (v) → difficulty (n) |
| Passive | affordable housing is hard to find |
| Nominalisation | finding affordable housing is a challenge |
| Clause re-order | In major cities, affordable housing... |
| Negation flip | cannot easily find → find it hard to find |
Why It Works
- Forced quantity pushes learners past their first, laziest paraphrase.
- Named moves give learners a repertoire instead of guessing.
- Variety score rewards structural range, not just synonym-swapping (the main exam pitfall).
Scoring Ideas
- 1 point per valid paraphrase.
- +1 for each new structural move (one paraphrase using nominalisation, one using passive = 2 structural points).
- -1 for paraphrases that change the meaning.
Variations
- Genre paraphrase: rewrite the source formal → informal → academic → headline.
- Constrained paraphrase: a banned word list ("you cannot use housing or young"). Forces creativity.
- Chain paraphrase: Student 1 paraphrases; Student 2 paraphrases Student 1's version; and on. Compare final version to original.
Tips
- Keep source sentences short (≤ 20 words). Long sentences produce chaos, not paraphrase.
- Great for IELTS/TOEFL: Task 2 and reading sections both reward on-the-fly paraphrase skill.