Analogies for Secondary Students
Word-relationship reasoning at the level tested on secondary and college-entrance assessments.
Words
Match
How to run it
Name the relationship out loud before choosing an answer. Say the first pair as a sentence — a pediatrician is a doctor for children — and then apply the same sentence to the second pair. That single step converts most of these from guesswork into reasoning. The reckless-to-caution item is the hardest in the set because the relationship is absence rather than category, and it is worth doing slowly and last.
Cueing ladder
Start at the top. Add support one step at a time.
- IndependentPresent the item and wait 5 seconds of quiet before helping.Log as correct
- HintGive a clue about the word's category, what it does, or where you find it.Log as cued
- Two choicesOffer two answers, the right one not always second.Log as cued
- ModelGive the answer in a sentence; the student says it back and uses it once more.Log as cued
Adjust it
Use fewer items and start with the ones the student already knows.
Ask for the word in a sentence of the student's own, or a second example from the same group.
Matching IEP goal
Given vocabulary cards, Student will name, sort or define target words in 8 of 10 opportunities across 3 consecutive sessions, given no more than an indirect cue.
Send it home through the parent portal →About this activity
Eight analogies pitched at the level secondary and entrance assessments actually use: pediatrician is to children as veterinarian is to animals; drought is to water as famine is to food; reckless is to caution as apathetic is to concern; a chapter is to a book as a scene is to a play. These are not vocabulary questions — they are relationship questions wearing vocabulary, and students fail them by matching topic instead of relation.
What to listen for
Watch for topic matching. A student who answers drought is to water as famine is to drought is choosing the word that feels related rather than the one that fills the same slot, which is the single most common error at this level. Notice whether the student can state the relationship without the answer options in front of them — if not, the options are doing the thinking.
Carrying it home
Analogies work well as a car game, and they do not need to be formal. Ask what a garage is to a car, and let the student make one up for you. Making them is harder than answering them and builds the same reasoning.
What's in this activity
- pediatrician is to children as veterinarian is to ___ animals
- canvas is to painter as ___ is to writer paper
- drought is to water as famine is to ___ food
- thermometer is to temperature as odometer is to ___ distance
- reckless is to caution as apathetic is to ___ concern
- sprint is to run as whisper is to ___ talk
- a chapter is to a book as ___ is to a play scene
- a resume is to a job as an application is to ___ college
Questions
- What ages are these for?
- Sixth through twelfth grade. The vocabulary reaches college-entrance level in places, which is intentional for older students preparing for those tests.
- Is it free?
- Yes, no account needed to play.
- Why do analogies show up in speech therapy?
- Because they are word-relationship reasoning, which sits under semantic organization. A student with a weak semantic network can know both words and still not see the relation between them.
Use this board with your caseload
With a free account, every correct, cued and incorrect mark is saved to the student and scored against their IEP goal, with the data written up for you. Assign it as home practice through the parent portal.
Track progress freeFree for SLPs. No card, no trial clock.