Figures of speech, sensory details, and academic language are all targeted while reading Chapter Two of J. Ferris’ Go Free or Die. First, learners engage in an exercise to practice describing with detail. Then, partners use a...

Why do writers choose the language they do? Here's a resource that has the poet himself answer that very question. Joseph Coelho explains why he chose the words and images he used in his poem, "If All the World Were Paper."

Do your learners need to practice identifying figurative language? This lesson plan outlines a method for working on that tricky skill. After teacher modeling and think-aloud, fourth and fifth graders identify examples of figurative...

Hook kids into a study on poetry elements by asking them to bring in the lyrics to their favorite song. Discuss the elements in one or two songs (preferably that demonstrate rhyme, figurative language, or a repeating phrase). Groups do...

Two exercises boost scholars' knowledge of a onomatopoeia with excerpts from famous poems. In exercise one, participants circle onomatopoeia words. Exercise two challenges writers to choose three words to use in an...

Young scholars interpret figurative language.  In this language lesson, students are read the poem "I Love the Look of Words" by Maya Angelou and are to find examples of hyperbole and personification in the poem.  Young...

Groups of older elementary learners begin their study of figurative language by visiting a website and completing the exercises detailed there. They then apply what they have learned by finding examples in several poems. Finally, they...

Scholars take part in two exercises to boost their knowledge of personification. After reading a detailed description and excerpts from famous poems, writers list action verbs and objects then combine words to create a humorous...

Put the tips and tricks in this guide into practice in order to encourage your pupils to blossom into poets. A wonderful reference material for teachers, this packet includes definitions of poetic terms and forms as well as step-by-step...

What do all those chairs and pencils do in the classroom once everyone leaves? Allow imaginations to run wild with frighteningly short poems!

If you need a lesson for your poetry unit, use two poems by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow ("Rain in Summer" and "The Slave in the Dismal Swamp") and a resource on Elements of Poetry. The lesson plan guides you through activities...

An examination of the figurative language in Gwendolyn Brooks’ To Young Readers challenges your writers to think about the richness of language. Ask your class why Brooks says, “Good books are bandages.” This discussion of alliteration,...

Poems carved into the wooden walls of the Asian immigrant prisons on Angel Island provide upper elementary graders an opportunity to study not only the story behind the poems but to also focus on the figurative language employed by the...

Participate in writing poetry as a group. Focused on a given theme, young writers compose a popcorn poem using sensing verbs and adverbs. They write popcorn poems, onomatopoeias, collective poems, and diamond poems. You could introduce...

The Hopi refer to corn as their children, demonstrating its importance to the Native American group. Class members consider the role of literal and figurative language by examining poetry from this indigenous group. The resource includes...

Young writers needn't be self-involved to craft a conceit. Directions for how to craft this form of extended metaphor, models, and a worksheet are all included in the packet.

Students explore websites that contain poems about autumn, winter, and the seasonal holidays and explore how similes and figurative language can be used in poetry.

Language arts learners don't need a lecture about poetry; they listen to poetry every day on the radio! Apply skills from literary analysis to famous songs and beautiful lyrics with a lesson about literary devices. As...

Students write a biographical poem about themselves. They observe a teacher-led demonstration, write an autobiographical poem and a biographical poem about a famous person using a template form, and display the poems side-by-side.

Passport photos are notoriously unflattering but here's an activity that encourages youngsters to create a poetic picture of themselves using each category on the passport as a prompt for a poem.

Similes and metaphors are the focus of a poetry lesson complete with two exercises. Scholars read poetry excerpts, underline comparative phrases, then identify whether it contains a simile or metaphor. They then write five...

Scholars analyze the poem My Puppy Punched Me in the Eye by Ken Nesbitt in order to locate examples of alliteration and assonance. After reading the poem, alliterative words are underlined and assonant words are circled. 

Use folk tales as inspiration for learning about and using personification in creative writing. Learners brainstorm together in order to practice personification before writing their own poems or paragraphs about a household object.

Learners investigate writing techniques by analyzing a chart. In this figurative language lesson, students define similes, metaphors and identify the difference between them and personification. Learners demonstrate their understanding...