Seventh graders use context clues to determine the figurative meaning of idioms and hyperboles. They practice writing idioms and hyperboles in sentences about real life situations around them. This lesson is a good way to improve variety...

What are hyperboles? Examine the attributes of hyperboles with your high school classes. Pupils read selected poems and prose selections that feature hyperboles and discuss their functions in each work of literature. Specific poems and...

Tenth graders complete a variety of activities related to the first two chapters of the book The Outsiders. They define metaphor, simile, idiom, and hyperbole, and take a vocabulary pre-quiz. In small groups, they write a character...

Middle schoolers use context clues to find the figurative meaning of similes and metaphors in writing. They practice using figurative language to help their writing come alive. Use this activity in a lesson about poetry, figurative...

Third and fourth graders study literary devices and figurative language. They view a PowerPoint presentation (which you must create) to review hyperbole, idiom, simile, and metaphor. They read and discuss the book There's A Frog in...

Students explore the attributes of American tall tales. In this folklore lesson, students read several tall tales, describe the elements of tall tales, and then use hyperbole to write their own tall tales.

Students write news stories to accompany tabloid headlines. In this tabloid lesson plan, students learn the power of persuasion and exaggeration by writing stories based on actual tabloid headlines.

Eighth graders select ordinary objects, determine their uses, and write poems about them. Once they select an object, they create a web about its uses to serve as an outline. Once they have written their own odes, 8th graders meet in...

Eighth graders use creatures created from their imaginations to practice hyperbole, simile, metaphor, and alliteration in association with creative writing. They utilize a worksheet imbedded in this plan to guide their writing.

High schoolers study hyperbole and imagery in advertising. For this advertising techniques lesson, students identify hyperbole and imagery in print advertisements.

Students analyze Maya Angelou's I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings in part of an analysis of imagery. In this Maya Angelou lesson, students read chapters 34 and 35 in the novel and define imager. Students work in pairs to locate two...

Students write a newspaper based on events in the year 1898 using Yellow Journalism, the exaggeration of facts or events.

Students view and discuss a video on the legend of the Hope Diamond then compare and contrast other tales such as Paul Bunyan, Pecos Bill and Johnny Appleseed. They analyze basic characteristics of these legends then use descriptive...

Students explore the power of images through political cartoons, particularly in light of the Danish caricatures of Muhammad that have incited violence around the world. They create their own original artwork to submit to an appropriate...

A reading of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech launches a study of rhetorical devices such as hyperbole, allusion, metaphor, simile, personification, connotative language and parallel structure. Class members then...

What a lovely way to incorporate artwork into your language arts lesson. View artwork in illustrated manuscript pages, depicting insects, animals, plants, flowers, and ornate writing in the Getty Museum. Practice using figurative...

Students explore early 20th century steel making.  In this U.S. history steel making lesson plan, students view and describe a postcard and a picture depicting exaggerated aspects of the steel industry.  Students listen to a...

Although this lesson is based on “Final Word,” Craig Wilson’s USA Today column, the strategies could be adapted to any local columnist. After reading three articles independently, groups share observations about content and style used by...

Students identify anecdotes in speeches and the purposes that politicians use the anecdotes for. They create personal anecdotes for the class to hear, and students decide if the anecdote is real or fabricated.

Students read and discuss the short story, "The McWilliamses and the Burglar Alarm," by Mark Twain. They assume the role of the main characters in the story and write a humorous letter of complaint using a business letter format. They...

Students read the play "Julius Caesar" by William Shakespeare. In groups, they identify the instances of similes, metaphors and personification. They use the Internet to compare and contrast the events in the play with historical facts....

Students review personification and alliteration. For this literary devices lesson, students use personification and alliteration in a sentence. Students draw a picture reflecting personification.

Twelfth graders analyze Ray Bradbury's use of techniques and elements of fiction as well as nonfiction in the novel Dandelion Wine. In this novel analysis lesson, 12th graders analyze the sensory techniques in Dandelion Wine. Students...

Students read Shakespeare's, Julius Caesar while identifying a number of literary elements including simile, metaphor, personification, and hyperbole. As a response activity, they simulate a mock trial, and finally, compare and contrast...