Hamlet's famous soliloquy (Act III, scene i) gets the close reading treatment in a group of skill building exercises. Assuming the role of a WWE wrestler, a kindergarten teacher, ninja assassin, and others, learners deliver a line from...

Robert Frost's "Nothing Gold Can Stay" serves as a model for a poetry analysis activity. The whole class critiques the sample and then groups select a poem and prepare a PowerPoint presentation in which they illustrate how their poet...

Give your class a different kind of reading assignment with the text included here. Anne Miller's essay "Learning to Hate Mathematics" details a hatred of math that grew from early childhood and still haunts the author today. After...

Writing can become one-dimensional if authors don't involve all their senses. First, scholars observe a strange object which, ideally, they can touch and even smell. Without using certain words (you can create a list or have the class...

Expression, current events, and art can go hand-in-hand. After analyzing a multi-media piece entitled, Trade Canoe for Don Quixote, the class explores their own expressive process. They create collages that show a current event or issue...

Scholars demonstrate the ability to evaluate authors' use of literary elements such as metaphor, simile, personification, imagery, and onomatopoeia. They are provided with a checklist and must shop for poems that contain the poetry terms...

Introduce your middle and high school writers to musical poetry. They explore the six poetic devices, and locate the poetic devices in various music lyrics. Next, they choose one of the devices to teach to the class using an example they...

After reading a short passage that defines simile, metaphor, personification, hyperbole, onomatopoeia, idiom, analogy, and alliteration, class members examine cards that include a definition, an illustration, and a sentence example of...

Cards featuring the figurative language terms simile, idiom, personification, hyperbole, metaphor, and onomatopoeia are illustrated with humorous photos or illustrations and a sample sentence.

Take a close look at a specific passage in The Call of the Wild about the song of the huskies and discuss how this passage is related to metaphor and theme. Stay on the topic of metaphor and symbolism with a brief writing assignment. The...

Examine figurative language through the words of Ursula K. Le Guin in her novel A Wizard of Earthsea. The fifth lesson in a series of ten, the steps listed here ask pupils to go back into the text and find a striking sentence to analyze...

Play a figurative language game! Starting with a review of terms, this presentation quickly launches into a quiz game with hyper-linked answers. Simply click an answer to find out if it's wrong or right. The option to try again is always...

Reinforce understanding of five literary terms with a single-slide flow chart. Learners figure out if various words and phrases are examples of simile, metaphor, hyperbole, understatement, or personification. 

Play this slide show and then find out how much your class has learned with the included quiz. After jotting down the definitions of each term, class members label 10 examples with one of five terms: simile, metaphor, personification,...

Now that your class has read all of Esperanza Rising, take the time to tackle big metaphors and themes. Pupils will participate in an activity called Chalk Talk, in which they circulate around the room in small groups and add comments to...

Engage further in Esperanza Rising with a focus on close reading and metaphor. Class members zero in on the tenth chapter, examining characters and big ideas. Pupils discuss the text in small groups and as a whole class, and participate...

Explore point of view and more with a Common Core-designed instructional activity. Learners experience different points of view by representing one of two characters from Esperanza Rising during a partner discussion. They must use...

Written and verbal communication is the topic for today. The class goes over various facets of verbal communication, such as plain English, active voice, passive voice, cliché, and jargon. They then use those devices as they discuss...

Explore literary devices and figurative language using higher level examples. The 33 slides here define common types of figurative language (like simile, metaphor, personification, etc.), and then focus on specific examples in...

Illustrate the connection between using figurative language (specifically similes and metaphors) and creating poetry. First this worksheet reviews the definition for each, and then writers create the endings to two examples provided....

How does an author develop his or her personal writing style? This presentation starts by looking at E.E. Cummings and some of his most notable works. As an author with a lot of style, he's the perfect example! Then, terms such as...

Humor can often be found in everyday life. Young analysts critically examine a sculpture and apply what they discuss to their own life experiences. They perform skits of daily activities, such as brushing their teeth. Next, they make a...

Hyperbole, simile, metaphor, and personification are spotlighted on an online/interactive quiz. Test takers read short passages and then identify the figures of speech used.

Break this presentation into two or three days so as not to overwhelm your kids. Fifty-four slides is a lot of slides, but the PowerShow is well-organized, and terms are defined clearly and illustrated in examples provided. A general...