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Academic Vocabulary
Arm your writers with an arsenal of literary terms. With definitions of everything from plot structure and figurative language to point-of-view and types of irony, learners will gain an understanding of elements in stories and be able to...
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Language Play
Introduce your scholars to onomatopoeia and alliteration using a language elements activity. They examine six sound words and match them to four pictures. Next, learners read two examples of alliteration and write one of their own. They...
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Similes and Metaphor
Use photography to inspire similes and metaphors. Kids rifle through magazines and pictures you've brought to use them as inspiration. They choose two and create a metaphor or simile to accompany their display. Consider hanging these on...
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Find Figurative Language
Meet with the school library specialist and work together to plan a visit and presentation on figurative language. After defining and examining examples of targeted terms, the class travels to the library where the SL has collected...
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Image as Metaphor
A Dorothea Lange photograph launches this study of metaphors. Using the questions provided, the class examines the image and the title to consider how Lange uses her photo as a metaphor. Class members then select an object they can use...
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Animal Alliteration
Second graders discover alliteration as they read about it and fill in the blanks in 12 questions using alliterative words.
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People Alliteration
Young readers discover alliteration as they read about it and fill in the blanks in 12 questions using alliterative words.
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Using Personification
Young readers listen to the story The Three Little Pigs, and discuss what abnormal characteristics the pigs and the wolf have. They relate these characteristics to personification, and practice writing sentences using personification.
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Figurative Language Similes
Learners illustrate a simile. In this figurative language lesson, second graders are introduced to similes. They read the story Quick as a Cricket and talk about the similes used. Everyone chooses a simile and draws a picture to go along...
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Figures of Speech
Second and third graders explore similes and metaphors. They complete six sentences by choosing the correct word to complete the sentence.
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Monkeying Around with Junie B.
Junie B. Jones is the star of this worksheet. Learners draw a picture of what she thought her brother looked like in Junie B. Jones and a Little Monkey Business. They draw another example of figurative language.
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Tall Tales: Larger Than Life Stories
Review the elements of tall tales with your class. Take a look at their genesis and purpose. Different types of figurative language found in tall tales are included such as hyperbole, simile, and metaphor. Before reading an American tall...
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Rewriting Shakespeare
Have your learners play around with Shakespeare's language. In this plan, small groups examine and rearrange soliloquies from Othello, noting how the language changes and morphs. All groups have a chance to change each soliloquy, making...
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Figurative Language
Review and discuss literary devices using this resource, a PowerPoint about personification, simile, and metaphor. Learners can talk about metaphors, similes, and personification. This could a part of a more in-depth discussion of these...
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Personification Lesson Plans and Resources
This resource on personification provides three different approaches aimed at different levels. The first, appropriate for upper elementary, provides examples of personification, followed by an exercise that requires replacing a word in...
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Julius Caesar: Fun Trivia Quiz
This online interactive quiz tests reading comprehension and asks a few questions about figurative language in William Shakespeare's Julius Caesar.
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Similes and Metaphors
Reward your class with tasty treats while teaching them about simile and metaphor. After a teacher demo and explanation of simile and metaphor, pupils read books, looking for examples of these literary devices and copying them down....
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Dark Name-Play in Neil Gaiman's The Graveyard Book
Explore the symbolism of characters' names in The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman. This fantasy children's novel lends itself to symbolism and many parallels with other works of literature and time periods. Names of the ghosts and...
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Narratives
Add to the narrative writing experience. Elementary or middle school writers listen to the teacher read a descriptive passage, then reread the same passage silently. They highlight sensory details and figurative language, then orally...
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Metaphor
High schoolers identify the distinction between literal and figurative language with a focus on metaphors. They complete a metaphor analysis chart, then practice expanding metaphors by composing their own comparisons of elements of the...
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Making Inferences While Identifying Similes and Metaphors
Use this lesson plan to study similes and metaphors and the inferred meaning. In this language arts lesson plan, 5th graders write their own similes and metaphors. A worksheet is provided for extension work or to check understanding as...
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Identify Figurative Language
Your class can identify idioms, metaphosr, similes, hyperboles or personification by reading poetry and interpret meaning.
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Figurative Language in Toni Morrison's "A Mercy"
In order to read and respond to Toni Morrison's A Mercy in this figurative-language lesson, young scholars discuss the differences between a literal and a figurative interpretation of a text. They explore figures of speech using a...
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Chalkboard Challenge: Literary Terms
This interactive PowerPoint simulates a "Jeopardy" game that addresses figurative language, cause and effect, and other literary terms. Players can chose which category and amount they would like to play on the Game Board.