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...

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...

Discuss the work of Matthew Henson, an African American who traveled to the North Pole with Robert Peary. After reading the story "Matthew Henson" by Maryann N. Weidt, learners answer questions by drawing inferences and conclusions,...

After a close reading Marge Piercy's poem "Barbie Doll," class members craft an AP®-style explanatory essay in which they analyze the diction and other figurative literary devices the poet employs to deliver her commentary on modern...

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 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.  Students then...

A reading of Pat Street's There's a Frog in My Throat launches a study of figurative language. Using a pocket chart, display one phrase containing figurative language. Class members choose the best explanation from three...

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."

As the instructor reads aloud several quotes from five chapters of the story Matilda, class members mime their interpretation of the scenes. Then, after reading "Miss Honey" and "The Trenchbull" (chapters seven and eight), the...

Go figure! Scholars examine the figurative language in the last half of W.E.B. Du Bois's work "Of Our Spiritual Strivings." They pay special attention to his metaphors and develop ideas with group discussion and guided questions....

Say precisely what you mean. Scholars analyze the importance of Washington's precise language in paragraphs eight and nine of the "Atlanta Compromise" speech. They interpret his figurative language and add it to their Idea Tracking...

Macbeth describes life as a light and a candle, suggesting it is fleeting and meaningless. Using the resource, scholars engage in an evidence-based discussion and complete a Quick Write about Shakespeare's use of figurative language in...

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

Literally, what's the meaning? Scholars read pages seven through nine of Flush and discuss literal and nonliteral meaning with figurative language. Learners work in triads to identify and define unfamiliar words. They then complete a...

Fifth graders identify and categorize figurative language in poetry.They read a poem and find an example of figurative language, then read the included hand-out on figurative language, and describe each type of figurative language. They...

Anansi is a tricky character, but can he realize he's wrong and write an apology letter? Learners use Anansi and the Pot of Beans to practice writing, art, and figurative language. A series of activities are engaging for both...

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...

Continue working through Esperanza Rising, by Pam Munoz Ryan, by looking into language choices and discussing text-dependent questions. Pupils converse in small groups and as a class about plot, setting, and figurative language. Using...

It is just a figure of speech. Readers look for figurative language as they read Taggot, the Blacksmith’s Daughter. They complete a Figurative Language graphic organizer by recording and identifying the types of figurative...

Make a match! Scholars play a matching game after looking at excerpt five from Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass. Learners match types of figurative language with example sentences, and add to their powerful language word wall...

Scholars demonstrate their learning with an end-of-unit assessment. They work independently to discuss the Golden Rule and its relationship in To Kill a Mockingbird.

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

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 instructional activity about poetry,...