Readers determine if this statement applies when comparing the central idea of Ahmad Shamlu's "A Blind Alley" and Martin Luther King Jr's "Letter From Birmingham Jail." Learners analyze the standard related to the central message, listen...

Metaphors are word pictures, creating images in our brains that draw readers to consider how two seemingly unrelated items are alike. Poems by Langston Hughes, Margaret Atwood, and Naomi Shihad Nye provide learners with an opportunity to...

The snowflakes were like diamonds, glittering on the ground and in the sky. Encourage your pupils to write their own snow-related similes with a quick exercise. Pupils write five similes and illustrate their favorite comparison.

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...

Work on a wonderful worksheet this Wednesday! Elementary scholars read ten pairs of adjective and noun pairs, and choose a synonym for each adjective to create an alliteration.

Song lyrics, like poems, are meant to be heard. After examining the literary devices in several poems, scholars examine the lyrics of popular songs and identify the sound devices and the figurative language writers use to create the...

In 1856 Congressman Preston Brooks of South Carolina beat Senator Charles Sumner of Massachusetts over the head with a cane. This event, which highlighted the acrimonious debate over the expansion of slavery, is the focus of a paper...

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...

Engage students in setting and character with this story and craft activity set. To begin the activity, learners read the short story "The Too Small House." They then cut out and color a picture of the house and paper figures of the...

After reading a selection from Victor Martinez's Parrot in the Oven, pupils use the graphic organizer to decipher the sensory details within the descriptive paragraph. They list various details under the appropriate sense ("see," "hear,"...

The use of similes and metaphors will become more clear and your young scholars will gain knowledge and comprehend the meanings of the words with these activities. They compose interesting similes and metaphors based on visual prompts...

Learners compare and contrast different careers and life choices. They associate activities with uniforms or other clothing, and apply those associations to the creative personification of their pets. They then use their imaginations to...

Fairy tales are the perfect way to focus on alliteration. Learners complete activities relating to alliteration and similes using a fairy tale theme. Then, they complete an acrostic poem using the words fairy tale.

Does your langauge arts class journal frequently? Extend one of your journaling activities by having your writers choose a journal entry and take it through the five stages of writing. They will use the attached graphic organizer to...

What a helpful resource! This presentation could be used to review literary terms in the classroom. Learners view a series of slides defining the meaning of terms, such as personification, imagery, similes, metaphors, and alliteration....

What does an ice cream sundae sound like? Challenge young writers to move beyond visual descriptions and craft details that appeal to all five senses. The examples provided by the script in this resource show pupils how to create rich...

Instructors expect great things from a good teacher's guide, and this one delivers. The 48-page guide to Charles Dickens's Great Expectations provides information about plot developments and new characters and places introduced in...

Young scholars examine the impact of sound devices in poetry. In this poetry lesson, students read the listed poems and identify uses of hyperbole, simile, metaphor, imagery, and personification. Young scholars discuss how sound devices...

Students explore the basis of Iago's persuasive power by analyzing Shakespeare's use of rhetoric and figurative language. In this Othello lesson, students analyze Iago's rhetoric in monologues and dialogues with other characters....

Students examine the writing techniques of professional authors and apply them to their own work. In pairs, they email authors to discover the tricks of the trade. Students create their own Website for their work.

Edgar Rice Burroughs was an American fiction writer whose biggest claim to fame was the creation of Tarzan. Using the novel study for Harper Lee's beloved novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, pupils research and list facts about him or another...