Curated OER
Figures of Speech
Give your learners quick definitions of simile, metaphor, and analogy. As the first slide in this PowerPoint suggests, you can use the presentation as a warm-up and have scholars record the words and their meanings in a Literary Terms...
Curated OER
Let's Focus on Idioms
Get online and explore idioms. Your class will use the Internet to locate, choose, and illustrate their favorite idioms. They make a class PowerPoint with illustrations for their idioms and explain the meaning of each. A great way to...
Curated OER
Cartoons for the Classroom: Why is Freedom of Speech a Burning Issue?
For this current events worksheet, students analyze a political cartoon about the freedom of speech and respond to three short answer questions
Curated OER
Reading the Play
Do figures of speech enhance a play or story? In small groups, learners locate and describe figures of speech they find while reading a reader's theater play. After making predictions, they describe how the figures of speech make the...
Curated OER
Go Free or Die: Figurative Language
Figures of speech, sensory details, and academic language are all targeted while reading Chapter Two of J. Ferris’ Go Free or Die. First, learners engage in an exercise to practice describing with detail. Then, partners use a...
Curated OER
Irony in "The Gift of the Magi"
Use O. Henry's ubiquitous tale of love and poverty to explore irony. After reading the story, middle schoolers identify examples of all three kinds of irony in the story. With partners, they brainstorm original examples of irony. Then...
Curated OER
Reading Poetry
Present your class with an overview of poetry-related information. The slides are clearly organized by topic, starting with reading poetry, ending with myths, and touching on everything from the five senses to open and closed forms of...
Curated OER
Figures of Speech Review and Assessment
Identify the figure of speech in given sentences. Your seventh grade will write an eight line paragraph using the four figures of speech at lest once. By using narrative, expository or persuasive paragraphs to complete worksheets...
Curated OER
Common Idioms 5
If you have been analyzing idioms, you can assess your learners' grasp of their figurative meanings with this 10-question matching exercise. Or you could give the sheet to groups to foster discussion about literal versus figurative...
Curated OER
What Makes Jokes Funny?
Explore how language is used for comic effect. Middle schoolers determine which of the three formulas for jokes (double meanings, unexpected outcome, humorous mental image) make each of 18 classic, corny examples funny. They complete a...
Curated OER
Creating Civic Awareness Through Artistic and Literary Forms
Interpret current events using editorial cartoons and other print media. Middle schoolers explore the meanings of literary and artistic terms such as satire, irony, and caricature. They visit internet sites to develop an understanding of...
Curated OER
English Expressions Quiz: Online
An online worksheet provides opportunities to assess comprehension of 10 common adages like "A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush" or "Variety is the spice of life." Learners complete a multiple choice quiz (and can check their...
Curated OER
Cross Out Paragraph Puzzle One: To Keep it Secret
Slightly confusing upon first glance, this lesson is actually a neat idea! Present your learners with a series of sentences (at the top of the page), and have them follow the directions to cross out adverbs, verbs in the past tense, etc....
Reed Novel Studies
Of Mice and Men: Novel Study
Why is personification such a popular literary device for many authors? Learners answer the question as they engage in activities from the novel study for the classic Of Mice and Men. They also scan the novel to find examples of the...
Reed Novel Studies
The True Blue Scouts of Sugar Man Swamp: Novel Study
Wild feral hogs and an alligator wrestler are just two interesting aspects of Kathi Appelt's novel The True Blue Scouts of Sugar Man Swamp. Using the novel study, scholars search the text for examples of the eight parts of...
EngageNY
Grade 11 ELA Module 2: Unit 2, Lesson 10
Audre Lorde's poem "From the House of Yemanjá" describes the speaker carrying two women on her back—she must be strong! Pupils read the second stanza using instructional activity 10 of 14 from the Grade 11 ELA Module 2: Unit 2 series....
Reed Novel Studies
Journey To The Centre of The Earth: Novel Study
Traveling where no man has traveled before, Journey to the Centre of the Earth contains a secret code right to the middle of Earth! Scholars match 10 new vocabulary words, answer comprehension questions, create literary devices, and...
Curated OER
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, learners discuss the differences between a literal and a figurative interpretation of a text. They explore figures of speech using a...
Mailbox Education Center
On the Hunt: Understanding Figurative Language
Young writers hunt for examples of figurative language in their reading. The hunt requires pupils to cite their sources, record a quoted example for each type of figurative language, and an explanation of what they think the...
Curated OER
Idioms
Here is a simple list of 21 idioms for which learners are supposed to write the figurative meanings. I'd extend it to include either drawing pictures or group discussions to build meaning rather than just assigning it as individual work.
Curated OER
Animal Idioms
A six question, multiple choice, on-line interactive exercise asks learners to identify the meaning of animal idioms. A little bird told me the answers can be accessed with a click of a button.
Curated OER
Personification
Introduce your young scholars to personification. The literary device is clearly defined and illustrated with clever examples. Opportunities for guided and independent practice using poems by Emily Dickinson and Langston Hughes are also...
Curated OER
Studying Idioms and Word Meaning
Idioms are really confusing, but learning them will help your readers deepen their understanding of a variety of texts. This 11-slide presentation offers several examples (like "break a leg" and "mind your manners") to help readers use...
Curated OER
Crazy Critters Teach Parts of Speech
Pupils create pieces of writing about a creature they have created. They examine the parts of speech and how they are used in their writing to see how they can write more specifically.