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...

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...

Ask your class to lend their ears, and eyes, to a short video that defines and offers examples of synecdoche and metonymy. Whether it be brand names like Kleenex® and Band-aids® that have come to stand for all the products in a category,...

Students define metaphor in both art and writing. In this metaphor lesson, students examine a photograph by Dorothea Lange and discuss the metaphor that is displayed in the picture. They write about an object that symbolizes a personal...

Learners dance the image of falling snow. They move, swing, fall, and rise to music working to depict snow falling, the sun, and high/low movements. This is a well-thought out lesson that aids them in seeing movement as a form of...

Kids use poetry and contemporary art to start thinking about logic and personal expression. They read Sylvia Plath's poem "Metaphor," and critically examine the art of Urs Fischer. After working though a few logic problems they write...

Tenth graders complete a variety of activities related to the first two chapters of the book The Outsiders. They define metaphor, simile, idiom, and hyperbole, and take a vocabulary pre-quiz. In small groups, they write a character...

Explore concepts of audience, purpose and symbols in this lesson plan from Media Smarts that asks students to consider all the functions of music. Through a series of discussions and activities, your class will brainstorm possible...

Pupils engage in a lesson plan about metaphor and simile while using them in different contexts. They are asked to share some samples that are designed by them to other members of the class. Students practice writing them with the help...

Students define "metaphor" and discuss examples of it in writing. They look carefully at a photograph by Dorothea Lange and discuss its relationship to the concept of metaphor. They write effectively about their own experience, picking...

Learners examine the first two scenes of Act I and do a metaphor interpretation exercise. They write an essay on the following question: Through Iago's metaphors, what is he trying to do to Brabantio? To answer this question they ...

In order to understand figurative language, learners read 5 poems, each exemplifying a different literary device. They discuss and write responses to each poem. They then choose one literary device which they will use as the basis...

My love is like an anaconda. Huh? Scholars investigate similes, metaphors, hyperbole, and personification used by writers to express feelings. They examine lyrics from songs and lines from Romeo and Juliet and consider how the use of...

Eighth graders write a poem showing what they know about metaphors, and non-literal language to express ideas, convey meaning, and create images after they read Eve Merriam's "How to Eat a Poem".

High schoolers study and discuss definitions of metaphor, simile, and personification. In small groups, they read a section of "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" and identify those devices. The group presents their examples with the...

Ninth graders explore poetic technique and figurative language in this ten lesson unit. Comparisons are made between a variety of forms of poetic expressions and the lives of several poets are studied.

Students create a poem on about spring. They read final version of their poem chorally. They write reflections of their experience in creating the poem.

Use a hot dog as a metaphor for good reading, and make your class drool! Writers identify the parts of a paragraph, linking them to parts of a hot dog. Then, they translate this knowledge into a well-written paragraph. While a check-list...

This exercise on the Constitution requires small groups to design a visual metaphor that expresses the concept behind one of seven principles: popular sovereignty, federalism, republicanism, separation of powers, checks and balances,...

Aspiring writers complete and discuss fill-in-the-blank cliché expressions, define cliché as a form of predictable writing, take cliché expressions and turn them into new, unpredictable ones, read poetry that illustrates writer's use of...

Sixth graders review literary devices. They use both fiction and nonfiction texts to review metaphor, simile, alliteration, imagery, symbolism and personification. This lesson has a scripted guide for the teacher to follow.

Students interpret historical evidence presented in primary resources. In this World War I instructional activity, students examine World War I posters. Students investigate the use of propaganda strategies in the posters and discuss the...

A reading of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech launches a study of rhetorical devices such as hyperbole, allusion, metaphor, simile, personification, connotative language and parallel structure. Class members then...

Students examine the United States at the turn of the century. Using primary source documents, they interpret them within a specific historical context. Using this information, they write a poem with metaphors and a specific meter They...