K12 Reader
Adventures with Alliteration! - Adjectives
Have hearty humor with a handy, helpful handout! Kids work on their alliteration skills with a figurative language learning exercise that focuses on alliterative adjectives and phrases. After kids add nouns to ten adjectives, they create...
Curated OER
Exploring Figurative Language in Fiction and Nonfiction
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 choices offered....
Roald Dahl
Matilda - Miss Honey and The Trunchbull
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 class...
Read Works
Figurative Language
Do your learners need to practice identifying figurative language? This lesson plan outlines a method for working on that tricky skill. After teacher modeling and think-aloud, fourth and fifth graders identify examples of figurative...
Curriculum Corner
“I Can” Common Core! 1st Grade Language
Support first graders with developing their basic language skills using this Common Core checklist. With each standard rewritten as a positive I can statement, students are encouraged to work hard toward reaching these clear learning...
Curated OER
I Have A Dream - Pastel Drawings
Discuss the meaning of Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have A Dream" speech, explore figurative language, and read about Harriet Tubman and her courage. After the discussion, learners analyze painter/author Jacob Lawrence's use of...
EngageNY
Contrasting Two Settings (Chapter 6: "Lost Melones/Cantalouples")
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...
Curated OER
Go Free or Die
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...
MENSA Education & Research Foundation
Magical Musical Tour: Using Lyrics to Teach Literary Elements
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 plan about literary devices. As class...
Curated OER
Simile and Metaphor
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,...
Curated OER
Spinelli's Maniac Magee (excerpt): Reading and Critical Thinking Practice
A brief, dialogue-rich passage from Jerry Spinelli's novel Maniac Magee is accompanied by a well-written literacy assessment tool. Thematic content lends itself to age-appropriate discussions about race relations and social justice....
National Park Service
The Poet's Toolbox
If you need a lesson for your poetry unit, use two poems by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow ("Rain in Summer" and "The Slave in the Dismal Swamp") and a resource on Elements of Poetry. The lesson plan guides you through activities on...
Curated OER
Figurative and literal language through the study of Shakespeare
Sixth graders explore figurative and literal language. They study literary devices through short pieces of Shakespeare's work. Then investigate Shakespeare's works and life.
EngageNY
Grade 9 ELA Module 2: Unit 1, Lesson 9
Continue analyzing literature using textual evidence with a lesson on "I Felt A Funeral, in my Brain" by Emily Dickinson. Ninth graders bring their annotation skills and knowledge of figurative language from the previous eight sessions...
EngageNY
Grade 9 ELA Module 1, Unit 2, Lesson 6
Guided by the provided questions, readers of David Mitchell's "Hangman" examine the author's figurative language to develop the constant struggle in Jason and Hangman's relationship.
Curated OER
Poetry Assignment Instead of a Test
"The Last Song" by Bernie Taupin and Elton John is the inspiration for an analysis assignment. Individuals read the song and answer nine questions about the speaker, figurative language, and significance of the lyrics. Use this as an...
Curated OER
Amelia Earhart
Your class can learn about Amelia Earhart and practice important comprehension skills here. Learners answer questions about cause and effect, compare texts, and discuss similes and metaphors after reading Amelia Earhart: Free in the...
Curated OER
Simile Practice
Inspire creative writing by studying similes. This sheet provides learners with 10 different topics, and they must create a simile for each topic. Example topics include: favorite teacher, the waterfall, a parrot, the first day of...
Curated OER
What is a Metaphor?
The use of metaphors really paints a picture in the reader's mind. Get your class using metaphors in their writing by studying them first. This activity has four simple metaphors, and the reader must identify which two things are being...
Curated OER
6th Grade: Express Yourself, Lesson 2: Close Read
The second activity of a pair about Paul Laurence Dunbar, this plan focuses in particular on his poem, "We Wear the Masks." After a short historical introduction, class members conduct a series or readings, marking up the text and...
Curated OER
Reading Poetry in the Middle Grades
Bring the beauty of "Nothing Gold Can Stay" by Robert Frost to middle school language arts. After learners read a copy of the poem, they follow an instructional sequence that focuses on sound, figurative language, and theme.
Curriculum Corner
“I Can” Common Core! 3rd Grade Language
Support third graders with developing their language skills using this Common Core checklist. With each standard written as an I can statement, children are given clear learning goals to work toward throughout the year.
California Education Partners
Eleven
It is difficult to articulate how growing up feels as accurately and beautifully as Sandra Cisneros does in her short story "Eleven." After seventh graders read the story and note the author's use of figurative language, they respond to...
Curated OER
Night of the Twisters Figurative Language
In this reading worksheet, students read and learn about writers' use of figurative language to create vivid pictures with words. Students are directed to specific pages in The Night of the Twisters by Ivy Ruckman and answer 20 questions...