Curated OER
The Pillsbury Doughboy
Mourning the death of the Pillsbury Doughboy (from a yeast infection and pokes in the belly), this presentation discusses the use of puns, metaphors, and polysemes. The slide show continues by discussing other popular metaphors and...
University of North Carolina
Clichés
When it comes to writing, cliches are as old as dirt. A handout on tired phrases provides examples of cliches, as well as a description of the negative effects they have on a paper. Writers discover specific words and phrases to avoid,...
Shmoop
ELA.CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.11-12.5
"Timid, scared, terrified." High school scholars examine words, their denotations and connotations, in a series of exercises that use lines from Shakespeare to explore figurative language and word relationships. Participants then...
Curated OER
Poetry in Motion
Sixth graders answer questions about "From a Railway Carriage." They discuss different poetical forms. They work together to write a poem about travel.
Curated OER
Poetry
What is the difference between a simile and a metaphor? Third graders read a poem as a class and chart all of the similes and metaphors they hear. They then discuss the differences between each literary device as well as what is being...
Curated OER
Figurative Language in Poetry and Prose
Young scholars examine the impact of sound devices in poetry. For this poetry lesson, students read the listed poems and identify uses of hyperbole, simile, metaphor, imagery, and personification. Young scholars discuss how sound devices...
Laura Candler
Bio Poems Made Easy
A creative way bring autobiographical writing to your poetry unit or back-to-school curriculum, this lesson plan guides you through a bio poem activity. Kids use the graphic organizer to describe themselves using adjectives, things...
National Humanities Center
Teaching Emily Dickinson: A Common Core Close Reading Seminar
Three of Emily Dickinson's poems, "I like to see it," "Because I could not stop for Death," and "We grow accustomed to the Dark," provide instructors with an opportunity to model for class members how to use close reading strategies to...
Curated OER
Literary Terms
Seriously, 93 slides of literary terms? Yes, and well worth the time, although perhaps not all at once. The beauty here is in the concise, easy-to-understand definitions for such well-known terms as imagery and personification, as well...
Teach It Primary
The Pied Piper of Hamelin
Six tasks make up a lesson plan designed to reinforce comprehension and language skills using the poem "The Pied Piper" by Robert Browing. Scholars discuss and define unknown words, identify adjectives and onomatopoeia, review...
Worksheet Web
What did it Say? – Summarizing
Provide scholars with an opportunity to practice summarizing text with a two-page learning exercise. Learners read poems, share stories with their peers, and summarize their new-found-knowledge.
Poetry4kids
How to Write a Clerihew
Writing funny poems is the best part about learning poetic forms! Young poets learn all about clerihews—humorous four-line poems about people—with an explanatory lesson.
Gottlieb
Kennings vs. Stock Epithets – A Quick Review
Bone-crusher. Troll-wife. Battle-sweat. Blood-worm. What study of Beowulf would be complete without offering readers of this Old English epic poem an opportunity to craft their own kennings and epithets? Provide individuals with a copy...
Reed Novel Studies
Old Wolf: Novel Study
Do wolves ever attack humans? An informative novel study for Old Wolf helps pupils conduct research to answer the question. They also decode anagrams, learn about onomatopoeia, and write quatrain poems about themes from the novel.
Curated OER
War Literature
Working in groups, young historians review a war poem written by Stephen Crane. After reviewing the poem, they present an oral interpretation of the poem and hold a panel discussion about their analysis. The panel is made up of five or...
Curated OER
What is a Memorial
Students explore how we remember and honor people in special ways. In this memorial instructional activity, students read poems and discuss their emotions. Students view pictures taken at memorial services and discuss what...
National Endowment for the Humanities
A Story of Epic Proportions: What Makes a Poem an Epic?
Learners analyze the epic poem form and its roots in oral tradition. In this epic poetry lesson, students research the epic hero cycle and recognize the pattern of events and elements. Learners analyze the patterns embedded in the stories.
Carolina K-12
What Is the American Dream?
How do you describe the American Dream? What motivates others to immigrate to the United States, and why do some groups have trouble attaining the American Dream? Your learners will consider these questions as they explore figurative...
School District No. 71
Adding Written Detail: Using Jane Yolen’s Owl Moon as a Mentor Text
Access your senses with a worksheet on sensory language. Based on Owl Moon by Jane Yolen, the worksheet prompts kids to find examples of each of the five senses, as well as phrases for inner emotion.
Curated OER
Similes, Metaphors, and Personification
Eighth graders explore figurative language, specifically focusing on similes, metaphors and personification. They work on the web to identify poems that demonstrate simile, metaphor, and personification, then analyze how it enhances...
Curated OER
Lesson Three: Go Free or Die
Fourth graders look for sensory details and figurative language. In this reading strategy lesson, 4th graders read the story Go Free or Die by J. Ferris and complete a chart with figurative language. They use a word wall in the...
Curated OER
Growing Poems
Students write garden inspired poetry. In this poetry lesson plan, students go out into the garden and write poems about how they feel, what they see, and what is going on in the garden.
Curated OER
Imagine That! Analyzing Imagery
Poems by O. Henry, Marion Dane Bauer, Monty Roberts, and Langston Hughes provide the text for a study of symbolism, hyperbole, and imagery. Employing the “think-pair-share” strategy learners generate definitions of these terms and locate...
Curated OER
"Oh, Kingdom in the Sky"
Students write a poem. In this historical figures lesson, students learn about Mary Ann Camp, read an interview, read vignettes about life in her host countries and read her poem "Oh, Kingdom in the Sky." Students answer questions about...