Figurative Language Lessons

Grades 3-4
Grades 5-7

Extension Activities

Johnny Appleseed • Information Links

• Fact Monster.com: http://www.factmonster.com/ce6/people/A0811384.html
• Straight Dope.com: http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mjappleseed.html
• Swedenborg.org: http://www.swedenborg.org/jappleseed/history.html (John Chapman was a missionary for the Swedenborg Church founded by the Swedish theologian Emanuel Swedenborg.)
  
  

Figurative Language • Online Resources

Ohio Instructional Management System

• https://ims.ode.state.oh.us/ODE/IMS/Lessons.
• Use the IMS Quick Search: Select Lesson Plans, choose Reading from the drop down menu, and Grade Level from the next drop down menu. Then click on Search.

“Descriptive Language and Theme – Grade Three”           

• Students tune their ears to listen for and appreciate descriptive language within texts. They identify and synthesize description and consider how it shows, supports or enhances an author’s intended message.

“Visions of Poetry – Grade Four”

• See, feel, hear and experience mood! This lesson offers students an opportunity to internalize the meaning of mood and its expression in a variety of different media.

“The Right Mood – Grade Six”           

• In this integrated lesson, students compare how the three disciplines of music, art and literature create mood. They use this information to produce a piece of descriptive writing based on a piece of art or music selected to evoke a particular mood. While the concept of mood is introduced to students in the fourth grade, it remains a challenging concept for many. This lesson helps make the concept come alive at the same time it requires students to take a more advanced look at the meaning of mood.

Ohio Resource Center • Reading

• http://www.ohiorc.org/search
• Scroll to the box that says "I know the ORC resource I want to see," enter the ORC Lesson number, and click "View Resource".

“I Have a Metaphor” ORC Lesson #2674, Grades 4 - 7

• Topics: Reading – Reading-Strategies & Skills; Reading; Literature; Nonfiction 
• Professional Commentary: Many teachers integrate the speeches of Martin Luther King Jr. into their classroom instruction.

“Figurative Language Awards Ceremony” ORC Lesson #2799, Grades 4 - 5

• Topics: Reading – Vocabulary; Children's Literature; Reading; Writing; Writing Strategies; Communication; Speaking; Literature 
• Professional Commentary: Using their knowledge of figurative language, students complete activities to identify examples of similes, metaphors, and personification heard during read aloud. Students compile a list of phrases, then nominate and vote on the best terms.
  

“Lift Every Voice and Sing” ORC Lesson #4540, Grades 5 - 7

• Topics: Reading -- Vocabulary; Literature; Poetry 
• Professional Commentary: How does a poem or a song express feelings and meanings? Using the book Color Me Dark and a poem by James Weldon Johnson entitled “Lift Every Voice and Sing”, this lesson explores the use of figurative language and imagery. Students explore the origins of the poem and come to understand how it conveys a sense of hope and unity despite hardship.

Other Online Resources

Alice in Wonderland

• “Alice's Adventures in Wonderland: Nonsense Poetry and Whimsy” Grades K-2
http://edsitement.neh.gov/view_lesson_plan.asp?id=354
• Wired for Books Audio Version: http://wiredforbooks.org/alice/  

• http://edsitement.neh.gov/view_lesson_plan.asp?id=426

“Figurative Language Lesson Plans & Activities”

• http://languagearts.mrdonn.org/figurative.html

Hyperbole

• “Hyperbole” by Celine Ellison 
• This lesson uses “Sarah Cynthia Sylvia Stout Would Not Take the Garbage Out” from Shel Silverstein’s Where the Sidewalk Ends. 
• http://faculty.rcoe.appstate.edu/smithtw/RE_3150_web/
• Craft_Minilessons/RE_3150_s03/Celine_Ellison_Hyperbole.htm

Idioms

• “In Step with Idioms” Story and Interactive Quiz: http://library.thinkquest.org/4382/idiom.html
• “Face Idioms” Interactive activity.  Match idioms with their definitions: http://www.quia.com/jg/66234.html
• “Figurative Language: Teaching Idioms,” Grades 3-5: http://www.readwritethink.org/lessons/lesson_view.asp?id=254
• Valentine's Day Hearts, ESL 3-12
• Use Valentine's Day to give your students an interesting opportunity to learn and use figurative language in English.
• http://www.everythingesl.net/lessons/valentine_hearts.php

Similes and Metaphors

• “Poetry: Simile and Figurative Language,” Grades 3-4
• eMINTS began in Missouri - eMINTS is an acronym for the project enhancing Missouri's Instructional Networked Teaching Strategies. eMINTS can be found in classrooms across the United States.
• http://www.emints.org/ethemes/resources/S00001448.shtml
• Interactive Simile Practice
• http://international.ouc.bc.ca/cultureshock/simile.htm
• “Lonely as a Cloud: Using Poetry to Understand Similes”
• Includes links to poems that have similes such as "Willow and Ginkgo" by Eve Merriam, "A Red, Red Rose" by Robert Burns, "spring is like a perhaps hand" by E.E. Cummings, "Lost" by Carl Sandburg, "People Who Must" by Carl Sandburg, "Since Hannah Moved Away" by Judith Viorst, and "The Daffodils" by William Wordsworth
• http://www.readwritethink.org/lessons/lesson_view.asp?id=907
• “A Simile and Metaphor Sample Lesson Plan for Teaching Similes and Metaphors,” Grades 5-12
• http://volweb.utk.edu/Schools/bedford/harrisms/2poe.htm
• “Writing: Similes and Metaphors”
• http://www.emints.org/ethemes/resources/S00000561.shtml
• “The Bilingual Students: Understanding Language Imagery” by Ruth M. Wilson
• http://www.yale.edu/ynhti/curriculum/units/1984/3/84.03.10.x.htm“Language Arts Lesson 1: Word Analysis, Fluency and Vocabulary Development,” Grades 4-6
• http://etap.org/demo/langart4_6/langart1/instructiontutor_last.html
• Proteacher.net Discussion Threads
• “Figurative Language”: http://www.proteacher.net/discussions/showthread.php?t=26560
• “Teaching Similes and Metaphor,” Middle/School-Junior High: http://www.proteacher.net/discussions/showthread.php?t=1686
• “Creating Original Characters, Themes, and Visual Metaphors for Your Digital Short Film”
• Scroll down the page to the Metaphor and Symbol Charts
• http://www.peachpit.com/articles/article.asp?p=174318&seqNum=3&rl=1