Our writing tip this week is about adding figurative language to spice ...

Our writing tip this week is about adding figurative language to spice up sentences and makes
writing more interesting. Here are a few suggestions for teaching simile and metaphor.
Children's literature is a treasure chest of figurative language. Create an awareness of this
treasure among your students. Before students can use figurative language in their own writing,
they need to hear many examples:
Writing Tip #6
OWL MOON by Jane Yolan has at lease one example of figurative language on every
page.
EARTHDANCE by Joanne Ryder is written entirely in metaphor.
13 CLOCKS by James Thurber is rich with simile and metaphor.
Writers use simile and metaphor to..
describe a character or some important action.
let the reader "see" just what is happening
After using children's literature to provide examples of metaphors and similes, ask the
students to underline the similes in the description below. Remind them that a simile
makes a comparison by using the words like or as.
My garden was quiet under its blanket of snow. The cornstalks stood like silent
sentinels. No footprints crossed the untouched whiteness. Frost decorated
the fence like a lacy curtain. Winter had come, like a quiet lullaby that lulled Autumn to
sleep.
After identifying the similes in the above paragraph, ask students to list some things that
could be compared to the following items:
spinach thunder having a tooth filled
Next, students can choose several of their comparisons and draw them to make a minibooklet.
Metaphors make a comparison by saying that the subject is something else. Ask the
students to identify the two things that are being compared in the metaphors below.
The snarling dog was a flashing red light that shouted "STOP"!
My best friend, Debby, is my security blanket.
Tom snaked down the field untouched, a guided missile locked onto the goal.
Ask the students to think of some interesting comparisons for the items below:
my bedroom recess pizza
Have the students use one of the comparisons to write a description.
Pull out a Type 3 and have students identify several places in their piece that could use a
simile or a metaphor to make their writing more interesting.
Young writers in K-2 can start with making simple comparisons using er and est.
Example: A whale is bigger than a bus.
Some primary children will naturally use similes Example: My dog is as tall as a pony.
Encourage young writers to compose a fresh and vivid comparison with such questions
as:

What did it look like to you?
What did it seem like to you? Emphasizing the word, like.
Examples: The cars were crawling like ants.
It's sticky like pancake syrup.
Denise Cole has suggest that you might want to look at the following two websites that
have hilarious story starters and plans that include rubrics.
http:www.brucevanpatter.com/yourstories/
www.readwritethink.org
Thank you Denise!
Next week we will include lessons for "specificity"!
Your writing committee!