Found Figurative Language by Terri Sabbag - The Education Fund

What is being compared? Students may say that clouds and cotton balls are
being compared. I require more precise details than that. What aspects of the
clouds are being compared? Their shape, color, texture?
6. Have students form their small groups from the previous lesson to use the
“pencil” personifications that they created.. Students are to discuss other things
they can use to compare the way the pencil feels, sounds, looks, etc. during the
timed multiplication test.
7. Encourage students to associate body parts with the pencil as they create
similes. (For example: The pencil point was a sharp as a pin, ready to conquer
the math test.)
Evaluation: Check students’ similes; star any sentences that are especially creative to
be shared the next day with the whole group.
Home Learning:
1. Students will choose a weather phenomenon and create 2 similes comparing its
appearance, force, effects, etc.
2. Instruct students to search for similes in their independent reading. They should
mark the page with a Post-it note, without interrupting the flow of their reading.
They can later go back and write the simile sentence on the Post-it note and
leave it on the page where it was found. They should be prepared to share
examples with the class.
Adapt Simile Lesson Plan to Teach Metaphors:
Activity:
1. Explain that metaphors are similar to similes because they compare two things.
However, metaphors are more potent than similes because they state that one
thing ‘is’ another thing; like and as are not used in the comparison.
2. Provide examples of metaphors (e.g., grass is nature’s blanket) and discuss the
things being compared. Metaphors are not as easy to identify as similes. It is
helpful to identify the aspect that is being compared. (e.g., size, shape, feeling,
sound, etc.)
3. Using the similes created in the previous pencil lesson, work with the students to
adapt the similes by taking out the ‘like’ or ‘as’ to create metaphors. (e.g., The
pinpoint pencil tip stood at attention, ready to conquer the math test.)
Page 7 of 18