Tenth graders complete a variety of activities related to the first two chapters of the book The Outsiders. They define metaphor, simile, idiom, and hyperbole, and take a vocabulary pre-quiz. In small groups, they write a character...

What do Jeep advertisements and Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath have in common? They both employ the art of the extended metaphor! Using the Six-Trait Writing model, learners begin to work on their own extended metaphors. Development...

Beyond Paul Bunyan and his blue ox, tall tales can be a great way to teach young writers about word choice and voice in their writing. Using Jerry Spinelli's Maniac Magee  and the Six-Trait Writing process, they begin to write...

Students investigate patterns of immigration in the US while comparing and contrasting the ideas of citizenship and non-citizenship. They decide how education plays a role in citizenship.

Learners practice creating similes and metaphors together as a class. Individually students create similes and metaphors and illustrate them.

Students explore how to create their own metaphors for life. They create poetry folders including found poetry and their own metaphors and similes.

In this metaphor worksheet, students read statements that contain metaphors, then choose the statement that explains the meaning of each. A reference website if given for additional resources.

Students participate in various poem-related lessons to learn how they can make a difference in the lives of people they don't know. In this poetry instructional activity, students discover that this pound a poem competition is about...

Students explore color terms and related meanings and metaphors in cultural and literary contexts. They use the main colors to explore synonymous color terms and related metaphorical meanings of color words. Students recognize the...

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...

Students discuss different literary devices and use them to write summaries of New York Times articles dealing with international news. They reflect on the effectiveness and appropriateness of sports metaphors in the political arena.

Learners read a series of sentences and decide what literary term is being shown. They also discuss a novel about prejudice.

This is probably my middle schoolers' favorite writing assignment. They obviously tell their friends about it, because every year my ne

Learners imagine themselves someplace -- the beach, a mountain top, a city street -- anywhere.

Students use their knowledge of similes and metaphors to analyze poetry. In this poetry and language lesson, students read examples of similes and metaphors and write their own examples that describe their city, television, or an era in...

Fourth graders, after brainstorming a list of things good friends do for each other, apply prereading strategies to the book, "Be A Friend to Trees," and create similes and metaphors utilizing content ideas. They also sketch an...

Students explore both physical and mental journies that result in a change or self-discovery. They write poems that symbolize a personal journey that forever changed them. They understand the importance of a central image or metaphor in...