Unit Plan
Read Works

Figurative Language

For Teachers 2nd - 4th Standards
Here's a richly detailed unit, designed for second graders, that focuses on decoding figurative language, including similes, metaphors, personification and idioms.
Handout
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Loudoun County Public Schools

Figurative Language Packet

For Students 6th - 12th Standards
A definitive resource for your figurative language unit includes several worksheets and activities to reinforce writing skills. It addresses poetic elements such as simile and metaphor, personification, hyperbole, and idioms, and...
Lesson Plan
EngageNY

Analyzing Figurative Language and How the Author’s Word Choice Affects Tone and Meaning (Chapter 3)

For Teachers 6th Standards
How figurative language affects the tone and meaning in Chapter Three of Christopher Paul Curtis' Bud, Not Buddy is the focus of a series of exercises that ask readers to locate, record, and analyze Curtis' word choices.
Lesson Plan
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EngageNY

Figurative Language and Word Choice: A Closer Look at Bud, Not Buddy (Chapter 2)

For Teachers 6th Standards
The difference between an average and an unforgettable writing can lie in the author's word choice. The figurative language in Chapter 2 of Christopher Paul Curtis's Newbery Medal Winner, Bud, Not Buddy, is the focus of a series of...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Setting the Tone with Figurative Language

For Teachers 8th Standards
Explore figurative language with your secondary class. Extending a language arts unit, the lesson prompts middle schoolers to examine how an author's word choice establishes a story's tone, possibly using metaphors, similes,...
Worksheet
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K12 Reader

Figurative Language: Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Bells”

For Students 6th - 8th Standards
Bells, bells, bells abound in a worksheet designed for Edgar Allan Poe's famous poem "The Bells." Middle schoolers are asked to identify the various poetic devices Poe employs.
Worksheet
Curated OER

Figurative Language Quiz

For Students 7th - 9th
Combining questions about figurative language and Sandra Cisneros's The House on Mango Street, this quiz would be a good addition to your class. The majority contains questions about simile, metaphor, and personification, from...
Activity
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Curated OER

Figurative Language Project

For Teachers 4th - 8th
Want a handy way to remember the difference between metaphors and similes, or allusions and alliteration? Individuals craft their own figurative language booklet, complete with definitions, examples, and illustrations, following...
Lesson Plan
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Achieve3000

Figurative Language

For Teachers 4th - 8th Standards
Similes and metaphors make writing more beautiful and detailed, but can be a little harder to decipher during a first reading. Use a passage from The Man Who Loved Words to show young readers how to think through passages that...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Figurative Language Similes

For Teachers 2nd
Learners illustrate a simile. In this figurative language lesson, second graders are introduced to similes. They read the story Quick as a Cricket and talk about the similes used. Everyone chooses a simile and draws a picture to go along...
Writing
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Curated OER

Using Figurative Language

For Students 4th - 8th
Adding details and figurative language makes any story more fun to read! After reading two versions of the same story, one devoid of figurative language and one embellished, young writers are asked to add alliteration, hyperbole,...
Worksheet
K12 Reader

Figurative Language: What Is It?

For Students 6th - 8th Standards
"Lucky lady." "Straight as an arrow." Here's a figurative language worksheet that provides middle schoolers with six examples and asks them to identify the literary device modeled.
Lesson Plan
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Curated OER

Fall Similes

For Teachers 3rd - 12th
Fall is like a beautiful painting come to life—or is it more like an overflowing cornucopia? Practice writing similes with a lesson on figurative language. As learners review simile structure, they come up with their favorite similes for...
Worksheet
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K12 Reader

Working with Figurative Language

For Students 6th - 8th Standards
Are your middle schoolers able to identify the literary devices featured on this worksheet? They must demonstrate their understanding of figurative language by matching the terms with their definitions and label the devices...
Lesson Plan
August House

Anansi and the Pot of Beans

For Teachers 2nd - 3rd Standards
Anansi is a tricky character, but can he realize he's wrong and write an apology letter? Learners use Anansi and the Pot of Beans to practice writing, art, and figurative language. A series of activities are engaging for both...
Worksheet
K12 Reader

Shakespeare's Language: What's the Meaning?

For Students 8th Standards
You needn't be an actor to stage this exercise in reading comprehension. Kids examine Jacques's "All the World's a Stage" speech from Act II, scene ii, of As You Like It, and explain the literal meaning of the figurative...
Lesson Plan
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2
MENSA Education & Research Foundation

Magical Musical Tour: Using Lyrics to Teach Literary Elements

For Teachers 3rd - 8th Standards
Language arts learners don't need a lecture about poetry; they listen to poetry every day on the radio! Apply skills from literary analysis to famous songs and beautiful lyrics with a lesson plan about literary devices. As...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Figurative and literal language through the study of Shakespeare

For Teachers 6th
Sixth graders explore figurative and literal language. They study literary devices through short pieces of Shakespeare's work. Then investigate Shakespeare's works and life.
Lesson Plan
National Park Service

The Poet's Toolbox

For Teachers 3rd - 6th Standards
If you need a lesson for your poetry unit, use two poems by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow ("Rain in Summer" and "The Slave in the Dismal Swamp") and a resource on Elements of Poetry. The lesson plan guides you through activities...
Worksheet
Curated OER

Figurative Language: Simile and Metaphor

For Students 4th - 6th
What is figurative language? Introduce your young learners to the most popular forms of figurative language: the simile and the metaphor. Start by reading "Willow and Ginkgo" by Eve Merriam, and identify where similes are used. Then look...
Worksheet
Super Teacher Worksheets

Idioms

For Students 3rd - 5th Standards
If figurative language makes your kids feel blue or under the weather, use an activity focused on idioms to help them feel on top of the world. Kids complete a chart with seven idiomatic phrases, adding the meaning of each along with an...
Worksheet
K12 Reader

Adjectives and Alliteration

For Students 1st - 3rd Standards
Whether it's in a tiny town or a fabulous feast, alliteration makes what you're saying more interesting! Practice figurative language with a instructional activity that prompts class members to replace the adjective to make an...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

"Snapshot" Exercises & Sensory Detail Word Bank

For Teachers 2nd - 12th
Read a sample of creative descriptive writing to your science class. Discuss how writing can be used to record and communicate observations that scientists make. Reading selections and thought-provoking questions are suggested. Also...
Worksheet
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K12 Reader

Adventures with Alliteration! - Nouns

For Students 2nd - 3rd Standards
Create poetry with a worksheet based on alliterative phrases. After reviewing ten nouns, kids add an adjective to each based on the first letter of the noun. They then rewrite five sentences to involve more alliteration.