As teachers, we all have favorite topics to teach... and a few topics that aren't quite so enjoyable. For me, teaching figurative language is like sinking my teeth into a cream-filled donut topped with sprinkles. (How's that for a simile?) Introducing Similes When I began writing this blog post, my intention was to make it short and sweet (just like my experience eating that donut!), but my love for figurative language enveloped me, and I got sidetracked. I ended up making a 13-slide PowerPoint that introduces the topic of similes to students. After five introduction slides, I included 10 practice slides where students must determine whether the given sentence is a simile, a metaphor, or neither. This is available for FREE in my TpT store. Just click on the image below to download it to use with your students. Using Similes to Inspire Higher-Level Thinking The other idea I want to share involves using similes in order to prompt higher-level thinking ac......

April is one of my favorite months of the school year because of Poetry Month.  It's fun to write, fun to read, and the students enjoy all of it!  Below you will find a list of activities that are perfect for celebrating Poetry Month. 1.  Poetry Flip Book With students, study the different types of poetry and create a poetry flip book that students can use as a reference throughout the month. Find the poetry flip book HERE . 2.  30 Poems in 30 Days Using construction paper or cardstock for a cover, have students create a poetry book in which they spend the entire month of April writing and illustrating poems.  We obviously aren't in school all 30 days, so you could double up some days or even assign for weekend homework.   3.  Poetry in Pairs After studying types of poetry, pair students up to write a collaborative poem.  They could collaborate in writing the poem from beginning to end, or one students writes a l......

Figurative language  is one of my favorite topics to teach! It's one of those units that pushes students to dive deep and use their analytical thinking skills. While I may love teaching figurative language, I realize not every teacher shares my same enthusiasm.  I'm hoping that by breaking down the process and sharing some of my favorite resources, teaching nonliteral language can become something teachers look forward to. **Don't miss the free organizer at the end 1. Start Out of Context Anytime I introduce my students to a new literary device, I like to give examples and teach them explicitly what it is. This is the most basic way of teaching figurative language. You simply want your students to be able to identify the type (simile, metaphor, hyperbole, idiom, personification, onomatopoeia, imagery, alliteration) and explain their answer. Activity Ideas: To accomplish this part of the lesson, I may simply write a phrase on the board and ask my stud......

I always look forward to teaching figurative language in my classroom, and idioms in particular. Students get such a kick (note the idiom here) talking about and learning new idioms and we really enjoy doing some fun activities to help kids build a stronger language base. Here are seven different activities that reinforce idioms and have worked well in my classroom: 1. Draw Idioms (their literal and figurative meanings) I like to put a list on the smart board or you could also give kids a list of idioms. After having students discuss these in pairs or small groups, we meet as a class to go over any idioms that they don't yet know. I pass out paper and kids choose an idiom, draw the literal meaning on one side (what it sounds like it means) and the figurative meaning on the other side (what it really means). 2. Do Charades with Small Groups I give each small group of kids an idiom to act out in front of the class, while the class tries to guess the idiom shown. ......