Flavored with Figurative Language

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Flavored with Figurative Language
Activities to Familiarize Students with Figures
of Speech
All that reading is making him as wise as an owl!
Hes such a bookworm!
Whooo went the owl as he flew through the night
on silent wings
By Laura Beth Fitzgerald Rockingham County Schools

• Bethany Elementary School
• Third Grade

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• Aligned with NCSCOS
• Grades 3-5 Language Arts Objectives
• 1.03 Identify key words and discover their
  meanings
• and relationships through a variety of
  strategies.
• 1.04 Increase reading and writing vocabulary
  through
• wide reading.
• word study.
• knowledge of multiple meanings of words.
• examining the author's craft.
• 2.04 Identify and interpret elements of
  fiction and nonfiction and support by
  referencing the text to determine the
  author's use of figurative language (e.g.,
  simile, metaphor, personification, imagery).

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What does the Research Say?
Similes
Oxymoron
Metaphors
Personification
Onomatopoeia
Idioms
Hyperbole
Alliteration
Puns
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According to research
The English language is potentially overwhelming.
About 70 of the words derive from Latin, French,
or Greek, and about 22 from German. Furthermore,
the language is large, with nearly one million
meaningful lexemes, including words, idioms
other figures of speech, prefixes, roots, and
suffixes.

• Figurative language goes beyond the literal
  meaning of words to create a fresh way of looking
  at an idea. Poetry and songs are rooted in
  figures of speech.

• Word-conscious students are primed to learn
  vocabulary. They are motivate and interested in
  language, inquisitive about words, phrases, and
  expressions.

• The National Panel Report (2002) states that
  data suggests that text comprehension is
  enhanced when readers actively relate the ideas
  represented in print to their own knowledge and
  experiences and construct mental representations
  in memory.

• English Language Learners (ELLs) may be working
  diligently to translate concepts literally, so
  figurative language such as "crocodile tears" or
  "sweet tooth" can be perplexing.

• In A Child Becomes a Reader, it states that by
  the end of third grade, students begin to use
  literary words and sentences in their writing,
  such as figurative language expressions.

• According to the AFT, idiomatic and figurative
  language are significant components of Semantics,
  or knowledge of language structure.
• (Teaching Reading IS Rocket Science!).

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Literacy Structures
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Literal Language Words or Phrases that mean
exactly what they say!

• You burst my bubble!

POP!!
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Figurative Language

• Words or phrases that mean something different
  than the literal, or actual, meaning of the words.

When Mary told about my surprise party, she
burst my bubble!
Were having a surprise party for Lucy tomorrow
at school!
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Idiom A saying whose meaning cannot be
understood from the individual words in it.
The apple doesnt fall far from the tree in our
family!
Ive heard money doesnt grow on treesbut
books?!?!
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Research the origins and meanings of Idioms,
using Scholastics Dictionary of Idioms!
Sleep tight! Dont let the bedbugs bite!
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Love is in the Air
Is in the Air, too!
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Monkey See, Monkey Do!

• Hear NO EvilSee NO EvilSpeak NO Evil!

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Examples of Idioms
Use Scholastics Dictionary of Idioms!
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AlliterationPhrases that begin with the same
sound, as in tongue twisters!
She sells seashells by the seashore. How many
seashells did she sell?
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Examples of Alliteration

• 1. How much wood could a woodchuck chuck if a
  woodchuck could chuck wood?
• 2. She sells seashells by the seashore. How many
  seashells did she sell?
• 3. Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers.
  How many pecks of pickled peppers did Peter Piper
  pick?
• 4. Fuzzy Wuzzy was a bear. Fuzzy Wuzzy had no
  hair!
• 5. Cindy's sister, Suzy, sits sideways on a
  slippery slope.
• 6. Big black bugs bleed blue blood.

Im Terry the terrific tongue twister tycoon!
Can you say it three times really fast?!?
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Personification Giving a personal quality to a
nonliving thing.
The wind whistled through the trees
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Examples of Personification
The stars danced playfully in the moonlit sky.
The run down house appeared depressed. The
first rays of morning tiptoed through the meadow.
She did not realize that opportunity was
knocking at her door. He did not realize that
his last chance was walking out the door. The
bees played hide and seek with the flowers as
they buzzed from one to another. The wind howled
its mighty objection. The snow swaddled the
earth like a mother would her infant child. The
river swallowed the earth as the water continued
to rise higher and higher. Time flew and before
we knew it, it was time for me to go home. The
ocean waves lashed out at the boat and the storm
continued to brew. My computer throws a fit
every time I try to use it. The thunder grumbled
like an old man. The flowers waltzed in the
gentle breeze. Her life passed her by. The sun
glared down at me from sky. The moon winked at
me through the clouds above. The wind sang
through the meadow. The car was suffering and
was in need of some TLC. At precisely 630 am my
alarm clock sprang to life. The window panes
were talking as the wind blew through them. The
ocean danced in the moonlight. The words
appeared to leap off of the paper as she read the
story. The phone awakened with a mighty ring.
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A Bicycle Spoke Poems by Jack PrelutskyExcerpt
from It's Raining Pigs and NoodlesCan you find
the personification?
The buttons were frightened, the butter stood
pat, as socks offered punch to a top in a hat. A
cake pounded hard when a lock sang off-key, a
plum bobbed a bit, which the saw didn't see.
A bicycle spoke, and a clock stopped to hear.
The tulip blew kisses, the rose shed a tear. A
package was rapt, though the shoes werent
swayed The cashews went crazy, a knot was afraid.
The chair took the floor, for the knight wouldn't
stand, the benches were bored when the iron was
banned. The tires grew weary, the forks hit the
hay, the trees left the scene, as the cheese led
the way.
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Simile A figure of speech that compares two
unlike things, using the words "like" or "as".
Im as busy as a bee!
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This is the one, Charlie Brown! This little tree
is as pretty as a picture!
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Examples of Similes
1. stinky as a skunk 14. tough as nails 2.
climb like a monkey 15. rough as
sandpaper 3. fast as a cheetah 16. light as
a feather 4. big as an elephant 17. slow as
molasses 5. quiet as a mouse 18. run like
the wind 6. blind as a bat 19. float
like a butterfly 7. fat as a pig 20. sting
like a bee 8. eyes like an eagle 21.
pretty as a picture 9. curious as a cat 22.
swim like a fish 10. smart as a whip
23. colorful as a rainbow 11. eat like a pig
24. slow as a turtle 12. lazy as a
lizard 25. hungry as a pig 13. red as a
lobster
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MetaphorAn expression that compares two unlike
things directly!
Gobble, Gobble, Gobble
You are such a turkey!
He is a loose cannon! What a nut!
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Examples of Metaphors

• He is a real night owl.
• That driver is such a road hog!
• The book is a journey...
• The football game was a battle.
• The storm was a disaster.
• Our classroom is a zoo!
• My bedroom is a pig sty!
• New York City is a concrete jungle!
• My brother is a bear when he is tired!
• My sister is such a nut!
• My toes are ice cubes!
• My dad is such a gorilla!

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(No Transcript)
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Im as tired as a wet fish!
Splish, Splash
Sounds like you have a frog in your throat!
RIBBIT!
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Examples of Onomatopoeia

• SMOOOCH! SMACK!!!
• swishhh... tick-tock...
• hoooooo... WHOOOOO....
• splash! whewww...
• skreeeech!!! BOOOM!
• squeeeek! SCREEECH!
• meeowww... buzzzz...
• ring, ring... swish, swish...
• ding...dong... ROARRRR!!!
• clip, clop zzzzzzz
• BAMMM! weee-ewww...
• CRAAASH!! HONK! HONK!
• duntun... VROOM!
• ummmm... WHOO-WHOO...
• beep-beep... AAAAAAAHHH!!

HAHAHA!!!
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OxymoronA Contradiction in terms.
My friends call me Shorty!
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Examples of Oxymoron
open secret larger half clearly confused act
naturally alone together cold hot
chocolate found missing deafening silence
civil engineer seriously funny living dead
Microsoft Works military intelligence tragic
comedy jumbo shrimp Advanced BASIC unbiased
opinion virtual reality definite maybe pretty
ugly original copies same difference plastic
glasses almost exactly constant variable even
odds minor crisis extinct life genuine
imitation exact estimate only choice freezer
burn free love working holiday clearly
confused rolling stop
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Figurative Language Jeopardy
In collaborative groups, this follow-up game can
be used as a review or summative assessment.
Figurative Language\Figurative Language
Jeopardy.ppt
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Figurative Language Activities

• Reading
• Engage and motivate students with childrens
  literature that contains figures of speech (see
  following list)!
• Challenge students to find figures of speech in
  their independent reading.
• Find figures of speech in the poetry and comic
  strips!
• Writing
• Construct a Flavored with Figurative Language
  booklet that contains definitions, examples, and
  illustrations.
• Keep a figurative language log of favorite
  expressions!
• Flavor narrative and expository writings with
  figurative language.
• Make up your own figures of speech and
  illustrate. Make a comic strip!
• Try your hand at writing poems using different
  kinds of figurative language.
• Speaking
• Challenge your friends and family to interpret
  your favorite figures of speech.
• See how many figurative language expressions are
  used in a day? A week? Keep a log!
• Learn to Sing the following figurative language
  song!
• C\Documents and Settings\bfitzgerald\My
  Documents\My Videos\RealPlayer Downloads\Video
  Figures of Speech Song Educational Video
  WatchKnow.flv

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Figurative Language Resources

• Figurative Language In a Jar Metaphor,
  Simile, Idiom Learning Cards
• Scholastic Dictionary of Idioms (Over 600
  phrases, sayings, expressions)
• Daily Warm-Ups Figurative Language (Level II)
• Scholastics Idiom Tales series
• (The Long Arm of the Law, Slam Dunk, Over the
  Moon, Every Cloud has a Silver Lining, The
  Wild-Goose Chase, and Peas in a Pod)
• In a Pickle and Other Funny Idioms by Marvin
  Terban
• It Figures! Fun Figures of Speech by Marvin
  Terban
• Skin Like Milk, Hair of Silk-What are Similes
  and Metaphors?
• by Brian P. Cleary
• Crazy like a Fox A Simile Story by Loreen
  Leedy
• My Best Friend is as Sharp as a Pencil - and
  Other Funny Classroom Portraits
• by Hanoch Piven
• My Dog is as Smelly as Dirty Socks and Other
  Funny Family Portraits
• by Hanoch Piven
• Quick as a Cricket by Audrey Wood
• Adventures of Amelia Bedelia by Peggy Parish
• Poems by Jack Prelutsky
• A Pizza the Size of the Sun Its Raining Pigs
  Noodles
• Something BIG Has Been Here The New Kid on the
  Block

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Figurative Language Websites

• http//www.orangeusd.k12.ca.us/yorba/figurative_la
  nguage.htm
• http//www.kidskonnect.com/subject-index/20-langua
  ge-arts/343-figurative-language.html
• http//www.sturgeon.k12.mo.us/elementary/numphrey/
  subjectpages/languagearts/figuresofspeech.html
• http//languagearts.pppst.com/figurative.html
• http//www.missspott.com/figurativelanguage.html
• http//www.gamequarium.com/figurativelanguage.html
  
• http//www.frostfriends.org/figurative.html
• http//www.educationalrap.com/song/figurative-lang
  uage.html
• http//languagearts.mrdonn.org/figurative.html
• http//www.readwritethink.org/classroom-resources/
  lesson-plans/figurative-language-teaching
  idioms-254.html
• http//www.readwritethink.org/classroom-resources/
  lesson-plans/figurative-language-awards-ceremony-1
  15.html?tab5tabs
• http//42explore.com/figlang.htm
• http//www.eduref.org/Virtual/Lessons/Language_Art
  s/Process_Skills/LPS0205.html
• http//k6educators.about.com/cs/lessonplanskin/a/l
  essonplan46c.htm
• http//www.learn-english-today.com/
• http//www.usingenglish.com/reference/idioms/list.
  php
• http//www.poetryteachers.com/poetclass/lessons/te
  achsimiles.html

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Questions Comments
We love figurative language!
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The END!bfitzgerald_at_rock.k12.nc.us