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You are here: Home / 6-8 / Figurative Language Teaching Tips

October 15, 2020 · Leave a Comment

Figurative Language Teaching Tips

3-5· 6-8· All Freebies

Figurative language will make your students better writers. But, teaching it, especially to littles, can be a task.

Learning the differences between idioms, similes, and metaphors can be tough for students who have trouble with abstract ideas.

Let’s find some ways to make it fun, engaging, and memorable!

Figurative Language Teaching Tips

I have always LOVED to use the chapter book Punished! by David Lubar with my third graders. But you could always tell who understood the figurative language references and who did not by the laughter (or blank stares).

Figurative Language Teaching Tips

Using the same book with older students definitely resulted in more giggles as I read aloud.

It really shows how students who have not yet mastered abstract concepts might struggle with simple figurative language understanding, let alone expecting them to add it independently to their writing assignments.

6 Types of Figurative Language

There is an entire list for different types of figurative language:

  • Simile
  • Metaphor
  • Personification
  • Onomatopoeia
  • Oxymoron
  • Hyperbole
  • Allusion
  • Idiom
  • Imagery
  • Symbolism
  • Alliteration
  • Assonance
  • Consonance
  • Metonymy
  • Synecdoche
  • Irony
  • Sarcasm
  • Litotes
  • Pun
  • Anaphora
  • Tautology
  • Understatement

But when teaching beginning figurative language, elementary teachers tend to stick with these 6 types:

Simile – Involves the comparison of 2 things; uses the words like or as

Example: The boy was brave as a lion.

Metaphor – Figure of speech where an object or action is said to be something else, but not literally.

Example: My sister is the black sheep in our family.

Personification – Applying a human quality to something nonhuman

Example: The wind howled through the night and kept me awake.

Idiom – A phrase of words that means something completely different from the meanings of the separate words.

Example: It’s raining cats and dogs outside.

Pun – A joke that uses a multiple meaning word in a different way than usual.

Example: Why do amphibians take the bus? Because their cars are always getting toad.

Onomatopoeia – A word that sounds like the way it is read

Example: sizzle or whoosh

I know I said 6 types, but I live this one so much, I included a bonus figure of speech…

Bonus: Alliteration – A phrase or sentence that has multiple words that begin with the same sound.

Example: Sandy shows us her seashells she searched for at the sea.


Anchor Chart Examples

Need some classroom anchor charts to help your visualize learners? Check out these great suggestions below!

Love this basic chart that describes so many different types of figures of speech in one spot!

Figurative Language Teaching Tips

Lots of fun examples for basic types of figurative language.

Figurative Language Teaching Tips

Angry Birds never looked so good in a classroom!

Figurative Language Teaching Tips

The hand drawn images are adorable on this anchor chart.

Figurative Language Teaching Tips

Explaining the difference between figurative and literal language perfectly!

Figurative Language Teaching Tips

This idiom of the week chart is awesome! It can be easily changed from week to week and will really help students who aren’t familiar with many idioms.

Figurative Language Teaching Tips

Free Figurative Language eBook

Every Wednesday (or most anyway), I throw out a Collaboration Wednesday question and thanks to the fans at The OC Blog’s Facebook fan page, I was able to put together an 11-page freebie eBook all about ideas for teaching figurative language!

Very cool and thanks to all those who contributed in the newest eBook!

Figurative Language Teaching Tips

Enjoy!

What are your best figurative language instruction tips? We would love to hear them in a comment below!

~Charity

This post originally appeared at Organized Classroom.

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About Charity Preston

A teacher, mom, wife. Featured in Scholastic Instructor Magazine, NEA, TeachHub, and Edutopia, Charity has over a half million fans and followers all over the world. A former K-6 gifted intervention specialist, she has built and managed over 20 educational related websites since 2011, and collaborated with high profile companies, such as eBay, ASCD, and Pinterest. Charity is the CEO of PEN Group Online, Inc. where she has taught her classroom and teacherpreneur business development systems to thousands of fans and members.

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