CCSS ELA Standard: 6.L.5

Demonstrate understanding of figurative language, word relationships, and nuances in word meanings.

Improving Shakespeare’s Repetition

Let's help William Shakespeare with his use of repetition.

Getting Specific With St. Patrick’s Day Writing

Let's take a starting phrase about St. Patrick's Day and get specific. No, even more specific!

Order, Chaos, and the Holiday Season

Let's write a holiday song about order and chaos!

Mother’s Day Cards

Let's write the cleverest Mother's Day cards you've ever seen!

Super Specific Similes – Strong Uncle

Let's make this simile about a strong uncle even more specific.

Super Specific Similes – Slimy Broccoli

Students will make this slimy broccoli simile seriously specific.

Super Specific Similes: Quick Baby

Let's make this simile about a quick baby even more specific.

Super Specific Similes: Loud Class

Let's make this simile about a loud class super specific!

Super Specific Similes: Stinky Seaweed

Students will make this simile about stinky seaweed super specific.

Idioms About Money

Five sets of idioms related to money.

Idioms About Fire

Five sets of idioms related to fire!

Idiom Tasks

Four fantastically terrific tasks for a weekly idiom study.

Idioms about Weather

Five sets of idioms related to the weather.

Idioms About Red

Five sets of idioms related to the color red.

Holiday Writing: Packing Crates

Students will look closely at this old image and write a short, structured poem.

Sets of Idioms Related to Numbers

Two sets of idioms related to numbers.

Five Sets of Bird and Bug Idioms

Five sets of idioms related to birds (and bugs).

Sets of Idioms Related to Body Parts

Five sets of five idioms, all related to body parts!

Sets of Idioms Related to Food

Five sets of five idioms, all related to food.

Antonym Paths

Does the antonym of an antonym bring us back to the same meaning?

Fancier Figurative Language: Use the Opposite

Let's start with "As cold as fire."

Fancier Figurative Language: Move the Simile

What if we started a sentence with the simile?

Writing A Thanksgiving Letter

What if an inanimate object could express thanks for a special person in your life? What would it write?

Remixing A Holiday Poem

Let's take a classic Christmas poem and remix it to work with another holiday!

Fancier Figurative Language: Advanced Repetition

Is your students' use of repetition limited to, "The girl was very, very, very fast."? Let's borrow some ideas from Shakespeare!

Advanced Alliteration and Consonance

When students learn about alliteration, it's hard to steer them away from goofy tongue-twisters. Certainly, there must be more powerful and practical ways of using alliteration. In this lesson, I draw on delicious examples from Shakespeare to show how a very advanced writer used alliteration. Then, I break those ideas down so students can try them out.

Sets of Idioms

An ongoing series to expose students to five related idioms.

Educational Valentines

Let's make valentines with an educational twist!

Fancier Figurative Language: Start with a Cliche

We'll start with the cliché "as cold as ice" and go somewhere much more interesting.