Friday, March 8, 2013

Figurative Language


Time for Friend of Foe Friday! This weeks topic is figurative language. Is this your friend or foe when it comes to teaching it in a classroom full of students? The 5th grade class that I student taught in last year found it confusing and frustrating. My supervising teacher and I decided to make a figurative language unit that would teach figurative language and poetry but also be fun for the students. We decided to cover different kinds of poetry for two weeks. We chose types of poetry that the students could enjoy and were easy to follow. We would discuss the type of poem and the figurative language that was associated with that type of poetry for a few days. Then the students would write their own poem like the one we talked about. At the end of the two weeks the students would have several types of poems that they had written. Students that worked hard on their poems would be able to participate in a “Poetry Café”. This would be a time for each student to share their poems to the class. We even made a stage and plugged up a microphone. The students really enjoyed sharing their poems as well as hearing the other student’s poems. I found that students understood poetry and figurative language more by writing their own and also by hearing how their classmates used the figurative language in their poems.  

Our focuses during this unit were:
Onomatopoeia – Onomatopoeia Poems
Rhyme Scheme – “My Favorite Things” Poems
Imagery – “Color of Love” Poems

For more information on these activities please view my resources at our TpT store.
           

During this week we also discussed metaphors, similes, refrains, and stanzas. Even though we did not have a poem that focused on these figurative language elements this unit is a great place to discuss these other elements of figurative language. We also used a PowerPoint as the beginning of the unit. We used movie clips, commercials, and song lyrics that the students were familiar with that included different figurative language elements that we would be discussing. A PowerPoint with examples is a great way to introduce these elements to your students. What have you used to introduce these elements? Have you ever done an activity similar to the “Poetry café”? Let us know if figurative language has been your friend or foe?
-           
~Manda

2 comments:

  1. Found you through the state linky! :) Glad to be a new follower!
    Jivey
    ideas by jivey


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    1. So glad you found us! Hopping over to your page now! :)

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