Merrin Mandigo
11-14-08
Topic of lesson: Poetic Devices Lesson 3- Similes and Metaphors
Grade: 3rd grade
Time: 9:45-10:35 (50 minutes)
Rationale and Context: This lesson will be the third lesson in a unit on poetic devices. Previously, students will have specific learned about rhythm, rhyme, and alliteration (all poetic devices that use sound and flow to enhance poetry). With the progression into similes and metaphors, students will begin to look at elements of poetry that use wording to convey meaning. Learning about similes and metaphors will help students understand the poetry (and other literature) that they read more fully, and will help them be more descriptive in their own writing. Similes and metaphors make poetry (and literature in general) more interesting and fun to read.
Teacher Content Knowledge: Similes are comparisons between two ordinarily unlike things using the connecting words of “like” or “as”. Metaphors are comparisons that are more direct; they do not use “like” or “as” and they generally say that one object is another-they substitute one object for another, indicating an implied comparison. Both similes and metaphors are used in poetry in order to add descriptiveness and get readers to think of certain images or ideas. By saying that one object looks, sounds, feels, or acts like something else, poets convey creativity, and give their readers different ways of thinking about ordinary things. These simple devices add a lot to poems in a few simple words. Similes and metaphors are used most frequently in poetry, however they are used across all genres in order to make the language more poetic and add deeper meaning to texts.
Desired Results:
Vermont State Standard
5.11- Students use literary elements and devices to analyze, interpret, and create literature (poetry).
Learning Objectives: 1.) Students will be able to define both “simile” and “metaphor,” recognizing the difference between them.
2.) Students will understand that similes and metaphors are used in order to add descriptiveness to poetry, to give readers more vivid mental images, and to make poetry more interesting to read.
3.) Students will be able to recognize similes and metaphors in poetry, and use these metaphors to interpret what the poet means.
4.) Students will be able to use similes and metaphors as devices in the creation of their free-verse poems towards the end of the unit (if they choose to do so).
Assessment Evidence: As always, I will formatively assess my students’ understanding throughout the lesson and game by asking probing questions and assessing student responses. I will modify instruction as needed. Also, the final portion of the lesson (the game) is sure to give me a good idea as to how well my students understand the content. At the end of the lesson, students will be asked to write an example of a simile and an example of a metaphor about anything they wish. Students will be given differentiated worksheets to help them do this, depending on their scaffolding needs. Summative assessment will come from identifying whether or not students can recognize similes and metaphors in the work of their peers, and include them in their own poetry as demonstrated at the “Poetic Devices Café” on the final day of the unit.
Learning Plan:
Accommodations- Cards for the simile vs. metaphor game will be differentiated based on readiness. Each card will have one dot, two dots, or three dots discretely located on a corner, so that I can match cards to students based on reading and comprehension abilities. The assessment pieces are differentiated depending on how much scaffolding different students need. I have included a song in this lesson to meet the needs of my auditory learners, and I’ve provided all students with copies of the poems to meet my visual learners’ needs.
Management- Before my students leave for Unified Arts, I will ask them to clear their desks except for their poem folders. When students return they will be given a few minutes to get situated, and I will call out “direction time” to begin the lesson. At 10:35, the lesson will end, and students will get their snacks for snack/recess.
Materials-
• Overhead projector
• Brainstorm Web (“Why Poets Use Poetic Devices”)
• Transparency with examples of similes and metaphors
• Transparencies of “My Little Brother,” and “Bedroom Ocean” by Ralph Fletcher
• Student Poem Folders containing above poems
• Deck of differentiated simile and metaphor cards
• Differentiated simile and metaphor worksheets
Procedure-
Introduction- As a hook, I will begin singing a song that I made up about similes and metaphors. Once I have captured my students’ attention, I will tell them that I am going to sing the song again, and that this time, I want them to listen for words that are unfamiliar, or that they’ve heard before but want to learn more about…words that they think might be our poetic devices of study for the day. I will sing the song again, and will lead my students to create a list on the overhead containing the words “comparison”, “simile”, and “metaphor”.
Instruction- 1.) Prior to delving deeper into these new poetic devices, I will call on different students to define and explain the poetic devices of rhythm, rhyme, and alliteration. In the morning message, I will have included several poetic devices, and I will ask that students pick out the examples that were in the message. I will then tell them that they are going to learn about two new poetic devices- similes and metaphors. I will explain that while the devices they learned previously dealt with the way the poem sounded, these devices deal with the word choices the poets made. I will tell my students that similes and metaphors are both comparisons. We will review the definition of “comparison”- finding a similarity between two things. I will explain that similes and metaphors generally deal with finding ways that two ordinarily unlike things are similar.
2.) On the overhead, I will show my students two sentences containing similes. One will use “like” to compare the two things, and the other will use “as”. I will explain a simile as a comparison that uses the words “like” or “as”, and as a class, we will interpret the similes.
3.) Next, I will show my students a sentence containing a metaphor. I will help them define a metaphor as a comparison of two things that does not use “like” or “as”. I will explain that while similes use like or as to suggest similarity, metaphors involve an actual substitution of one object for another. As a class, we will interpret the example of metaphor. I will then teach my students the song I began the lesson with, as it will make more sense once they’ve learned the terminology.
4.) We will then read two poems as a class- “My Little Brother” and “Bedroom Ocean” by Ralph Fletcher. I will read each poem aloud, and then students will read them with me. I will ask different students to point out the similes and metaphors, and through class discussion, we will determine what the poet meant to convey with each use of the devices.
5.) Then, as a class, we will discuss why poets choose to use similes and metaphors in their poems (i.e. they add descriptiveness, feeling, vivid images, new ideas/ways of thinking about things, an entertainment factor, a lot of thought in few words etc.). We will add these reasons to our brainstorm web of why poets use poetic devices.
6.) With the remaining time, we will play a game in which students are asked to pick a card from a deck containing sentences that demonstrate similes and metaphors. When it is their turn, they will be asked to read the line aloud, say whether it is a simile or metaphor, and try to interpret what the poet is trying to say (explain the simile or metaphor). When there are a few minutes left in the period, I will ask my students to summarize the learning. They will then be permitted to gather their things for snack and recess.
7.) During snack time, I will teach my students the included strategy for creating a simile or a metaphor, and will put up an overhead including directions that will help them create their own. I will then ask students to create one of each so that I can formatively assess their understanding of both.
Lola is as beautiful as a flower.
Joey’s eyes sparkled like diamonds in the sun.
Miss M.’s desk is a pig-sty.
How to Create Similes and Metaphors
1. Pick a person, place, or thing that you want to describe.
2. Think about what you want to say about that person place, or thing…what you want your reader to know about the thing you’re writing about.
3. Think of another object has this in common with the object you are writing about.
4. Write a sentence in which you link the two together to make your comparison. If you use “like” or “as”, your comparison is a simile. If you don’t, it’s a metaphor.