Learning Similes & Metaphors In Texts About Dogs Topic, Grade Level, & Goals of the Unit This unit is intended for 4th grade students in a Language Arts classroom. The purpose of this unit is to introduce students to similes and metaphors, two types of figurative language they may encounter in their reading and eventually incorporate into their own writing. The goals of this unit are: • For students to describe what similes and metaphors are with 80% accuracy. • For students to identify similes and metaphors in text and to describe what they mean with 70% accuracy. (I chose 70% accuracy because this is the first time students will be introduced to this topic.) • For students to begin to create similes and metaphors to use in their own writing with 70% accuracy. • For students to improve their automaticity by 10 wcpm through the use of repeated readings, word games, and worksheets on topics about dogs. (I would give students a 3-minute assessment involving a passage about dogs before instruction, and I would give the student the same passage after instruction with the goal of increasing their wcpm by 10 words.) • For students to improve their expression/prosody through the use of readers’ theatre by 4 points on the Reading Fluency-Expression rubric in the 3-minute assessments. Resources (III) • Everything Dog: What Kids Really Want to Know About Dogs by Marty Crisp - [This text would be great for repeated guided reading. I could choose passages from this book for students to read and discuss in groups each day. I could ask students to describe the main idea of the passage, to compare and contrast different dog breeds, to define unfamiliar words in their own words, etc.] • The Complete Dog Book for Kids by American Kennel Club [Another informational text for students to read along with teachers or parents.] • National Geographic Kids Everything Dogs: All the Canine FaCts, Photos, and Fun You Can Get Your Paws On by Becky Baines [Informational text for students to use in paired reading with parents or peers.] • Skin Like Milk, Hair of Silk: What are Similes and Metaphors? by Brian P. Cleary [Picture book about similes and metaphors. Good for read-aloud.] • My Dog is as Smelly as Dirty SoCks by Hanoch Piven [Picture book.] • My SChool’s a Zoo by Stu Smith [Picture book. Good for read-aloud.] • Crazy Like a Fox: A Simile Story by Loreen Leedy [Picture book/read- aloud.] • You’re Toast and Other Metaphors We Adore by Nancy Jean Loewen [Picture book. Great to give students examples of metaphors we often use in everyday conversations.] • Stubborn as a Mule and Other Silly Similes by Nancy Jean Loewen [Picture book. Great to use to give students examples of similes we use in everyday language.] • My Heart is Like a Zoo by Michael Hall [Picture book.] • Owl Moon by Jane Yolen [Picture book with many examples of similes.] Websites (IV) • http://www.primaryresources.co.uk/english/PC_met.htm This website is a great way to reinforce what similes and metaphors are. Given phrases like “as hot as,” “as cold as,” “as brave as,” etc., students create their own similes. • http://canismajor.com/dog/topic1.html On this website, children can read profiles about specific dog breeds. Also, they can read articles about how to have a well-mannered dog and what to do when you first get a new puppy. • http://www.dogplay.com/index.html This website lists activities that kids can do with their dogs and describes why it is important for dogs to be active. • http://loveyourdog.com This website is basically a kid’s guide to dog care. • http://www.pbs.org/wnet/extraordinarydogs/ This website is dedicated to extraordinary dogs, whose hard work, love, and devotion not only enhance human life, but change it. • http://www.quia.com/quiz/234882.html This quiz challenges students to describe what famous similes and metaphors really mean. • http://www.kidsonthenet.org.uk/dragonsville/metaphor1.htm In this game, students must match phrases together to make metaphors. • http://www.myschoolhouse.com/courses/O/1/103.asp In this activity, students read sentences and decide if they are examples of similes, metaphors, or hyperboles. Advanced students could do this activity if they are ready to move on to more advanced types of figurative language. • https://www.superteachertools.net/jeopardyx/jeopardy-review-game- from- com.php?gamefile=http://www.superteachertools.com/jeopardy/usergame s/Feb201106/jeopardy1297119259.txt This game is a great way to review similes and metaphors with your students, or for students to practice identifying similes and metaphors at home. Performance Texts (V) 1) Readers’ Theatre: Always in Trouble by Alainee Calo I created this readers’ theatre based on a picture book Always in Trouble by Noah Z. Jones. I thought this would be a good text for kids to focus on reading with expression and fluency. I also added similes and metaphors to the text; we could discuss their meaning as a class. We would practice the text several times before performing it in front of other language arts classes. Narrator 1: Emma’s dog, Toby, was always in trouble. Narrator 2: On Monday, he got into the garbage. Ew! It smelled so bad! Narrator 3: On Tuesday, he ran into the road because he was chasing a squirrel! Narrator 4: On Wednesday, he ate a loaf of bread that Emma’s dad just baked. I bet he was mad! Narrator 1: On Thursday, he barked in the middle of the night! He was an alarm clock for the whole neighborhood! Narrator 2: On Friday, he peed on the rug and hid behind the couch! They thought about putting him in diapers like a baby! Narrator 3: On Saturday, he chewed up all the buttons on Emma’s new coat! Narrator 4: And on Sunday, he slept all day like a sloth! Emma: “Well, he didn’t do anything bad today. Maybe he will get better…” Narrator 3: Emma hoped. Narrator 1: But on Monday morning, he got into the garbage again. This time, he dragged it all over the living room! Emma’s Mom: “Something has to be done about that dog!” Narrator 2: Emma’s Mom said, exhausted. Emma: “Maybe he isn’t getting enough attention.” Narrator 3: So all day Monday, she gave Toby lots of attention! She took him for walks… Narrator 4: and brushed his fur… Emma: “I even sang him silly songs!” Narrator 1: But on Tuesday Toby ate a box of crayons like an unattended 1st grader! Emma’s Dad: “On Wednesday he jumped into the basket of clean laundry that my wife had just finished folding!” Narrator 2: Emma’s dad said. Emma: “But he was very good on Thursday!” Narrator 3: Emma exclaimed. Emma: “He was very good on Friday!” Narrator 4: she cried out. Emma’s Dad: “Yes, but on Saturday, he chewed up my favorite magazine!” Emma’s Mom: “And on Sunday he went swimming in the muddy brook and then ran across the kitchen floor! I spent all afternoon mopping up the mess!” Emma: “Maybe he needs to go to training school!” Emma’s Mom: “Well, that’s a great idea!” Narrator 1: The first class started the next day. There were ten dogs in Toby’s class. Narrator 2: Some were big and some were little. Some barked and some yipped and some growled and some whined. Narrator 3: Toby was as quiet as a goldfish. Narrator 4: He was as good as a kid who wanted to be on Santa’s Nice List! Narrator 1: He was as shy as the new kid in school. Narrator 2: He behaved perfectly at training school every week, and he did everything just right. When Emma said, Emma: “SIT!” Narrator 3: He sat. Narrator 4: When Emma said, Emma: “Come!” Narrator 1: He came. Narrator 2: When Emma said, Emma: “Heel!” Narrator 3: He stood right by her side! Narrator 4: At graduation from training school, he received a diploma with a gold seal! He was as smart as a scholar! Emma’s Mom: “I tacked that diploma right on the wall over his dog dish. I told him he better behave now since I knew he could!” Emma’s Dad: “But on Monday, he was right back to his old tricks! He got into the garbage again like a wild raccoon! He ran into the road like a deer in headlights! He ate the cookies that I baked, too!” Emma: “He barked in the middle of the night, so I couldn’t sleep before school. He had accidents on the rug.” Emma’s Mom: “He dug up the petunias Emma and I had just planted in the flowerbed!” Narrator 1: Toby was back to acting like a wild animal. On Sunday, he chewed up his diploma! Narrator 2: Emma took him back to dog school. The teacher said Emma must leave him with her for a week to get special training. Narrator 3: Emma was sad, but she agreed. Emma: “Okay…” Narrator 4: she said. Emma: “I missed him all week! I was so happy to see him when we picked him up!” Emma’s Mom: “I really hope he learned something this time.” Emma: “Please, Toby,” Narrator 1: Emma whispered to him. Emma: “You’ve got to be good now.” Narrator 2: Toby licked Emma’s face. He had a strange twinkle in his eye. Emma’s Dad: “You wouldn’t believe what happened! On Monday, he took out the garbage!” Emma’s Mom: “On Tuesday, he baked some bread like a professional chef!” Emma: “On Wednesday, he vacuumed the rug like a personal maid!” Narrator 3: On Thursday, he folded the laundry.