Today is rung 3 of 9 on this topic
Figurative language and author's craft
Can do: Identifies metaphor, simile, personification and idiom, and explains the effect rather than just naming it.
Why it matters
By Grade 5, texts assume figurative reading. A literal reader misunderstands sentences they can decode perfectly.
What it looks like when it's wobbly
Names the device correctly and then says nothing about what it does, or reads a metaphor literally.
⏱️ Two-minute check
"The classroom was a zoo. What does that mean, and why write it that way instead of 'it was noisy'?"
Solid looks like: The meaning plus something about the image or the exaggeration it creates.
The full activity for this topic · 15 minutes
Why That Word?
- 1Find one figurative line and work out the plain meaning first.
- 2Then ask the real question: why did the writer choose that, over the plain version?
- 3Rewrite the line literally and compare — what's lost?
- 4Hunt three more in the same text and rank them by how well they work.
- 5Song lyrics and adverts are the richest source; use them.
If it's too hard
Sort five lines into literal and figurative.
If it's too easy
They write a paragraph using three devices deliberately, then justify each one.
Say this
"What does it actually mean? Now — why say it that way instead of plainly?"