Similes and Metaphors

Year 5 English

Victorian Curriculum: Examining Literature

Understand, interpret and experiment with sound devices and imagery, including simile, metaphor
and personification, in narratives, shape poetry, songs, anthems and odes (VCELT316)

LI: I understand that similes and metaphors are different types of figurative language that are used
to describe something in a creative way.

SC: I can identify and categorise similes and metaphors.

RESOURCES: Whiteboard, iPads or laptops, printed worksheets, picture books

Intro: Whole Class Instruction:

15 minutes Unpack LI and SC. Question students on whether they have learnt about similes
and metaphors. Can they define them?
Strategies:
Setting Goals Explain: Writers use similes and metaphors to compare things and create more
interesting images for readers. You probably use them all the time without even
Questioning realising.
Explicit
Teaching Write some similes and metaphors on the board:
Examples

He was as busy as a bee.

Learning
styles: The sun was a gleaming pearl.
Verbal/linguistic
Visual/spatial

Ask: What does this mean? Is this a simile or a metaphor? Why?

Define: A simile compares two things using like or as.

A metaphor compares two things by saying they are the same thing.

Similes and metaphors are a type of figurative language. Figurative language

describes something in a creative way.

Show YouTube video of examples of similes and metaphors in Pop Culture: start
at 45 seconds.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N3mrP77ZNv0
Pause and students identify similes and metaphors. What do they mean?
Body: 40 mins
Worksheet: Students explain what the similes and metaphors are comparing and
what they mean.
Strategies:
Multiple
exposures Name Vocabulary

15
Name Vocabulary

16
Figurative language describes something in a creative way. Figurative language describes something in a creative way.
Similes are one kind of figurative language. Metaphors are one kind of figurative language.

Learning A simile uses the words like or as to compare two things. A metaphor can compare two things by saying they are the same thing.
The sun was a gleaming pearl in the blue sky.
The space between the fence boards was as wide as a wire.
styles: The simile compares a space and a wire. Sometimes a comparison is
the opposite of what you expect.
This metaphor compares the sun and a gleaming pearl. It means
that the sun and the pearl have something in common.
Verbal/linguistic This simile means that the space is not very wide because wire is thin.
Read the sentence. Underline each metaphor and circle the thing it describes.

Read the sentence. Write the two things that the simile is comparing. 1. The parade was a colorful river of floats.
Then explain what the simile means.
2. Carpets of flowers moved down the street with ribbons of lights.
1. The dog shot through the fence boards like water out of a bottle.
3. Applause exploded as the Boy Scouts carried flags.
compares to
4. Waves of riders on horseback gently trotted down the street.

5. The high school band, a sea of white and gold, proudly carried a wall of sound
down the street.

2. The dog landed in a puddle that was as clear as mud. 6. Baton twirlers sent their shiny butterflies high in the air.

compares to 7. At the end, the audience’s clapping was a tunnel of thunder.

Read the sentence. Write the two things that the metaphor is comparing.

8. Later, the night sky was a canvas of painted light.

3. After shaking off the water, his fur was as clean as a coal mine. compares to

compares to 9. Fireworks were brilliant falling stars.

compares to

10. Skyrockets pop into a fountain of light.

compares to

CCLS CCLS
194 4.5a Explain the Meaning of Similes Language Fundamentals • EMC 2884 • © Evan-Moor Corp. 196 4.5a Explain the Meaning of Metaphors Language Fundamentals • EMC 2884 • © Evan-Moor Corp.

2884.indb 194 10/15/15 10:37 AM 2884.indb 196 10/15/15 10:37 AM

Aural/musical Students use devices looks up their favourite songs and search for similes and
metaphors – they can listen to the song – then write down similes and metaphors in
their exercise books and what they mean. 5 similes and 5 metaphors.

“Love is Open Door”, from the film, Frozen.

Visual/spatial Early Finishers:

Students write their own similes and metaphors inspired by picture books – they
find a picture and write a simile about that picture. They can also write down
similes or metaphors that they find in the book.
Conclusion: Students share similes or metaphors they found in music lyrics with the class.
5 mins