Data Project

Jennifer King

UED 496

Regent University
 During the middle placement of student teaching at Independence Middle School in

Virginia Beach, VA, I taught a unit on figurative language. The Virginia Standards of Learning

(SOL) require that students can “read and determine the meaning of unfamiliar words and

phrases within an authentic text” by “identifying and analyzing the construction and impact of

figurative language.” The sixth-grade English class the data is based on comprises 25 students,

comprised of 17 males and eight females. Thirteen students are white, seven are African

American, Non-Hispanic, three are Hispanic, and two are Asian. Eight students are bilingual, and

two students are English as Second Language learners. The pre-assessment (linked) for

figurative language was used to determine if the student knew figurative language terms and how

to identify different types of figurative language.

 A variety of activities were used during the instructional period on figurative language.

The first is an “Owl Moon” sort. As a class, we read the book “Owl Moon” by Jane Yolen. This

children’s picture book is often used to introduce figurative language as the descriptive language

used in the story offers a wide variety of sentences for students to pull from. Before reading the

story, students took AVID notes on figurative language. Then, as I read through the story,

students wrote down any examples of figurative language they heard. Then using their

Chromebook, students completed an Owl Moon sort (linked). Students used this drag-and-drop

sort to sort sentences from the story into four categories: personification, metaphor, simile, and

onomatopoeia. This was an important visual activity for the bilingual and ESL students to help

deepen their understanding of the vocabulary of figurative language terms.

To deepen their understanding, students completed digital task cards on figurative

language (linked), over a period of a week. The digital task cards are in a PowerPoint, and

students follow the directions on each slide. The slides required students to identify and create
examples of the different types of figurative language they had learned. By typing, using drag-

and-drop, and selecting their own images from the internet, students displayed their

understanding to identify and then create their own figurative language examples. For bilingual

and ESL students, visually appealing tools are essential for engagement to help explain and then

engage in difficult concepts. The task cards organize the activities in a way that benefits all

learners.

In a brief assessment, students selected their favorite piece of figurative language and

wrote an example. This assessment revealed that students struggled with understanding similes.

Similes compare two things using the word “like” or “as,” however, in the assessment, students

wrote sentences using the words “like” or “as” but did not compare two things. This showed

students that if a sentence contained these two words, it was automatically a simile. Students

used a Frayer model to take notes and discuss what a simile is and is not with a review of

similes. At the conclusion of this review, students took a brief 10-question quiz (linked) on

similes.
 As part of an asynchronous workday, students read an article in a Scope magazine, “The

Roach” by Angelica Guerrero. After reading the article, students answered questions on an

online worksheet (linked).Students had to identify onomatopoeias, metaphors, and similes. Then,

they explain how these different types of figurative language add to the story by determining

meaning. Finally, they had to write and explain their own examples.

The post-assessment (linked) on figurative language moved from students defining the

different types of figurative language to identifying and determining meaning. The post-

assessment provided students with short passages where they had to identify personification,

hyperbole, metaphor, and simile and determine the author’s meaning within the passage. This is

a direct reflection of what students can expect to see on the end-of-the-unit test and the SOL test.

The pre-assessment data showed that students could define and then identify hyperboles

within a text. Students were able to define personification but could not always recognize this

when reading a text. Lastly, the results showed that overwhelming students struggled with

defining and identifying metaphors and similes. Each of the six students whose works were

selected for this project struggled with defining and identifying figurative language terms. The

data from the pre-assessment helped drive the decision to use the figurative language task cards

to help build student knowledge and deepen their understanding over time.
 The post-assessment data showed growth in student knowledge by thirty percent. Overall,

students still struggled with identifying personification and always understanding its meaning. Of

the six students chosen for this project, four demonstrated their struggle with personification.

However, all students made significant progress in determining the meaning of hyperbole,

simile, and metaphor. All six students demonstrated increased understanding by being able to

analyze text.
 These results left me feeling confident that students could pass the figurative language

portion of the end-of-unit test and mid-year assessments. I did not administer these tests, but I

was able to obtain the results of the figurative language portion. Seventy-five percent of students

could correctly identify personification within a text on the end-of-unit test. On the mid-year

assessments, seventy percent of students could accurately determine the author’s meaning of a

simile in a text. The teachers I worked with explained that if an assessment conveys a seventy

percent passing rate, then most students are prepared to pass the SOL. Overall, while I believe

students grew in their knowledge and understanding of metaphors and similes, I would have

incorporated more opportunities to recognize and determine the meaning of personification. If I

could continue with the middle school placement, I would have created opportunities to spiral

back to student learning on figurative language as we moved through the unit and learned new

concepts. The activities could include reviews using digital learning platforms, like Gimkit or

IXL. While Gimkit is a gaming platform, making reviews fun for students, IXL tracks student

growth, benefiting teachers.