5th Grade · Vocabulary · L.5.5.A, L.5.5.B, L.5.5

Figurative Language Lesson Plan for 5th Grade

A ready-to-teach figurative language lesson for 5th Grade, built around metaphors in poetry, idioms, adages and proverbs, alliteration and onomatopoeia, and identifying figurative language. Print the plan, print the practice pages, and you are set.

Approximately 47 minutes

Learning objective

Explain metaphors in a poem
Explain idioms, adages and proverbs
Identify alliteration, onomatopoeia and other figurative language

Materials

Metaphors in Poetry
Idioms, Adages and Proverbs
Alliteration and Onomatopoeia
Identify Figurative Language
Pencils, and whiteboard space for the modeled examples

Lesson steps

1. Build the background (5 min)
Introduce figurative language in plain language and connect it to a book the class already knows. Write the key term where students can see it all lesson. For 5th Grade, one clear sentence beats a full definition.
2. Read aloud and think aloud (I do) (10 min)
Read a short passage aloud. Stop twice and narrate your own thinking about figurative language: what you noticed in the text and what made you notice it. Students are learning the move, not the answer.
3. Guided practice (we do) (12 min)
Read a second passage together. This time students find the evidence and you record it. Push every answer back to the text with "what words told you that?"
4. Independent practice (you do) (15 min)
Hand out "Metaphors in Poetry". Students read and answer on their own. Circulate and ask individuals to point to the line in the text that supports their answer.
5. Share and close (5 min)
Two or three students share an answer and the evidence behind it. Restate figurative language one final time in the students' own words, not yours.

Check for understanding

Collect the practice pages and sort them into three piles: fluent, developing, and not yet. Any student in the third pile needs figurative language retaught in a small group before the class moves on.

Differentiation

Extra support. Students who stall: pull them into a small group and rebuild figurative language with concrete materials or a simpler text before asking for the written work again. Do not send the page home as homework, it will just rehearse the misunderstanding.

Extension. Students who finish early: ask them to write their own figurative language problem for a partner to solve, then check the partner's work. Creating a problem is harder than solving one and it surfaces whether they really understand figurative language.

Skills covered in this lesson

Figurative language practice

Questions teachers ask about teaching figurative language

What figurative language do 5th graders learn?

CCSS L.5.5.A asks 5th graders to interpret similes and metaphors in context, and L.5.5.B covers idioms, adages and proverbs. Sound devices like alliteration and onomatopoeia often come up in the poetry unit.

What is the difference between an idiom and a proverb?

An idiom is a phrase whose meaning differs from its words, like on thin ice. An adage or proverb is a well-known saying that gives advice, like don't count your chickens before they hatch.

How do I help my child explain a metaphor?

Ask two questions: what two things are compared, and what do they have in common? In the river is a silver thread, both are long, thin and shiny. That answer is the meaning.

Is there an answer key for each worksheet?

Yes. Each figurative language sheet has an answer key, with sample answers for the written explanations.