Poetry Language Features gives Year 5 pupils a completed example on figurative language, then three blank organisers for simile, metaphor and personification. Each organiser has boxes for a definition, a drawing, examples and non-examples, plus a hint for the non-examples. The three pages cover the England National Curriculum objective on how authors use figurative language. The answer key offers model definitions and examples such as 'The moon hung like a silver coin'.
Reading - comprehension
“Checking that the book makes sense to them, discussing their understanding and exploring the meaning of words in context”
The worked example asks pupils to decide whether phrases like 'As brave as a lion' mean what the words literally say.
Reading - comprehension
“Identifying how language, structure and presentation contribute to meaning”
The examples and non-examples boxes show how the same idea reads when it is written literally.
Reading - comprehension
“Discuss and evaluate how authors use language, including figurative language, considering the impact on the reader”
Each organiser asks pupils to define and write the device, then set it against a literal sentence.
A finished organiser sets 'The wind howled' and 'Her heart was ice' against literal versions like 'The wind blew hard'.
Pupils define a simile, draw one and write examples. The hint asks for a non-example that uses like or as but only states a fact.
The same four boxes for metaphor, with a hint to use a simile or a plain fact as the non-example.
Pupils give objects human actions. The hint suggests a non-example where a person does something ordinary.
Before a poetry unit
Go through the worked example together. Pupils then fill in the Simile page as a first attempt.
Group task
Give each group one device to complete and present. The class checks that the non-examples really are literal.
Reference sheet
Keep the finished organisers in books for later in the term, when pupils annotate a poem.
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