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4th grade · English Language Arts · Unit 3 of 14

Figurative Language

Similes, metaphors and more

What your child practices

Spotting similes, metaphors, personification, onomatopoeia and alliteration (plus hyperbole at the stretch level), and explaining what figurative phrases really mean.

Alabama Course of Study content standard: 4.10; 4.R5 · similes, metaphors and idioms

How we explain it

Children can open this short lesson before they practice.

  1. A simile compares with like or as. A metaphor says one thing is another.
  2. Personification gives human actions to things: the wind whispered.
  3. Onomatopoeia is a sound word (crunch). Alliteration repeats first sounds (silly snakes slide).

Example: “The leaves danced across the yard.” What kind of figurative language is this? Leaves can’t really dance. Dancing is something people do. Giving a thing a human action is personification. Answer: personification

Figurative Language in Alabama

In the Alabama Course of Study, this is unit 3 of 14 in 4th grade English Language Arts, after Text Features and before Point of View.

Gradelings describes a child's practice on this unit as Beginning, Approaching, Meeting or Exceeding (Four practice steps). That reflects practice, not a report-card mark: the teacher decides the mark.

Source: Alabama State Department of Education (ALSDE)

Sample questions

A taste of this unit. In the app, questions change every time and get easier or harder to match your child.

  1. Question 1

    What kind of figurative language is in this sentence?

    The frozen pond was a mirror.

    • simile
    • metaphor
    • onomatopoeia
    • alliteration

  2. Question 2

    What does this metaphor mean?

    The fog was a gray blanket over the town.

    • The fog was warm and cozy.
    • The town was painted gray.
    • Someone put a blanket over the town.
    • Thick fog covered the whole town.

  3. Question 3

    What kind of figurative language is in this sentence?

    My alarm clock shouted at me to get up.

    • metaphor
    • personification
    • simile
    • onomatopoeia

  4. Question 4

    What does this metaphor mean?

    Maya is a walking dictionary.

    • Maya knows the meanings of many words.
    • Maya walks a lot.
    • Maya writes dictionaries.
    • Maya carries a dictionary everywhere.

  5. Question 5

    Which sentence uses onomatopoeia?

    • The icicles hung like glass fingers from the roof.
    • The leaves danced in the autumn breeze.
    • Woof! Our dog heard the doorbell.
    • The classroom was a zoo on the last day of school.

  6. Question 6

    What kind of figurative language is in this sentence?

    The kitten's fur felt like warm velvet.

    • simile
    • personification
    • alliteration
    • onomatopoeia

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