5th grade · English Language Arts · Unit 2 of 11
Figurative Language
Similes, metaphors, idioms and more
What your child practices
Spotting similes, metaphors, personification, hyperbole, onomatopoeia and alliteration, and explaining what common idioms really mean.
Alabama Course of Study content standard: 5.12; 5.R5 · similes, metaphors, idioms and more
How we explain it
Children can open this short lesson before they practice.
- A simile compares with like or as. A metaphor says one thing is another.
- Personification gives human traits to things. Hyperbole is a huge exaggeration.
- An idiom means something different from its words: “over the moon” means very happy.
Example: “Telling a joke helped break the ice.” What does “break the ice” mean? Nobody is breaking real ice. A joke at the start helps people relax. Answer: help everyone feel comfortable together
Figurative Language in Alabama
In the Alabama Course of Study, this is unit 2 of 11 in 5th grade English Language Arts, after Plot and Conflict and before Purpose and Structure.
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.
Sample questions
A taste of this unit. In the app, questions change every time and get easier or harder to match your child.
Question 1
What does the idiom “break the ice” mean in this sentence?
Let's play a game to break the ice.
- help everyone feel comfortable together
- end the party early
- start an argument
- smash frozen water
help everyone feel comfortable together
Hint: People play a game at the start of a gathering when they don't know each other well yet.
Question 2
Which sentence uses alliteration?
- Crash! The stack of plates hit the floor.
- Gentle gray geese glided over the green grass.
- The stars winked at us from the dark sky.
- Lena's voice was as calm as a still pond.
Gentle gray geese glided over the green grass.
Hint: Alliteration repeats the same beginning sound in several words close together.
Question 3
What does this hyperbole really mean?
Noah's homework took about a thousand years to finish.
- Noah's homework was finished quickly.
- Noah's homework was very easy.
- Noah's homework was about history.
- Noah's homework took a very long time.
Noah's homework took a very long time.
Hint: Nobody lives for a thousand years! The speaker is exaggerating how long it felt.
Question 4
What kind of figurative language is this?
I've told you a million times to close the door.
- hyperbole
- onomatopoeia
- metaphor
- personification
hyperbole
Hint: Hyperbole is a huge exaggeration that isn't meant to be taken literally.
Question 5
What does this hyperbole really mean?
My backpack weighs more than an elephant!
- My backpack is empty.
- My backpack is very heavy.
- My backpack is as big as an elephant.
- My backpack is very light.
My backpack is very heavy.
Hint: No backpack weighs more than an elephant. The speaker is exaggerating how heavy it feels.
Question 6
What kind of figurative language is this?
The old map was as fragile as a dry leaf.
- onomatopoeia
- metaphor
- alliteration
- simile
simile
Hint: A simile compares two things using “like” or “as.”