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4th grade · English Language Arts · Unit 3 of 13

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.

Alaska content standards learning standard: L.4.5 · 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 Alaska

In the Alaska content standards, this is unit 3 of 13 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: Alaska Department of Education and Early Development

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 does this metaphor mean?

    The classroom was a zoo on the last day of school.

    • The classroom was loud and wild.
    • There were animals in the classroom.
    • The classroom was quiet and calm.
    • The class went on a trip to the zoo.

  2. Question 2

    What kind of figurative language is in this sentence?

    My alarm clock shouted at me to get up.

    • metaphor
    • alliteration
    • onomatopoeia
    • personification

  3. Question 3

    Which sentence uses a simile?

    • Leo ran like a cheetah to catch the bus.
    • Woof! Our dog heard the doorbell.
    • Lena likes lemon lollipops.
    • The frozen pond was a mirror.

  4. Question 4

    What is the difference between a simile and a metaphor?

    • A simile is always funny; a metaphor is always sad
    • A metaphor uses “like” or “as”; a simile does not
    • A simile uses “like” or “as”; a metaphor does not
    • A simile is about sounds; a metaphor is about colors

  5. Question 5

    What kind of figurative language is in this sentence?

    The stars were diamonds in the night sky.

    • onomatopoeia
    • metaphor
    • simile
    • alliteration

  6. Question 6

    What kind of figurative language is in this sentence?

    The icicles hung like glass fingers from the roof.

    • onomatopoeia
    • simile
    • metaphor
    • personification

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