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2nd grade · English Language Arts · Unit 8 of 12

Word Pictures

Similes and sound patterns

What your child practices

Spotting similes (comparisons with like or as) and repeated consonant sounds, and what they add to a text.

Arizona Academic Standards learning standard: 2.RL.4; 2.L.5 · similes and sound patterns

How we explain it

Children can open this short lesson before they practice.

  1. A simile compares two things using “like” or “as”.
  2. “As soft as a pillow” helps you picture how soft something is.
  3. Pick something that really has that quality: flat as a pancake, fast as a cheetah.

Example: Complete the simile: as cold as ___ (ice or toast) Which one is really cold? Ice is cold. Answer: ice

Word Pictures in Arizona

In the Arizona Academic Standards, this is unit 8 of 12 in 2nd grade English Language Arts, after Grammar Gears and before Reading Detectives.

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: Arizona Department of Education

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

    Which is a simile?

    • like a rocket
    • the rocket flew
    • a fast rocket

  2. Question 2

    What does “as brave as a lion” tell us?

    • The person lives in a zoo.
    • The person is a lion.
    • The person is very brave.

  3. Question 3

    Which is a simile?

    • a busy day
    • the bee buzzed
    • as busy as a bee

  4. Question 4

    Complete the simile: as sweet as ___

    • a rock
    • honey
    • a lemon

  5. Question 5

    Complete the simile: as soft as a ___

    • brick
    • pillow
    • nail

  6. Question 6

    Which sentence has a simile?

    • Her hands got cold.
    • Her hands were cold.
    • Her hands were like ice.

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