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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.

Maine Learning Results learning standard: Language 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 Maine

In the Maine Learning Results, 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: Maine 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

    What is the difference between a simile and a metaphor?

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

  2. Question 2

    Which sentence uses a metaphor?

    • The fog was a gray blanket over the town.
    • Seven silly seals slid down the slippery slope.
    • The trees waved their arms in the storm.
    • The kitten's fur felt like warm velvet.

  3. Question 3

    What kind of figurative language is in this sentence?

    Splash! Kenji jumped into the pool.

    • metaphor
    • alliteration
    • personification
    • onomatopoeia

  4. Question 4

    What kind of figurative language is in this sentence?

    Clever Carlos carried a crate of carrots.

    • onomatopoeia
    • alliteration
    • metaphor
    • simile

  5. Question 5

    What kind of figurative language is in this sentence?

    My little brother is as busy as a squirrel in autumn.

    • alliteration
    • personification
    • onomatopoeia
    • simile

  6. Question 6

    What does this metaphor mean?

    Maya is a walking dictionary.

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

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