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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.

Minnesota K-12 Academic Standards benchmark: 2.1.8.1 · how words and phrases shape the meaning and tone of stories and poems

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 Minnesota

In the Minnesota K-12 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: Minnesota Department of Education (MDE)

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?

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

  2. Question 2

    Which is a simile?

    • the tree grew
    • as tall as a tree
    • a tall tree

  3. Question 3

    Which phrase repeats the same consonant sound?

    • slippery slimy slug
    • big brown bear
    • red hot ball

  4. Question 4

    Which sentence has a simile?

    • The wind howled.
    • The wind howled like a wolf.
    • The wind was strong.

  5. Question 5

    Which words use the repeated sound ck?

    • ring, bell, song
    • drip, drop, rain
    • tick, tock, clock

  6. Question 6

    Which is NOT a simile?

    • The moon is like a night light.
    • The moon is a night light.
    • The moon is as bright as a lamp.

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