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2nd grade · English Language Arts · Unit 8 of 17

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.

New York State Learning Standards learning standard: 2R4; 2L5 · similes and words that appeal to the senses

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 New York

In the New York State Learning Standards, this is unit 8 of 17 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: New York State Education Department (NYSED)

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 sentence has a simile?

    • The kitten purred.
    • The kitten was very soft.
    • The kitten was as soft as a cloud.

  2. Question 2

    Which words use the repeated sound ck?

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

  3. Question 3

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

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

  4. Question 4

    Complete the simile: as light as a ___

    • feather
    • rock
    • truck

  5. Question 5

    Which is NOT a simile?

    • The snow is as soft as a blanket.
    • The snow is a blanket.
    • The snow is like a blanket.

  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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