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4th grade · English Language Arts · Unit 3 of 14

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.

Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) teks student expectation: 4.9(B); 4.10(D) · 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 Texas

In the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS), this is unit 3 of 14 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: Texas Education Agency (TEA)

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

  2. Question 2

    Which sentence uses a simile?

    • Grandpa's garden is a rainbow of flowers.
    • Lena likes lemon lollipops.
    • My little brother is as busy as a squirrel in autumn.
    • The trees waved their arms in the storm.

  3. Question 3

    Which sentence uses alliteration?

    • The leaves danced in the autumn breeze.
    • Clever Carlos carried a crate of carrots.
    • The kitten's fur felt like warm velvet.
    • The stars were diamonds in the night sky.

  4. Question 4

    What kind of figurative language is in this sentence?

    Maya is a walking dictionary.

    • alliteration
    • metaphor
    • onomatopoeia
    • simile

  5. Question 5

    What kind of figurative language is in this sentence?

    Clever Carlos carried a crate of carrots.

    • metaphor
    • simile
    • alliteration
    • onomatopoeia

  6. Question 6

    What does this metaphor mean?

    Maya is a walking dictionary.

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

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