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5th grade · English Language Arts · Unit 12 of 13

Adages, Puns & Persuasion

Old sayings, wordplay, and why writers use hyperbole, stereotypes and anecdotes.

What your child practices

Your child explains common adages and puns, and the purpose of hyperbole, stereotyping and anecdote in what they read.

Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) teks student expectation: 5.3(D); 5.10(G) · adages and puns, and the purpose of hyperbole, stereotyping and anecdote

How we explain it

Children can open this short lesson before they practice.

  1. An adage is an old saying with a lesson: “Haste makes waste” means rushing leads to mistakes.
  2. A pun is a joke that plays on a word’s different meanings or sounds.
  3. Writers use hyperbole for effect and anecdotes to make a point. A stereotype is an unfair idea about a group.

Example: What does “The early bird catches the worm” mean? It isn’t really about birds. Getting there first helps you get what you want. Answer: people who start early often succeed

Adages, Puns & Persuasion in Texas

In the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS), this is unit 12 of 13 in 5th grade English Language Arts, after Spelling Smarts and before Sound Changes & Word Parts.

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 an anecdote?

    • a list of statistics
    • a joke with two meanings
    • a short personal story used to make a point
    • a wise old saying

  2. Question 2

    “Practice makes perfect” means…

    • nobody is perfect
    • doing something often helps you get better
    • practice is boring
    • you must be perfect to practice

  3. Question 3

    An ad says, “This is the best snack in the whole universe!” What is it using?

    • a pun
    • hyperbole
    • an adage
    • an anecdote

  4. Question 4

    What is an adage?

    • a long story
    • a joke built on a word with two meanings
    • a short, well-known saying that shares a truth
    • a list of facts

  5. Question 5

    “Don't judge a book by its cover” means…

    • read the last page first
    • never buy books
    • don't judge something only by how it looks
    • covers are not important to books

  6. Question 6

    Why might an author show a stereotype on purpose in a story?

    • to prove the stereotype is true
    • to make the story shorter
    • to list facts
    • to reveal a character's unfair thinking

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