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Focus on Figurative Language in Stories

Lesson Plan

Focus on Figurative Language in Stories

Objectives

Students build on the understandings they gained in Lesson 1 by examining and discussing images they choose from the readings. Students will:

  • identify examples of imagery, metaphor, and simile in the story “Dark They Were, and Golden-Eyed” (or similar text).
  • explain how the use of imagery and figurative language supports meaning.

Essential Questions

  • How does interaction with text provoke thinking and response?
  • How do strategic readers create meaning from informational and literary text?
  • What is this text really about?
  • Why learn new words?
  • What strategies and resources do I use to figure out unknown vocabulary?
  • How do learners develop and refine their vocabulary?

Vocabulary

  • Connotation: The ideas or emotions associated with a word.
  • Imagery: A word or group of words in a literary work that appeal to one or more of the senses.
  • Metaphor: A comparison of two unlike things without using like or as.
  • Figurative Language: Language that cannot be taken literally because it was written to create a special effect or feeling.
  • Simile: A comparison of two unlike things, using like or as.

Duration

40 minutes–1 hour, 20 minutes/1–2 class periods

Prerequisite Skills

Prerequisite Skills haven't been entered into the lesson plan.

Materials

“Dark They Were, and Golden-Eyed” was chosen for its use of imagery and figurative language to create mood or otherwise affect the reader. Stories such as Ray Bradbury’s
“All Summer in a Day” or “The Pedestrian” may be substituted. Teachers may substitute other texts to provide a range of reading and level of text complexity. 

  • “Dark They Were, and Golden-Eyed” from S Is for Space by Ray Bradbury. Bantam Books, 1966.
  • student examples of imagery from Lesson 1
  • reading/language arts notebooks
  • Lesson 2 Activity Assessment worksheet (L-7-2-2_Lesson 2 Activity Assessment.doc)

Related Unit and Lesson Plans

Related Materials & Resources

The possible inclusion of commercial websites below is not an implied endorsement of their products, which are not free, and are not required for this lesson plan.

Related materials and resources haven't been entered into the lesson plan.

Formative Assessment

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    • At the end of the lesson, students will have the beginning of a collection of effective imagery. Use the following checklist to evaluate students’ ability to identify examples of imagery, metaphor, and simile and explain how the use of imagery and figurative language supports meaning.
      • Student has identified several examples of imagery, metaphor, and simile.
      • Student demonstrates understanding of the use of figurative language to support meaning.
    • Hand out the Lesson 2 Activity Assessment worksheet to each student (L-7-2-2_Lesson 2 Activity Assessment.doc). Ask students to identify examples of imagery. Use the results to determine which students require further teaching, practice, or review. Observing the discussion and reading the collection of imagery in student notebooks will also indicate their grasp of imagery. Refer to the Formative Assessment for Lesson 1 for ideas on reteaching imagery and metaphor.

Suggested Instructional Supports

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    Scaffolding, Active Engagement, Modeling, Explicit Instruction
    W: Guide students to examine the way writers use language, focus on figurative language, collect examples they like, and compose pieces of their own that employ figurative language.
    H: Engage students with an immediate connection to the lesson by examining examples of imagery they have created.
    E: Discuss student examples of imagery and then move to examining how Ray Bradbury uses language to create an effect in “Dark They Were, and Golden-Eyed.”
    R: Have students collect effective examples of figurative language used to create a particular impact.
    E: Allow students to discuss which figurative language examples are effective and determine whether they need to rethink their choices.
    T: Provide opportunities for students to work orally and in written form with classmates and individually.
    O: The lesson guides students to examine figurative language through identification and analysis of the effectiveness of examples.

     

Instructional Procedures

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    Focus Question: How does the use of figurative language impact meaning?

    Do a round-robin (sitting in a circle, passing to the right) discussion of the images students created in Lesson 1. Pass out the index cards collected at the end of Lesson 1. Have students take out their reading/language arts notebooks. Say, “As you read the examples of imagery being passed around, write down two or three of the ones that you particularly enjoy. You are beginning to collect examples of figurative language.” Allow students time to read and write their examples. Have at least five or six students share examples they enjoyed and explain the reasons. Display the examples on the board/interactive whiteboard as they read. If some examples include simile or metaphor, point that out and ask students to explain them. Review the concepts if necessary.

    Have students read Ray Bradbury’s “Dark They Were, and Golden-Eyed.” Say, “As you read, watch for examples of figurative language, such as imagery, metaphors, and similes. Note where they are so that you can point them out later during discussion.” If necessary, quickly review simile and metaphor before beginning.

          Examples of imagery:

    • “the tissues of his body draw tight as though he were at the center of a vacuum”
    • “wind blew as if to flake away their identities”
    • “submerged in a chemical that could dissolve his intellect and burn away his past”
    • “the racing hiss of wind through the stiff grass”

    Examples of similes:

    • “old cities, lost in their meadows, lying like children’s delicate bones among the blowing lakes of grass”
    • “‘I feel like a salt crystal,’ he said, ‘in a mountain stream, being washed away.’”

    Examples of metaphors:

    • “A river of wind submerged the house”
    • “the rockets had spun a silver web across space”

    Before beginning a discussion of the language used in this story, ask general questions about the main character, the conflict, and the resolution so that students have a clear understanding of the plot.

    When you feel students have a basic understanding of the story, return to the matter of language. Ask, “Why do you think Bradbury chose some of the images and figurative language that appear in the story? Are they just for decoration, or are they important for other reasons?” Students should come up with comments such as “to create a mood,” “to make readers uneasy about what is to come,” and “to prepare readers for the change that is coming.” Ask students to identify connotations of the words Bradbury chooses and explain how they are important in creating meaning. Record their ideas on the board/interactive whiteboard.

    Say, “If you think that Bradbury wants to prepare readers for the idea that a major change is coming, what makes you think so? What are some examples of language that show this idea?” (Examples: Upon arrival on Mars, his wife “seemed almost to whirl away in smoke,” and “Earth people left to be baked like gingerbread shapes in Martian summers. . . .” and “This was the moment Mars had waited for. Now it would eat them.”)

    Ask students to continue their collection of figurative language by choosing examples from “Dark They Were, and Golden-Eyed,” as well as from the poems “First Snow” and “Eating Alone” to record in their notebooks.

     

    Extension:

    • If students need additional practice with similes, remind them that similes are the comparison of two very different things, using the word like or as to make the comparison. Use a familiar example such as “His smile was as bright as sunshine,” and ask students to identify the two things being compared (his smile/sunshine) and what they know because of the comparison (He has a blindingly bright smile.). Ask students to come up with a fresh comparison to complete the simile “His smile was as bright as ___” (e.g., the polished chrome on his sports car/the neon lights along Broadway). Remind them that the connotations of the words in the comparisons are revealing. A smile like sunshine would more than likely be warm, comforting, and positive. A smile like the polished chrome on his sports car sounds bold, expensive, and well cared for. A smile like the neon lights on Broadway would be flashy and easily turned on and off.
    • Students who are ready to move beyond the standard might begin a collection of figurative language they like by selecting some from the writing of their classmates. Later in the lesson, ask students to continue their collection of effective imagery by choosing examples from “Dark They Were, and Golden-Eyed,” as well as from the poems “First Snow” and “Eating Alone” to record in their notebooks. Although the tone of “Dark They Were, and Golden-Eyed” is not specifically addressed in this lesson, students are assembling evidence in the images they collect that will help them identify the story’s tone in Lesson 3.
    • Use the following questions for discussion:
      • Why are some examples of figurative language more effective than others?
      • How does figurative language contribute to the meaning of a text?

Related Instructional Videos

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Instructional videos haven't been assigned to the lesson plan.
Final 03/01/2013
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