Teaching similes and metaphors is the first step in moving your students beyond literal meaning and teaching them to mature as writers. Students need to see and hear figurative language many times before they will use it in their own writing. Transferring these skills into writing is a long process, and your students will need frequent exposure to concepts such as similes for happiness throughout the school year to learn to identify and label this type of writing.

Here are a few tips and resources to help you build a simile and metaphor unit for your ELA lessons. These resources are intended for ELA lessons for grades 3–6, but adaptable for younger students.

Step 1: Identify and Define the Terms: Create Anchor Charts

Begin your lessons on metaphors and similes for kids and students of any age by defining figurative language, similes, and metaphors.

• Figurative language describes something in a creative way.
  
• Similes and metaphors are a type of figurative language.
  
• Writers use similes and metaphors to compare things and create more interesting images for readers.

Have you considered using a figurative language anchor chart? I love using anchor charts in my classroom to convey a skill or concept that students can reference. Create an anchor chart that demonstrates the difference between similes and metaphors. Limit the text and images on your chart so that you only focus on defining the terms and demonstrating the differences. Choose images that convey very clear meaning, especially if you teach language learners.

A simile compares two things using like or as. For example: The waves were as big as dinosaurs.

A metaphor compares two things by saying they are the same thing. For example: The waves were dinosaurs, pounding the shore.

Metaphors are more difficult to teach than similes. They often use fewer words and do not have the signals of “like” or “as.” 

Step 2: Model Similes and Metaphors in Literature

When introducing a new topic, include a few stand-alone examples from well-known authors. Demonstrate to students that their favorite authors use similes and metaphors in their writing to convey vivid imagery. After reading each passage, ask your students what the words are comparing and what they mean. Poems are also a great way to introduce examples of similes and metaphors.

For example:

In the Caldecott-winning book Song and Dance Man, Karen Ackerman describes Grandpa’s dancing and singing:

“His feet moved slowly at first, while his tap shoes make soft, slippery sounds like rain on a tin roof…(He) does a new step that sounds like a woodpecker tapping on a tree. Suddenly, his shoes move faster, and he begins to sing. His voice is as round and strong as a canyon echo…” (Simile)

The words are comparing his shoes tapping to rain on a tin roof and a woodpecker tapping a tree.

Patricia Polacco uses them in I Can Hear the Sun just as the geese return to Lake Merritt:

“Then they hear a sound in the darkness. At first, it was a soft distant symphony of rushing wind, but it builds like summer thunder, low, deep, and grand.” (Metaphor)

The author is comparing the wind to a symphony and a storm.

Step 3: Practice Identifying Smiles and Metaphors

Provide multiple opportunities for your students to practice identifying similes and metaphors.

Simile and Metaphor Practice Worksheets: When beginning, choose practice pages that focus on one concept rather than both. This teaching strategy can help students concentrate on and absorb a single concept thoroughly before moving on. Listed below are examples of practice activities from Language Fundamentals grade 4. Click here for your free simile practice page and metaphor practice page (from Language Fundamentals, grade 4).

Simile and Metaphor Drawing Activity: Use a simple drawing activity to help your students understand similes and metaphors. Give your students a list of examples of similes and metaphors and ask them to draw an example of each. Your students will enjoy being creative and this simple exercise will help reinforce the use of figurative language.

Step 4: Apply Similes and Metaphors in Writing

Once your students have practiced identifying similes and metaphors, your lessons can progress into writing them. Model the creative process of writing a simile or metaphor for your class and practice writing them together. Here is an example of how to help students make the jump from identifying similes and metaphors into writing them.

Before asking students to write their own similes and metaphors, it is helpful to prepare them with a prewriting guide to help them brainstorm a topics and ideas.

Prewriting Guide

1. Think of the first time you did something. Plan a description of that event. Answer the questions to help you.
   ex: The first time I went snow skiing.
   Write a simile that describes how you feel before the event.
   ex: nervous, excited
2. Write a simile that describes how you felt.
   ex: I felt like a kid on her birthday, wondering what’s inside the biggest present.
   
3. How did you feel during the event?
   ex: a little scared, uncoordinated
4. Write a metaphor that describes how you felt.
   ex: I was a baby learning how to walk, falling for no reason.
5. What verbs could describe the event or how you felt?
   ex: zoom, crash, fall
6. What adjectives could you use to describe the event?
   ex: cold, dangerous, thrilling
7. Write an example of personification that describes the event or how you felt.
   One leg wanted to go right, but the other insisted on going left.
   Remind students to check for subject-verb agreement.

Writing Prompt:

Write a description of the first time you did something exciting or scary. Include similes and metaphors. Use your prewriting guide for inspiration.

Additional ELA resources for similes and metaphors:

For additional practice with identifying similes and metaphors, check out:

Language Fundamentals
(available for grades 1–6) covers grade appropriate language and vocabulary skills.

You can also find individual simile and metaphor units on TeachersPayTeachers:

Daily 6-Trait Writing Bundle Weeks 1-5 grade 5 

Metaphor Poetry grades 3-6

Grade 5 Take It to Your Seat Reading and Language Centers: Similes and Metaphors on TeachersPayTeachers.

Grade 6 Take It to Your Seat Reading and Language Centers: Similes and Metaphors on TeachersPayTeachers

Note: Daily 6-Trait Writing is a great resource for students’ writing. This weekly unit on similes and metaphors gives your students practice transferring their understanding of similes and metaphors into their own writing. The lessons slowly progress students into writing their own similes and metaphors.

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Lesson ideas were taken from Evan-Moor’s Writing Fabulous Sentences and Paragraphs, Language Fundamentals, and Daily 6-Trait Writing.

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Heather Foudy is a certified elementary teacher with over 7 years’ experience as an educator and volunteer in the classroom. She enjoys creating lessons that are meaningful and creative for students. She is currently working for Evan-Moor’s marketing and communications team and enjoys building learning opportunities that are both meaningful and creative for students and teachers alike.