Figurative language: Metaphor

This lesson is a part of a unit on poetry and figurative language. It is designed to teach students the characteristics of metaphor within the context of poetry.

A lesson plan for grade 6 English Language Arts

By Nancy Meyers

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Related pages

• Singing the "Song of Life": This lesson requires students to use their reading, comprehension, and analysis skills to analyze a poem and respond creatively to the selection.
• An integrated poetry unit: My students have always disliked poetry. The different ways in which this lesson approaches poetry and the connection it makes to their "March Madness" studies seems to make poetry more enjoyable, fun, and relevant for my students. In order to integrate with the sixth grade math and social studies teachers, I teach this unit during the ACC tournament to coincide with the "March Madness" unit that is covered in the math classes.
• A matter of identity: Writing an extended metaphor poem: Students apply their knowledge of literary devices by reading and analyzing the poem “Identity” by Julio Noboa Polanco. Students then create their own poem incorporating the literary devices studied and analyzed in the above mentioned poem. This lesson includes modifications for a Novice Low Limited English student.

Related topics

• Learn more about Langston Hughes, cooperative learning, language arts, literary devices, literature, metaphor, poetry, and writing.

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Learning outcomes

Students will demonstrate an understanding of metaphor by creating an original metaphor poem.

Teacher planning

Time required for lesson

1 hour

Materials/resources

• Copies of a poem which is a clear example of the use of metaphor. I use the poem, “Mother to Son” by Langston Hughes.
• Paper, pencil, chalkboard, or overhead.

Pre-activities

• Review what a metaphor is. Be sure students know the difference between a simile and a metaphor.
• Discuss how to recognize a metaphor.

Activities

1. Read aloud “Mother to Son” by Langston Hughes. Discuss the comparison of life and a stairway. Make sure all of the students see the comparisons.
2. Then I ask the students to think about other things one could compare to life. I put “Life is…” on the chalkboard and the students come up with possible comparisons. List 5 to 8 items, if at all possible. Among those we developed were “life is a roller coaster,” “life is a race,” etc.
3. The students selected one from the list and together we expanded it by listing details. One class chose “life is a roller coaster” and we listed those things which could be considered as shared elements of both. For example, both have ups and downs; sometimes it is scary; there are slow times and fast times. We then took these various commonalities and created a five line poem on the board.
4. Students then broke up into small groups and each student selected one of the “Life is…” comparisons from our master list, or came up with one of his/her own. The students brainstormed in the small groups so that each had a list of commonalities for his/her comparison.
5. Once these lists were compiled, students then took the items and created a metaphor poem of 4 to 6 lines. Each student was able to create a poem by the end of the class period. This lesson is also helpful for students with limited English proficiency.

Assessment

• The completed poem was used to evaluate whether a student understood the literary term metaphor. The completed poem could not contain any comparison which had “like” or “as” in it.
• At a later time, we read other poems and students were asked to identify the comparisons and decide if they were metaphors or similes. This was a way to see if students had retained the idea of a metaphor and could recognize one in another context.

Supplemental information

Comments

This lesson was just one part of a series of lessons on poetry and figurative language.