FIGURING OUT THE BEST WAYS TO TEACH FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE
It's no secret that I absolutely love teaching Math. These last two years, I've started back teaching E.L.A. One of my favorite things to teach in E.L.A. is figurative language. I love it! Everyone that has had a conversation with me has probably heard me say something pertaining to figurative language many times throughout the conversation.
Music! I love music. My students love music. So of course, I always use music as an opportunity to teach figurative language. I created something I call "Figure It Out". I play a snippet of the song and my students identify the figurative language. Another variation of this is Figurative Vs. Literal. In this activity, students are required to determine if what is being said is figurative or literal.
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2. Another thing I like is for students to find the figurative language in their own favorite songs. It's super important that students understand that figurative language is used all the time to make things more interesting. I want them to recognize that they hear figurative language all the time. I created this sheet for my students to do. As always, I like to connect natural authentic experiences.
On this sheet, there is the opportunity to listen to and record three songs. If you want a free copy of the sheet, then click here.
3. My third activity I like to use to teach Figurative Language is using language they. often hear in normal conversations. I let students think of common phrases they hear me say, their parents say, etc. They write down. all of those phrases they often hear and then tell what the meaning of each of them are. Since. these are common phrases they hear often, they also explain how they know the literal meaning of the phrases. For instance, they either tell if they used the situations (context) of how it was used or if they see a connection between the figurative and literal meaning.
Using these activities really helped m y students understand Figurative Language better. I will always emphasize the importance of using authentic experiences. Yes, sometimes we will need to help students apply the experiences to the content being taught. Sometimes, they do it on their own. Whichever way they get there, using authentic experiences are vital in helping students truly understand content.