My Family, part II - description through simile and metaphor

Title: My Family, part II

Author: M. Hill

Week: 4

Unit/Lesson Plan #: Identity

Unit theme: Identity

Textbook references:

Learning objectives:

- To give students a new tool for adding description to their writing: simile and metaphor

- To share student work on the identity theme of "family" in order to build classroom community

- To focus on parts of a descriptive paragraph, namely building topic sentences

Key Questions, Concepts, or Themes:

Stage 1:

a. Warm Up: On index cards, write a Simile, Metaphor, or example of Personification about something in this classroom (model teacher examples next to each), take out HW

b. Review the idea of personification, introduce simile and metaphor and add to Glossary of Literary Terms (Question: Why do we use literary techniques such as simile, metaphor, and personification in descriptive writing?) 

c. Question: What IS simile and metaphor?  In this setting, some students had firm understanding while others did not.  It seemed most useful to give students the chance to define these terms for their classmates.  Together, we built definitions of similie and metaphor, which students added (along with an example!) into their ELA Glossary of Literary Terms.

Stage 2: Give students, in table groups, one of the following from The House on Mango Street: "Cathy, Queen of Cats,""Laughter," "Meme Ortiz," "There Was an Old Woman She Had So Many Children She Didn't Know What to Do," "Sally," and "Edna's Ruthie." Students will be asked to read the excerpt aloud within their group (How should we divide the group reading? How should our voices be while we read?). Students will be asked to find example(s) of Simile and Metaphor in their reading and come up with an answer to the question: How are similes and metaphors important to description? - Discuss!

Stage 3: Students should create their own - 2 similes and 2 metaphors about their family to add to their draft. - this piece became a warm-up for the following lesson!

Homework: (attach/link digital resources):

Reread descriptive pieces (My Name, My Hair, My Neighbhorhood, My Family). Choose one (or 2?) that you will ultimately revise/edit/publish.

Assessments: (attach/link copies)

__ Group assessment

__ Observation of process/student work

__ Self-assessment by student

__ Teacher generated assignment

__ Written project

__ Test/Quiz

__ Other: ____________________________________