Wind Beneath My Wings

So......


I was doing a series of lessons with my class on figurative language, since that's a tested skill here in TN.  (I'll put some lesson ideas after this short anecdote.)  Well, we were playing a class game of Jeopardy, boys against girls (as if pre-pubescent 4th graders would have it any other way). The question was "What is meant by 'You are the wind beneath my wings'?"  After some thought, B answered: "But.........why would you want to break wind under somebody's wings?" -_-  Needless to say, both the class and I guffawed for a few minutes, aaaaaand I continued figurative language into the next couple of days.  LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Random moments can be so much FUN!


Now........... for the figurative language ideas:

• After instructing the students on figurative language terms, i.e. simile, metaphor, onomatopoeia, hyperbole, etc., have them make a book illustrating each term.  Simple, but it's a great way for them to be creative, and for them to show you what they've learned.  One of my kids wrote "If I don't get some candy soon, my head's gonna explode!"  He drew a picture of a head exploding with brain bits everywhere, but I KNEW that HE knew what hyperbole was. Ha. Yeah, ya didn't freak me out. One point for Ms. Jenn. *side eye*

• Have the kids make a circle.  Pick one student to be "it". (I'll write a post later on cool ways to pick students... "That ain't fair!" gets soooooo old!)  Tape one of the terms on their back.  Go around the circle, having kids come up with examples for that term.  When they guess it, they return to the circle, another kid is "it", and the learning is continued with a different term. Easy.

• Hink Pinks!!!! (I've also seen them as "Hinky Pinkies" and "Hinkety Pinketies") Hink pinks are rhyming words that answer a riddle.  To my understanding, the answers to hink pinks each have one syllable, hinky pinkies have two syllables and hinkety pinketies have three syllables.  WHAT IN THE HECK IS MS. JENN TALKING ABOUT???!!?!?!?  Mmkay.  Example: A green mineral made into a cutting device *cue Jeopardy theme*  Give up?  A Jade blade. Ha haaa!!!! A large branch?  A big twig!!!! Brain teaser.  Synonyms. Poetry tool. Cooperative learning technique. Icebreaker. Heck, even SAYING it makes ME laugh, but I'm a dork. LOL!!!!

Arrange the kids in a circle. Pretend you're holding a ball. (Whoops! "sphere"; let's incorporate some math vocab in there...cross-curricular....SCORE!) This "sphere" causes onomatopoeia to come out of everyone that touches it.  The spectators' job is to guess what item/animal the sound is from.  It's sooooo much fun! The kids act like they're holding a ball and belt out all KINDS of sounds! Roooooar!!!! Boom!!!! Ssssssss!!!!! Riiiiiiiiing!!!! "Oh, nuh UHHHH!!!!" **pause** That was one kid's "onomatopoeia" for ME! *side eye* Mmm hmm.

• If you go to http://www.quia.com/, you can type in "figurative language" and come up with all sorts of activities.  The Jeopardy game is in there.  It's a really cool site!

      Til next time,


       Ms. Jenn