Figurative Language: Simile

Figurative language can really make a piece of writing 'come to life'. One type of figurative language is the simile. A simile is the comparison of two unlike things using like or as. Here are two examples of similes. The first example comes from the book Eggs by Jerry Spinelli.

"He opened his eyes and followed the river to the crown of the rising sun. It (the sun) was crisp and sharp and beautiful and smooth as a painted egg."

As you can read, Spinelli is comparing the rising sun to a painted egg. Two unlike things that are in his mind, beautiful. My second example is one I just made up.

The fifth grade students sounded like a steam train coming down the hall. Here, I am comparing fifth grade students to a steam train. Two unlike things, that sometimes sound very much alike!

Please post your own similes in the comments section. Thanks to those who post!

St. Patrick's Day Limericks

Welcome bloggers. At school today, we celebrated St. Patrick's day by creating some old fashioned limericks. We would love to see more creative limericks. So, please post some of your own limericks in the comments sections. Don't know what a limerick is? Click the work limerick and it will take you to 'How to Write a limerick' by Bruce Lansky on the website Giggle Poetry. Enjoy! And as always, thanks for sharing!!!

Personification

The sunrise's beems greated me this morning as I was making my way into door number 2. This is my example of personification. If you know what personification means, please post your ideas for all readers. If you don't know, you might consider looking it up in a dictionary; and then posting your own examples of personification. Thanks to those who share!

SMARTBoard Podcast

Good news! I'd like to share with the readers of this blog that an idea that started in my classroom was given some impressive attention. A SMARTBoard file I created (with the help of my students) was used on an award winning podcast ( pdtogo.com ). It's a file that we use in the classroom to sharpen our Scrabble skills. I've been listening to this podcast since the beginning of last year and to be the "main event" was very special to me. Thanks to those who helped out. Please take the time to check out the podcast as Ben & Joan always have great ideas to share. Luckily, I also got to share this week. Enjoy!

http://pdtogo.com/smart/

Favorite Quotes

And March is finally upon us! "Why?" you ask, am I so excited about the beginning of March. Well, let's say I'm a big fan of college basketball, and we'll leave it at that. I'm really wanting to talk about the post today. Words spoken by people to inspire, educate, motivate, and or entertain are powerful examples of the use of words. There are many quotations people use to carry out their everyday lives. I'm curious to see what quotations the readers of this blog use or know of that they feel are inspiring, motivating, and or entertaining. I've got a few I'll share in the comments section. Feel free to comment or share some yourself. Thanks in advance for your post!

P.S. REREAD your post before you publish.

February 2009

Today is the last day of February! There were lots of fun-filled events that happened during the shortest month of the year and I would love to read about what you enjoyed or remembered most. There was the Sock Hop to start the month out followed by Valentine's Day, No School on Presidents' Day, the ARES Book Fair, Culver's Night, conferences, and finally the early release in which we saw a little snow fall (okay, a lot of snowfall). These are just some of the things that went on in February I remembered after looking in my school planner. For those who post, please let the people who read this blog know what you enjoyed most during the past month. This may take a bit more than a sentence or two, so take your time as you post. Also, please remember to take the extra minute or two to REREAD your post before publishing (your audience will appreciate that!) Thanks to those who post and enjoy your weekend!

Snowy Day

What a snowy day! I was just curious to see what all the readers of this blog did Thursday afternoon as the snow came down in the Southern Metro. I went to the club to get a workout in. What did you do? Can't wait to see what the readers were up to.  

Favorite reading spot

Two questions for today. First of all, where is your favorite place to read? And then, when is your favorite time of the day to read? For me, I really enjoy waking up, grabbing a warm blanket, and heading down to my 'pillowy' couch to dive into a book. There is a certain calmness in the morning that really helps me focus and get the day started on the right foot.  I'm also a big fan of reading in my bed before going to sleep, but I think most good readers enjoy that. I'd like to hear about the other places you enjoy your literature. As always, I'll be excited to see your posts. Make today a great one!

Keep the poems coming!!!

Wow! Another night of 4 blog posts! That's two nights in a row. Looks like people are taking the time to write some poetry after school. You make your teacher very proud. Now, to step things up a little, let's make sure we are using dictionaries and double (and maybe even triple) checking our work to make sure it makes sense and looks good. I hope you are enjoying this blog as much as I am. Reading your work is as much fun as it is educational. Thanks for your work, and keep those poems coming!

Super Bowl clerihews

Last name Warner, first name Kurt, 

In the Super Bowl he won't be hurt, 

Dropping touchdowns from the sky, 

We both graduated from U.N.I.!

Flying down the field is Larry, 

For defenders he looks scary,

Holy Angels was his high school team, 

Now he's trying to fulfill his dream.

Number 43 is Troy,

Defense is what brings him joy,

He can swipe away the ball, 

Or hit you hard and you will fall.

"Enjoy the day","I will," said Troy, 

And out the door did go that boy,

Running through the frozen streets, 

Making music with his 'feets'.

These are some clerihews I came up with. If you are a football fan, I'm sure you'll understand the first three. The last one is one I'm still working on, but decided to throw it out there anyway. Feets is probably a word a teacher shouldn't be using, but in a poem it just might be alright. Make today a great one!