3 Types of Literal & Nonliteral Words and Phrases for Valentine's Day (Idioms, Similes, Metaphors) FREEBIE

Valentine's Day is the PERFECT holiday to have fun learning literal and nonliteral language skills with children!

We are kicking off this holiday by learning about idioms, similes, and metaphors.  Check out our progress!

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We began with our learning target, based on the Common Core Standards RL.3.4:
Determine the literal and nonliteral meanings of words and phrases as they are used in context.

IDIOMS

Idioms are incredibly intriguing for kids.  What does it mean to drive someone up a wall?

These engaging phrases lend themselves to humorous discussions and interpretations.

For our Valentine's Day Fun, we dove into idioms.  Once everyone got the hang of these, we used the planning sheets to draft some sweet Valentine's Day Letters to our loved ones.

Grab your FREE Valentine's Day Idiom Printable here:

SIMILES

We have learned about similes throughout the year, when examining some fabulous mentor texts, such as:

OWL MOON by Jane Yolen

CRAZY LIKE A FOX by Loreen Leedy

QUIET AS A CRICKET by Audrey Wood

For our Valentine's projects, we practiced some love-themed similes and then used Sensory Planners to compare common love topics to various subjects (Ex. Chocolate, Stars, Flowers, Mom, Dad, My friend, etc.)

METAPHORS

Learning how to write a metaphor adds such a special, creative twist for students.  We had fun using more mentor texts (My Mouth is a Volcano and I am Peace) and comparing similes to metaphors.

Once we got the hang of it, students were able to draw some sketches of what they interpreted Valentine's-Day-Themed Metaphors meant:

VALENTINE'S DAY CREATIVE WRITING: FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE

Once we were well-versed in idioms, similes, and metaphors the kids had a blast writing their own valentines for their families and friends.  

We even used these ideas to decorate our classroom door!

You can purchase the 36-page ready-to-print package of Valentine's Day Nonliteral Language Skills in my TPT Store!

Thank you for reading along!  

I wish you joy and luck on your literal and nonliteral discoveries.

Be sure to share with anyone you think may enjoy this!