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Monday, August 1, 2011

Starting the Year off the Write Way! Day 6

I'm half way through my 10 day writing challenge. Today I'm sharing a lesson on word choice. I use the book What a Wonderful Day to Be a Cow by Carolyn Lesser to introduce my students to similes and metaphors (click the picture to read more about the book at Amazon). 
What a Wonderful Day to be a Cow (Dragonfly Books)
I know the title doesn't scream beautiful language but it is filled with wonderful descriptions. The book goes through a year on a farm.  Here are a couple of examples:


"He leaps and rolls in the snowdrift like a circus acrobat.  Tiny icicles sparkle on his muzzle, yet he is as warm as toast in his furry coat."  (Not about a cow - though that creates a funny picture! This one is about a dog.)


"The barn is a sturdy ship sailing on billows of snow, keeping the animals warm and snug and safe until spring." 


For the lesson I define similes and metaphors and then ask the kids to listen for them in the book. I stop after each page and we discuss the one on the page. Next we work together to write similes and metaphors about our playground like the slide is as hot as _________ or I ran across the field like a _________. Then I ask the kids to find one place in their current writing piece to add a simile or metaphor which they are invited to share during sharing time.

Happy Writing!

1 comments:

Mrs. Kennedy said...

Hi Debbie,
I think you should read I Can Write Like That! by Ehmann and Gayer. Lots of great lessons and mentor texts that could be used for writing. They recommend quite a few books with similes, personification, metaphors and more. I loved it! Christine

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