Day 75- Are you smarter than a 5th grader?

As it turns out, we in General Delk's Army are just as smart as our 5th graders! Well, maybe we can't name the parts of an animal or plant cell, or talk in-depth about DNA and genetics, or even multiply... but we can recognize some figurative language in different texts!

It all started then we saw the Figurative Language Tree that Ms. Corbett's class made.

Similes, Personification, and Onomatopoeia, oh my! My students loved looking at it, and I loved seeing what our 5th graders came up with. Then this appeared:

Ms. Waddell's Figurative Language Turkey! It was like a sign! The cosmos wanted my students to learn how to enhance their writing skills!

So, when Ms. Leahy found the poem for this week, and it had 3 different examples of figurative language, it was like manna from Heaven to my language-hungry soldiers!

Seasonally appropriate, good length, easy to read rhyme scheme, and a cute picture to color. Yes, this is the perfect poem. As you can see, we have already found the compound words and sliced them and found the winter words and underlined them.
Next, it was time to find the figurative language; simile, onomatopoeia, and personification.

Simile- to compare two things using like or as. (Example- She was as beautiful as a rose. The baby's smile was like a ray of sunshine.)

Onomatopoeia- Sound words. We have studies this skill, you can check it our {HERE}. (Example- Bang! Crash!)

Personification- giving an object the ability to do things like a person.  (Example- The leaves skipped down the road.)

The first paragraph uses a simile when it compares a car covered in snow to a cupcake covered in icing. The second paragraph uses onomatopoeia with the word 'scrunch' to describe the hound of the horse hooves. The last paragraph uses personification when it says that snow tickled people's faces.

When I pointed out that this poem was teaching 5th grade material to my first grade soldiers, you would have thought Christmas had come early. My soldiers were so excited to be learning 5th grade material! Of course, this breakthrough in higher education calls for... a CHART!

But, unfortunately, I used the last of our chart paper today when we made our A Chattanooga Christmas chart.

We made it to go along with our Christmas Around the World power point from yesterday. We talked about other countries' traditions, and I wanted my students to be able to share their traditions too! We had a great time doing it, but it did take the last of our chart paper. Never fear, I'll go on a search of the school tomorrow. We will have a figurative language chart, if it's the last thing we do! (which it won't be. There is lots more learning to do.)

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