Students can define a simile in September and still write completely literally in May. Figurative Language Worksheets and Google Slides works from the opposite end: every page starts with a real sentence, asks what the writer actually meant by it, and only then asks the student to write one of their own. Naming the device comes last, because a label learned before the meaning tends not to survive past the end of the unit.
Why this pack helps
Figurative language is where reading comprehension and writing quality meet, and it is usually taught as vocabulary — seven terms, seven definitions, one matching exercise. That approach explains why students can identify a metaphor in a worksheet and miss one in a novel. Here each device gets interpretation practice first, identification second and production third, and the mixed review pages deliberately jumble the devices so students cannot guess from the page heading. The same content is supplied both on paper and as digital slides, so it fits a printing classroom and a one-to-one device classroom equally.
What’s inside the pack
- Printable worksheets for each device, moving from interpreting examples to writing original ones.
- A Google Slides version with drag-and-drop sorting and typed response boxes for digital classrooms.
- Reference posters for each device, with a definition, an example and a short explanation of its effect.
- Task cards and a sorting activity for centers, small groups or a quick whole-class review.
- Mixed review pages, a writing application task and answer keys for the closed-response items.
Devices covered
- Simile – comparison using like or as, and what makes one vivid rather than tired.
- Metaphor – direct comparison, including extended metaphors across a paragraph.
- Personification – human qualities given to objects, weather and animals.
- Hyperbole – deliberate exaggeration and the effect it has on tone.
- Idiom – fixed expressions whose meaning cannot be worked out from the words.
- Alliteration – repeated initial sounds, and why writers use them for emphasis.
- Onomatopoeia – sound words, from comic-book noise to poetry.
- Imagery and symbolism – sensory detail and objects that stand for ideas, as an extension.
Who it’s for
Grade 3 through Grade 6 English and reading classes, plus middle-school teachers reviewing before a literature unit. It is particularly useful for English-language learners, since idioms are the part of the language that vocabulary study never reaches, and for tutors who need self-contained material that works in a single session.
How to set it up in your classroom
Print the posters first and put them up as you teach each device, so the wall builds alongside the unit rather than appearing all at once. Worksheets can be printed per device or as a booklet; the mixed review pages are best kept back until at least four devices have been taught. For the digital version, make a copy of the slide deck into your own Drive and assign one device at a time rather than the whole deck, which keeps the task visible on a small screen.
How teachers use it
Teachers most often run it as a two-week unit, one device every couple of days, then use the task cards as a rolling review for the rest of the year. A second popular use is as a writing intervention: pulling the production pages only and asking students to add two devices to a piece they have already drafted, which makes the learning immediately visible in their own work. The sorting activity is also a quick and honest end-of-unit check, since a student who sorts correctly under time pressure genuinely knows the difference.
Editions, printing & file format
- Editions: a printable black-and-white edition of every worksheet and a color edition of the posters and task cards.
- Format: print-ready PDF plus a Google Slides link that prompts you to make your own copy.
- Access: digital download delivered instantly after checkout, with lifetime access and re-downloads whenever you need them.
Please confirm you have a Google account if you intend to use the digital version, and check the preview to be sure the reading level suits your students.
Frequently asked questions
Does the digital version need special software? Only a free Google account. The link opens a copy of the deck in your own Drive, which you can then assign through your usual classroom platform.
Can I edit the sentences? The Google Slides version is editable, so you can swap examples for ones from a text your class is reading. The printable PDF is fixed.
Are answers provided? Yes, for the identification and sorting tasks. The writing tasks are open-ended and have exemplar responses rather than a single answer.
Can I assign it to two classes? Yes, if you teach them both. The license covers one teacher and their own students, not other teachers or a whole department.
Browse more printable literacy units in Classroom Teaching Resources.
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