Scary Similes and Metaphors: Grades 3-6

Monster-themed writing frames give students a single Metaphor or simile line with four ruled lines and a Name line beneath it, three to a page, alongside two extended sheets that add a twelve-line descriptive paragraph and a set of oversized display letters spelling out the title.

Grades: Grades 3–6
File type: PDF
Preparation: Print ready

Updated Jun 25, 2021

Subject: Writing, ELA
Topic: Halloween Writing, Similes
Preparation: Print ready

From the author

About this resource

Needing something fun and interactive for October, while incorporating figurative language practice in students' writing? Then look no further than this adorable monster display where students make up their own monster and write similes and metaphors to go along with them.

You can display this in a number of ways:

print out the included monster sheets and have students write about the monster they receive
create their own monster and then write similes/metaphors to describe their monster
Use only similes to describe monster
Use both similes and metaphors to describe monster
print out the triangles and have students complete this for a cool display

This makes a great, eye-catching hallway exhibit, perfect for October! A fun activity for practicing using figurative language in younger grades!

In the classroom

Teaching tips & learning objectives

Learning objectives

Compose an original simile describing an invented monster
Compose an original metaphor describing the same invented monster
Extend a figurative comparison into a full descriptive paragraph about the monster
Prepare a finished piece of writing for a classroom or corridor display, complete with the writer's name

Teaching tips

Run the metaphor pages and the simile pages on separate days - the two forms are printed on alternating sheets, so either can be issued alone before the two are combined
Hold the two full-page sheets back as the extension task: they ask for the figurative line first and then a twelve-line descriptive paragraph on the same monster
Every frame ends with its own Name line, so a corridor display can be assembled from several classes at once without losing track of who wrote what
Print the twelve letter pages before the writing frames and lay the heading out first; each writing sheet then supplies three finished pieces to mount beneath it
The frames without the My Monster heading suit a second round of writing, when students describe a monster they have drawn themselves rather than the one on the sheet

Skills covered

Simile writing - students draft an original comparison about their monster on the simile line and the four ruled lines that follow it.
Metaphor writing - matching frames set the same monster as the subject of a metaphor, printed on their own alternating pages.
Descriptive paragraph writing - the two full-page sheets pair the figurative line or lines with a twelve-line frame headed "Descriptive paragraph about monster".
Writing for an audience - a Name line on every frame and a set of oversized title letters turn the finished pieces into a mounted corridor or bulletin-board display.
Display assembly - teachers print and arrange the letters spelling SCARY, SIMILES and METAPHORS along with the two My Monster header pages to build the heading.

Good to know

Questions teachers ask about this resource

Are the simile frames and the metaphor frames on the same sheet?

No - they are printed on separate, alternating pages. Every metaphor page is followed by a simile page carrying the identical layout, which makes it easy to give a class only one form to begin with and introduce the second later.

Is there a longer writing option for students who need more than one sentence?

Two full-page sheets go further than the frames. One asks for metaphor(s) and one for simile(s) over five lines, and each then opens a twelve-line frame headed "Descriptive paragraph about monster".

What makes up the heading for the display?

Twelve oversized pages carry the letters of the title - SCARY, then SIMILES, an ampersand and METAPHORS - printed one or two letters to a page so the words can be spread across a wall or corridor.