Summary
In this lesson about literary devices, students first assess their prior knowledge of common literary devices. Students create acrostic poems of literary device terms and Gallery Walk the created acrostic poems. Students summarize their knowledge by evaluating how comfortable they are with each literary device.
Essential Question(s)
How does understanding literary devices help our understanding of a text? How do we use literary devices in our everyday lives?
Snapshot
Engage
Students engage in a card matching activity to assess their prior knowledge of literary devices.
Explore
Students highlight literary devices they are not familiar with.
Explain
Students create a vocabulary acrostic of a literary device term.
Extend
Students participate in a Gallery Walk to view the acrostics and summarize literary devices they are not familiar with.
Evaluate
Students evaluate their new knowledge of literary devices and assess which terms they still need to learn.
Materials
Lesson Slides (attached)
Literary Devices Definitions handout (attached, one per student)
Literary Devices Card Matching handout (attached, one per group)
Highlighters
Chart markers
Large sticky notes
Copy paper
Colored copy paper (optional)
Clipboards (optional)
Engage
10 Minute(s)
Use the attached Lesson Slides to guide the lesson. Display slide 2 to view the title of the lesson. Transition to slides 3-4 to review the essential questions and the lesson objective. Transition to slide 5 and distribute a card matching set to each group of students. Using the Card Matching strategy, instruct students to match the literary device term card with the definition card in their small groups. Students assess their prior knowledge at this time so incorrect answers are acceptable. Allow students about 5 minutes to complete this activity or adjust as needed. Monitor groups, assess their answers, and provide assistance or clarification as needed.
Explore
5 Minute(s)
Transition to slide 6. Distribute highlighters and the attached Literary Devices Definitions handout. Invite students to highlight all of the devices they are not familiar with. Allow about 4 minutes for students to review the definitions and then tell students to set the handout aside to revisit at the end of the lesson.
Explain
20 Minute(s)
Transition to slide 7. Distribute the large sticky papers with the literary devices written at the top, four for each group (this number may need to be adjusted depending on class size). Provide each group with 1 chart marker. Introduce students to the Vocabulary Acrostics strategy. Instruct students to create an acrostic poem for each literary device on their large sticky papers.
Display slide 8 and review the example of an acrostic poem that uses the word "analogy." Review the definition and then go through each letter, explaining how the phrases and examples relate to the definition. Allow time for students to ask clarifying questions and ensure students have an understanding of an acrostic poem.
Transition to slide 9 to review the expectations of the acrostic word puzzle. Their acrostic poem must simplify the explanation of the literary device and provide examples. Encourage students to use the Literary Devices handout and use the definition for their word. Students may also use a thesaurus or other resources to find synonyms, examples, and ideas.
After verifying the students’ understanding of the assignment, transition to slide 10 and display a 20-minute timer. Give students 20 minutes to create their acrostics in groups. Adjust time as needed. Students may need more time than anticipated.
Extend
15 Minute(s)
After the timer ends, transition to slide 11. Instruct students to place their posters somewhere around the room where they can be easily viewed and perform the following tasks:
Explain the Gallery Walk strategy to students.
Advise students to use the Literary Device Definition handout as they view the posters with literary device terms.
Have students review the terms they previously highlighted earlier in the lesson.
Instruct students to read each poster that contains a term they have highlighted.
Write one example and one simplified explanation from the vocabulary acrostics on their Literary Device Definition handout.
Allow anywhere from 10-15 minutes to complete the Gallery Walk. You may adjust the time as needed.
Evaluate
5 Minute(s)
Transition to slide 12. Tell students to use the Literary Devices Definition handout to label each term according to their current understanding. Have students add the following symbols to each term based on how they are feeling about their knowledge.
Triangle: I don’t understand this at all. It’s still pretty new to me.
Square: I somewhat understand this. But I still need more practice
Circle: I understand this completely. I feel confident about it.
Collect the Literary Devices Definition handout to assess student understanding of the content and support further instruction.
Resources
K20 Center. (n.d.). Card Matching. Strategies. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/strategy/1837
K20 Center. (n.d.). Gallery Walk / Carousel. Strategies. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/strategy/118
K20 Center. (n.d.). Vocabulary Acrostics. Strategies. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/strategy/2322