OuiSi · English and language arts

Like and as

Beta

Grades 3–5 Teaching 35 min Plus 2 to set out, 2 to clear Class any size Set any Prep none

set out 2′ This is like that 8′ Take the word out 10′ Force a strange one 12′ Close 5′ clear 2′

Goal: Children build a simile from two pictures, then delete one word and watch it turn into a metaphor. The difference stops being a definition and becomes something they did.
Materials: One OuiSi Photo-Card set. About eight cards per pair. Paper and pencils.

Grade 3: Similes only. Spend the time on more of them — about 23 min
Grade 4: Similes, then the deletion into metaphor — the full 35 min
Grade 5: A metaphor that runs across two sentences — the full 35 min

1 · This is like that

8 min

Pairs, about eight cards face up. Write the frame on the board.

Put two cards together and finish this. The ______ is like ______ because ______.

The because clause keeps it honest. Without it children produce comparisons they cannot defend, and the defending is where the thinking happens.

Take three or four out loud before moving on.

2 · Take the word out

10 min

This is the move the whole lesson turns on. Do it with one of their own sentences on the board.

You wrote, the water is like glass. Now cross out the word like.

The water is glass. What changed?

Deleting one word converts a simile to a metaphor in front of them. Children usually say the second one sounds surer, or stranger, or more like poetry — all correct, and far better than a definition they memorized.

Then give the two names, after the thing has happened.

With like or as, it is a simile. Without it, it is a metaphor.

Now do it to yours. Write both versions.

3 · Force a strange one

12 min

Find two cards with nothing obvious in common. Now make the sentence work anyway.

This is where the good writing shows up. An easy pair produces a dull comparison, and a hard pair forces a child to find the one shared quality and name it precisely.

Pairs swap their strangest sentence with another pair.

Read theirs. Does it work? If it does not, what single word would fix it?

4 · Close

5 min

Read us the metaphor you would keep.

Four or five, then stop. Write the best on the board and leave it up for the week.

Watch for

Comparisons that are just descriptions. The rock is like a rock is not a comparison. Ask what else it could be like, and keep asking.
Teaching the definitions first. Step two only works if the transformation comes before the names. Hold the vocabulary back for ten minutes.
Easy pairs. Two cards that obviously match produce flat sentences. Step three exists to break that, so do not let pairs skip it.
Children who like rules may ask which is better. Neither — ask them when each one sounds right instead.

Adapt

Multilingual learners — the frame carries the grammar, so the vocabulary is the only load. Home-language comparisons first, then English.
Dyslexia and emerging writers — say both versions aloud instead of writing them. The transformation is audible.
Poetry follow-on — three metaphors from three pairs of cards, stacked, make a poem with no further work.
Tie to a text — find a simile in what you are reading, then build the matching card pair.

Curriculum links. Building a simile from two images · Turning a simile into a metaphor by deleting one word · Naming the difference between the two forms · Making a far-fetched comparison work · Repairing a partner's sentence with a single word.
Standard codes vary by state and district — these are the skills exercised, for you to map to your own.

Screen-free. No codes and no devices. Works with any OuiSi Photo-Card set.
Pairs well with Draw the connection, which asks for the shared quality as a drawing rather than a sentence.