Similes

The similes track begins at Lesson 3 and continues throughout the program. There are three main simile formats.

The progression of the similes track is as follows:

In the first format (Lesson 3), students tell how the objects compared in a simile are not the same, then tell how the objects are the same.

In the second format (Lesson 27), students make up similes for given conditions, e.g. make up a simile that tells us the girl had bright eyes. (‘Her eyes were like the sun.’)

In the third format (Lesson 45), students make up and explain their own similes, e.g. tell how her eyes and the sun could be the same. (‘They could both be bright.’) Write a simile about those objects. (‘Her eyes were like the sun.’)

The process:

Test student responses for reasonableness by taking out the word ‘not’ and substituting the other object. If the new statement is true, the response is reasonable. Following are examples to test reasonable responses for how a man’s fist and a brick are ‘not’ the same.

The first test shows a reasonable response:

• Response: ‘A brick is not made of flesh.’
• Test: ‘A man’s fist is made of flesh.’

The next test shows an unreasonable response:

• Response: ‘A brick is not a fish.’
• Test: ‘A man’s fist is a fish.’