Grade 3 Playlist: Literal vs. Nonliteral Language in Text

Wisewire

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Student Edion

English Language Arts

Grade 3

Grade 3 Playlist: Literal vs. Nonliteral Language in Text

Aligns with CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.3.4:

• Determinethemeaningofwordsandphrasesastheyareusedinatext,disnguishingliteralfrom

nonliteral language.

Welcome

Oen,whenpeopletalk,theyusephrasesthathaveliteralandnonliteralmeanings.Someexamplesare“Iwatched

my friend bend over backwardstohelpanotherperson”and“Yesterday,Zacktoldmetochill out.” By themselves, the

phraseshaveadierentmeaningfromthewaytheyareusedinthesentences.Thebeautyofnonliteralphrasesisthey

canhelpgrabthereader’saenonandmakethetextmoreexcingtoread.Nonliteralphrasesalsohelpkeepreaders

engagedandinterestedinwhatishappening.Imagineastorythatincludestheaboveexamples.Itisprobablyalile

moreinteresngbecauseofthem,right?

Objecves

Inthisplaylist,studentswilllearnhowto:

• examinethedierencesbetweenliteralandnonliteralphrases.

• ndexamplesofnonliteralphrasesinapassageortext.

Review

Key Terms

• Thewordliteral meansexactly,ordonejustasitiswrien.

• Theword nonliteral means the opposite of literal.

• Context cluesarenearbywordsorphrasesthatcanhelpareadergureoutmeaning.

Watch!

Toreviewabitmoreaboutliteralandnonliteralphrases,watchthisvideo:

• hps://www.youtube.com/watch?t=88&v=ApdOw2JA3GI

Exploring the Standard

Literalphrasesmeanexactlywhattheysay,suchasdireconsandrecipes.Nonliteralphrasesdonotmeanexactlywhat

theysay.Itisthejobofthereadertogureoutthemeaning,andthereareseveralwaystogoaboutit.Considerthe

stepsbelow!

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Wisewire

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Student Edion

English Language Arts

Grade 3

A Closer Look: Idenfy and Determine the Meaning of Nonliteral Language

Whenreadingatext,thereareseveralstepsthatareadercantaketomakesurethatheorsheunderstandswhat

everything means.

Readtheenretextcarefullyandgureoutwhatitismostlyabout.Thenidenfyunfamiliarwordsandphrases.Next,

gureoutthespeciccontextofthetextbylookingatnearbywordsandsentences,paragraphs,etc.Thinkaboutwhat

theotherwordsandphrasesmean.Thinkaboutwhatthesentenceorphraseisadescribing.Isitdescribinganeventor

acharacter?Isitdescribingemoonsorthoughts?

Thengobacktotheunfamiliarwordorphrase.Basedonthecontext,doesthiswordorphrasemeanexactlywhatit

says?Forexample,readthefollowingsentences.

Yesterdayaernoon,Iwentforalongbikeride.IfeltgreatbecauseIusedtobesoscared,butnowridingisapiece

ofcake.

Howcanareaderdeterminethemeaningoftheunderlinedphrase?Thereadercanask,“Isthespeakerliterallysaying

thatridingabikeisacakeorissimilartoeangacake?”No!Itdoesnotmakesensetocompareridingabiketoacake,

sowhatelsecanitmean?Well,alotofpeoplelikeeangcake,anditispreyeasytocutapieceofcake.So“pieceof

cake”isanonliteralphrasethatmeanssomethingiseasy.Thereadercanconsidertheoverallcontextofthesentence

andhowitrelatestotheunderlinedphrase.Thisprocessleadstothemeaningofthenonliteralphrase.

Watch!

Watchisvideoaboutanidiom,atypeofnonliteralphrase.Whatisthespeakerdescribing?

• hps://www.opened.com/video/idiom-claymaon/74475

Belowareafewexcerptsfromthebook,The Magic FishbonebyCharlesDickens.Readeachpassagecarefullyandtryto

ndthenonliteralphrases.

Example 1

“Youareright,”saidtheoldlady,answeringhisthoughts,“IamtheGoodFairyGrandmarina.2Aend.Whenyou

returnhometodinner,politelyinvitethePrincessAliciatohavesomeofthe3salmonyouboughtjustnow.”

“Itmaydisagreewithher,”saidtheKing.

Theoldladybecamesoveryangryatthisabsurdidea,thattheKingwasquitealarmed,and6humblybeggedherpardon.

Whatisthisexcerptabout?TheKingistalkingtoanoldladywhowantstheKingtoinvitePrincessAliciatodinner.Which

phraseseemstonotmakesense?Thiswouldbe“Itmaydisagreewithher.”Thisphrasedoesnotmakesensebecause

theKingisreferringtothesalmon,butashcannottalk!SowhatistheKingreallysaying?TheKingmeansthatthesh

mightmakePrincessAliciafeelabitill.

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Wisewire

1 of 12

Teacher Edion

English Language Arts

Grade 3

Teaching Notes: Literal vs. Nonliteral Language in Text

The goal of RL.3.4 is for students to recognize nonliteral phrases. Students should be able to noce the dierence

between a literal and nonliteral phrase, and idenfy the meanings of nonliteral phrases. The following informaon

contains ideas that teachers can incorporate into their classrooms as well as addional resources to peruse and integrate

into instrucon as appropriate.

Acvies

1. Students can play a memory/matching game with nonliteral phrases. Page four of the handout found at this

link shows a printable acvity for young children. For a quiet individual acvity or with a partner, students can

match the nonliteral phrase to its literal meaning. hp://www.reallygoodstu.com/images/art/306089.pdf

2. Play “Wrap-Around Language Idiom Cards.” Pass out a card for each student. (Pass out all cards. Some

students may need more than one.) Begin with a random student, and have him/her read their card aloud.

Then, the student with the corresponding card gets to answer and read their card aloud. Connue this

paern unl you reach the rst student again.

3. Allow students to do a Claymaon video similar to the one they watched in the playlist. Choose several easy

nonliteral phrases for them to animate. Or, allow them to act them out nonliteral phrases and video record

the skit.

Wring Prompts

1. Allow students to illustrate idioms. Fold a paper in half and allow children to draw the literal meaning on

the top half of the paper and the nonliteral meaning at the boom of the paper. For example, the idiom,

“it’s raining cats and dogs” would have a picture drawn of cats and dogs falling from the sky on the top. It

would have a heavy rainstorm and maybe a person standing under an umbrella at the boom. On the back

or boom of each poron of the paper, allow students to write out the meaning and/or use each idiom in a

sentence.

2. Call out a nonliteral phrase. Then, have students write an original sentence using the nonliteral phrase. Add

illustraons if necessary. Have students share their responses aloud.

Addional Resources

Consider these addional resources when teaching RL.3.4:

Read Tennessee: this site provides media resources, teaching strategies, lessons, acvies, and assessments for RL.3.4:

• hp://www.readtennessee.org/teachers/common_core_standards/3rd_grade/reading_literature/

rl34/rl34_acvies.aspx

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