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Lesson · Grade 3 · English Language Arts

Simile: comparing two different things with like or as

  • Grade 3
  • English Language Arts
  • 1 min 10 s
  • British Columbia
  • BC3-EN-07

A short moment, "The wind howled. Nia ran home.", is shown plain on a card and then rewritten with two similes, "like a wolf" and "as fast as a hare", each lighting up in the text while the right side sets the two compared things either side of the signal word and names what they share. A caution line shows that "I like soup" compares nothing and so is not a simile, and the video ends on the recap that a simile compares two different things using like or as so the reader can picture it.

Concept: Simile

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In one sentence

The question this lesson answers

What is a simile, and why do writers use one?

Here is a plain piece of writing.

Transcript

What the lesson says

What is a simile, and why do writers use one?

Here is a plain piece of writing.

It is correct, but it gives the reader nothing to picture.

Here is the same moment again, with two similes added.

A simile compares two different things, using the word like or the word as.

The first simile uses like: the wind howled like a wolf.

The wind is not a wolf, but they share one thing: both howl.

The second simile uses as: Nia ran home as fast as a hare.

Nia is not a hare, but they share one thing: both are fast.

Now the reader hears the wind and sees Nia race. That is what a simile is for.

Careful: not every like is a simile. I like soup compares nothing, so it is not one.

A simile compares two different things using like or as, so the reader can picture it.

Curriculum

Where this fits

British Columbia, Grade 3

English Language Arts, Story/text: literary elements and devicesBC3-EN-07

Previous: Imagery: Writing for the Five SensesNext: Rhyme, Alliteration and Rhythm: Sounds in Poems

British Columbia, Grade 4

English Language Arts, Story/text: literary devicesBC4-EN-07

Previous: Imagery: Writing for the Five SensesNext: Metaphor: saying one thing is another

British Columbia, Grade 5

English Language Arts, Story/text: literary devicesBC5-EN-08

Previous: Imagery: Writing for the Five SensesNext: Metaphor: saying one thing is another

British Columbia, Grade 6

English Language Arts, Story/text: literary devicesBC6-EN-08

Previous: Setting: where and when a story happensNext: Metaphor: saying one thing is another

British Columbia, Grade 7

English Language Arts, Story/text: literary devicesBC7-EN-08

Previous: Setting: where and when a story happensNext: Metaphor: saying one thing is another

This lesson is also listed in Grade 4, Grade 5, Grade 6 and Grade 7.

The outcomes and strands follow the British Columbia curriculum.

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