Developing Artistic Writing.pdf - Brevard Public Schools

Taking out the Trash!
Objective: Students will identify hyperboles in context and implement hyperboles into their
writing to enable readers to visualize an event or experience.
Anticipatory Set: Explain that a hyperbole is using an intentional over-exaggeration to
emphasize a point or idea and should not be taken literally. Display examples of hyperboles and
discuss the figurative and literal meanings. Use the mentor text to identify hyperboles.
Modeling: Display the following sentences on chart paper or the document camera: His feet are
big. My eyes opened wide at the sight of the ice cream cones that we were having for dessert.
My backpack is heavy. Model how ordinary, plain sentences can be turned into extreme
exaggerations or hyperboles. His feet are the size of a barge. My eyes widened at the sight of
the mile-high ice cream cones that we were having for dessert. My backpack weighs a ton!
Discuss the literal and figurative meanings of each hyperbole.
Guided Practice: Read and display the poem Sarah Cynthia Sylvia Stout Would Not Take the
Garbage Out from Shel Silverstein’s book Where the Sidewalk Ends, then pass out a copy of the
poem to each student. The poem can be found at the following website:
(http://mste.illinois.edu/courses/ci407su01/students/north/kristy/Project/K-Poem-Net.html)
Identify and highlight three examples of hyperboles in the poem.
It piled up to the ceiling. It covered the floor.
It blocked the door.
Independent Practice: The students will highlight the remainder of the hyperboles in the poem.
It went down the hall. It raised the roof.
At last the garbage reached so high, finally it touched the sky.
All the neighbors moved away.
None of her friends would come out.
The garbage reached across the state.
The students write a hyperbole, give it to a classmate, and the classmate illustrates the figurative
and literal meanings. The student receiving the hyperbole also writes the literal meaning in a
complete sentence.
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