Lesson Objective: Students will be able to identify hyperboles and will able to incorporate them in their writing as evidence through their ability to complete a worksheet identifying hyperbole and then writing their own.
Lesson Opening (10)I will put up three sentences on the board. One will be a hyperbole and two will be a lie. I will ask the children if any of these sentences are true. Sentence 1: I am a 5th grade teacher. Sentence 2: I have blond hair and a ponytail. Sentence 3: The traffic was so bad today; it took me a million years to get to school. They will probably say that all three are false. I will ask them if one sticks out as different than the others. I will have them raise their hands. If any child selects choice three, I will ask them to elaborate. “Is there any truth to sentence 3? “What is the truth?” “Why would I lie?” “Have you ever lied in a similar way?” These are the kinds of questions I will ask.
Guided Practice (15)I will explain what hyperbole is and explain that it is simply a long and complicated word for exaggeration. Most likely at least some of them will know what exaggeration means. I will write a few examples in which hyperbole makes sense and they wouldn’t give it a second thought. These examples will be written on sheets of paper and tacked on to different parts of the room. I will ask them for examples from their own life that they have said or have heard. We will discuss the effect that the hyperbole had. “Why did you say that?” “Was it funny?” “Did you know he was joking?” “Did you believe what she had told you?” These are the types of questions that I will ask. I will read sentences to them and ask them to tell me if it is true, a lie or a hyperbole. I will have them call out, and then if there is disagreements, I will take individual hands and we can discuss the answer.
Independent Practice (15)The children will have workshops to do at their desks. The first part of the worksheet is identifying hyperbole. They will have to do something similar to what they just did orally with me. The second part is writing hyperboles. I will give them the first part of the sentence, “It was so hot…” and they will provide the rest. These sheets will serve as an assessment. When they are done, those who would like to will share their hyperboles with the class. If, as is quite possible, no one would like to share, I will provide my own.
Closing (5)I will ask them to remind me why we use hyperbole and how it is different from a lie. This will not be a discussion and more of me quickly looking for a concise answer.