Grade 3/4 News

SIMILIES THAT SHINE IN 3/4B

You can come up with a simile in a minute or two, as easy as pie, as busy as a bee, as tired as a teacher on a Monday morning, but writing a fresh and interesting simile? Now that’s a challenge!

Last week, the students in 3/4B have been learning how to use similes in their writing to add detail and style. But similes do more than just make writing sound fancy, they help students analyse, make connections, and look at things in unexpected ways.

When we first started, we wrote our fair share of mediocre similes. But that’s okay, it’s all part of the process! With plenty of practice and encouragement through fun starter prompts, the students were all able to be successful and no one could say they ‘couldn’t think of something.’

Our simile work has linked beautifully to our mentor text Leo and Ralph, where students wrote similes to describe the character Leo. Instead of simply writing a paragraph about his personality, they had to think deeply about his traits and find creative, unexpected comparisons. It required higher-level thinking, and a bit of imagination too!

To wrap up the lessons, the students had fun writing similes about camp. Some made me laugh, some made me think, and some made me wonder where they got their ideas!

Here are a few of them to read. I hope you enjoy them as much as I did.

Ned – Extreme Bounce was as bouncy as a bird jumping up and down getting a worm.

Amelia – The food on camp was as filling as a turkey at Christmas lunch.

Eliska – The Sound and Light Show was as amazing as the Milky Way in the sky.

Harry – Extreme Bounce was as bouncy as a spring.

Asher – The lights at Ten Pin Bowling was as bright as a shimmery diamond in the ocean.

Ruby – The food on camp was as warm as a hug after being away from mum.

Eliza – The lights at the Light and Sound Show was as bright as a meteor striking a planet.

Nate – The trampoline at Extreme Bounce where as bouncy as popping popcorn.

Hayley – The food was as delicious as a bunch of marshmallows.

Benji – The rooms on camp were as noisy as a flock of cockatoos.

Spencer – The bus was as fun as a roller coaster ride.

Caleb – Ten Pin Bowling was like a Theme Park at night,

Skylar – The meal of pasta felt like wet worms on a rainy day.

Aliza – Kyral Castle stood like a giant stone guard in the hills.

Scarlett – The food on camp was as good as a warm hug.

Casey – Camp was like freedom.

Zanda – Camp was as fun as being with my family.