Grade by Grade
A. Literacy Connections and Applications / C. Comprehension: Understanding and Responding to Texts · Understanding and Responding to Texts

How Writers Make Words Work: Style, Consonance and Similes

C1.5 C3.1About 35 minutes
Learning goals
  • I can notice word choice, voice, repeated patterns and sentence length in a text.
  • I can find a simile and explain the two things being compared.
  • I can hear consonance: the same consonant sound repeated in words close together.
  • I can explain how these choices help me understand and enjoy a text.

Words to know

style
The special way a writer uses words and sentences.
voice
How the writing "sounds", like the writer's personality: excited, calm, funny or serious.
word choice
The exact words a writer picks to make a clear picture or feeling.
word pattern
Words or lines that repeat in a text.
sentence structure
How a sentence is built: short or long, a question, or an exclamation.
simile
Comparing two different things using the word like or as: The snow was as soft as a pillow.
consonance
The same consonant sound repeated in words close together, often in the middle or at the end of the words: the black cat took a quick nap (the k sound).

Remember from Grade 1

In Grade 1 you played with rhyme, alliteration (words starting with the same sound, like silly snakes slide) and sound words (like buzz and splash).

This year you will learn two new word tricks, similes and consonance, and you will notice style: the way writers choose words and build sentences.

Read-aloud poem: Snow Day

The snow came down like feathers, so soft and slow and white. It tiptoed on the rooftops all through the quiet night.

Then morning came. WOW! The whole wide world was new! Our car looked like a marshmallow. The slide was snowy too!

I pulled on my thick black jacket. I tucked my socks in quick. I raced outside. I jumped. I flopped. The snow was deep and thick!

Similes compare

A simile compares two different things using like or as. It helps you picture something by comparing it to something you know.

  • The snow came down like feathers. Snow is compared to feathers: soft, light and floating.
  • Our car looked like a marshmallow. The snow-covered car is compared to a marshmallow: white, puffy and round.
  • The ice was as smooth as glass.
A car in a driveway buried under a thick, rounded blanket of fresh snow, with a snowy slide behind it.
"Our car looked like a marshmallow." Can you see why the poet chose this simile? AI-generated image
snowfeatherslikeHow are they alike?white · light · soft · float down slowly
The snow came down like feathers. The word like joins two different things that are alike in some ways.
Worked example

Let's figure out a simile

In The snow came down like feathers, what two things are compared? What does it help us picture?

  1. Find the word like. It is a simile clue.
  2. What is on each side? Snow and feathers.
  3. Think: How are snow and feathers alike? Both are white, light and soft, and they float down slowly.
  4. So the simile helps me picture snow falling softly and gently, not a hard, windy storm.

Snow is compared to feathers. It shows the snow falling soft, light and slow.

Consonance: repeating consonant sounds

Consonance is when the same consonant sound repeats in words that are close together. The sound is often in the middle or at the end of the words.

  • I tucked my socks in quick. Listen for the k sound: tucked, socks, quick.
  • The black cat took a quick nap. The k sound: black, cat, took, quick.
  • pitter-patter: the t sound repeats.

Consonance makes writing fun to say and hear. The sharp k sounds in the poem feel quick and snappy, like a kid rushing to get outside!

thick"k" soundat the endblack"k" soundat the endjacket"k" soundin the middleI pulled on my
Consonance: the same consonant sound (k) repeats in thick, black, jacket. It is at the end or in the middle of the words, not only at the start.
Worked example

Let's find consonance

Read: I pulled on my thick black jacket. Which consonant sound repeats? Where do you hear it?

  1. Say the line out loud slowly. Listen for a sound you hear again and again.
  2. thick, black, jacket: the k sound repeats.
  3. Where is it? At the end of thick and black, and in the middle of jacket. That's consonance (not alliteration, because it isn't only at the start of the words).
  4. How does it help? The repeated hard k sound makes the line sound strong and bouncy, like the stomp of winter boots.

The k sound repeats in thick, black, jacket. That is consonance.

Style: voice, word choice, patterns and sentences

  • Voice: Snow Day sounds excited and joyful: WOW! and The whole wide world was new!
  • Word choice: tiptoed instead of fell makes the snow sound quiet and gentle. Raced and flopped sound more exciting than went and fell.
  • Word pattern: Each verse uses rhyme at the ends of lines (white/night, new/too, quick/thick).
  • Sentence structure: I raced outside. I jumped. I flopped. Short sentences one after another feel fast and exciting. Long lines in the first verse feel slow and calm, like the falling snow.
PlainWith strong word choice
The snow fell.The snow tiptoed on the rooftops.
I went outside.I raced outside.
I fell in the snow.I flopped into the snow.
The dog ate its food.The dog gobbled its food.
Word choice changes the picture in your mind

Simile or not?

A simile compares two different things with like or as. "I like snow" uses the word like, but it is not a simile: nothing is being compared! Ask: What two things are being compared?

Just for fun

Simile oops: "The race car was as fast as a sleepy snail." Hmm... Similes work best when the two things really are alike!

Hands-on activity

Simile and sound hunt

You need: paper, a pencil, a window or a walk outside.

  1. Look outside. Choose 3 things you see (a cloud, a tree, the snow, a car).
  2. Write a simile for each: The cloud is like ___. or The tree is as ___ as ___.
  3. Say a consonance tongue twister with your grown-up 3 times fast: "Tick-tock, the black clock struck six." Which sound repeats? (The k sound.)
  4. Take a plain sentence like The cat walked. Change the word walked to show a feeling: crept, pranced, stomped, strolled. Act out each one!
  5. Read Snow Day aloud in an excited voice, then in a sleepy voice. Which fits the poem better?

Your turn

1

Find the two similes in the poem Snow Day.

2

In Our car looked like a marshmallow, how are the car and a marshmallow alike?

3

Which consonant sound repeats in I tucked my socks in quick?

4

What word did the writer use instead of fell to make the snow sound quiet?

5

What kind of voice does the poem have: excited, angry or bored?

6

Why does the writer use short sentences in I raced outside. I jumped. I flopped.?

More practice: warm-up

1

What two words do similes use?

2

Is The baby's cheeks were as red as apples a simile?

3

Which rhymes with night in the poem?

4

Say pitter-patter. Which sound repeats?

5

Which is the stronger word choice for a hungry dog: ate or gobbled?

More practice: on your own

1

Is I like hot chocolate a simile? Explain.

2

Finish the simile so it makes sense: The icicle was as sharp as ___.

3

Find the consonance in A duck stuck in the muck.

4

How is consonance different from alliteration?

5

Change The wind blew to show a strong storm. Then change it to show a gentle breeze.

Challenge

1

Write your own simile about winter and explain what it helps the reader picture.

2

Why might a writer use tiptoed for snow at night, but raced for a child in the morning?

3

Write one sentence with consonance using the t sound. Underline the t sounds.

Check your understanding

Quiz

1.

Which sentence has a simile?

2.

Which line has consonance with the k sound?

3.

Why did the writer choose the word tiptoed for the snow?

4.

What does a poem's voice mean?

5.

Short sentences like I jumped. I flopped. make the writing feel...

6.

In The pond was as smooth as glass, what two things are compared?

For parents and teachers

Big idea: Grade 2 readers identify simple elements of style (voice, word choice, word patterns, sentence structure) and how they help communicate meaning (C1.5), and identify the literary devices consonance and simile (C3.1).

About consonance: It is the repetition of a consonant sound in words close together, usually heard in the middle or at the end of the words (thick black jacket). It is easy to confuse with alliteration (same first sound) and rhyme (same ending sound chunk). Many examples overlap, and that's okay at this age. The key is that the child hears a repeated consonant sound.

How to help at home:

  • Point out similes in picture books and songs.
  • Make up similes during the day: "This bath is as warm as ___."
  • Read poems aloud with expression; children hear voice and patterns best out loud.

Common difficulties:

  • Calling every sentence with "like" a simile. Ask, "What two things are compared?"
  • Finding consonance by spelling instead of sound. Say the words out loud: c in cat and ck in black make the same k sound.