Personification Stories
Grades: 3-6
Personification Stories
Have students personify an object and write a story as part of an interactive book or animated adventure.
Engage
The fire breathed hot in our faces and its flames grabbed at our clothes. That chocolate cake is calling my name. Personification, a figure of speech in which human qualities are given to non-human things, can make your writing much more interesting.
Explore examples of personification, like the fable of The Tortoise and the Hare, Lewis Carroll's "The Walrus and the Carpenter" or The Adventures of Alice in Wonderland, or Fantastic Mr. Fox by Roald Dahl.
Work together to personify an object in your room. Brainstorm human traits that can be applied to it and collect in a Traits organizer. Start by identifying parts of it that are similar to human body parts. Then, brainstorm feelings it might have about itself or how it is used.
Create
Have individual students, or a small team, choose an object to personify. Assign an Empathy Map organizer or a Traits cluster to help students come up with ideas using the object as the protagonist in a story.
Use these ideas to develop the conflict that will drive their story and begin writing. Use a Storyboard to help students identify the key events in the story. Have peers review the storyboards and written drafts and make suggestions for edits and additions.
Have students start from a blank page or choose a Book template to write, illustrate, animation, and publish their stories.
Share
Publish or distribute student books and animations from your web site, via email, or through social media. Host a reading night with your school and community to celebrate student storytelling.
Common Core Standards for for English Language Arts - Grade 6
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.6.5
Demonstrate understanding of figurative language, word relationships, and nuances in word meanings.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.6.5.A
Interpret figures of speech (e.g., personification) in context.