ReadWorks.org

will define hyperboles as an exaggeration that someone says but doesn’t really mean, for example: “I’ve been waiting forever.” I haven’t really been waiting forever; it just feels like I have been waiting a very long time. I will chart examples of hyperboles. (Example Chart is provided.) I will model identifying the real meaning in such hyperboles.

TIP: Discuss the meaning of “exaggeration” with students and it’s relation to hyperboles. Challenge students to use exaggeration throughout the day. You may also choose to communicate with the class by using hyperboles and challenge students to identify the meanings. For example, you may say, the books in your book bag weigh a ton.

Ask: "How did I know the real meaning of a hyperbole?" Students should respond that you read or listened to the hyperbole and visualized it in your head. Then you thought about what the hyperbole really meant by thinking about what the author was trying to say.

will read the first half of My Dad by Anthony Browne and identify hyperboles by acting out the real meaning of the hyperboles. For example, “My dad can eat like a horse,” means his dad can eat a lot. A student may act out eating a lot of food. We will discuss the meaning of each hyperbole in the first half of the book.

TIP: When you are teaching your students about hyperboles, make sure to discuss why hyperboles are used and the effect that they have on the reader.

will listen as I finish reading My Dad aloud. You will draw a picture of one hyperbole identified in the book and explain its real meaning (orally or in writing). (Independent Practice Worksheet is provided.) Note: Hyperboles are often confused with similes or metaphors because they compare two objects. The difference is that hyperboles are an exaggeration. For example, “He can swim like a fish” seems like a simile. However, it is also a hyperbole because it is an exaggeration, since a dad cannot spend his entire life swimming underwater like a fish.