Metaphorically Speaking: Reading Nonfiction
Like a Cognitive Linguist - Grade 8
Metaphorically Speaking is an introduction to the idea that much of the thinking and speaking we do everyday is metaphorical in nature. Metaphors are all around us, not only in written and spoken language, but also in the visual images that we see everyday. Metaphor is not simply a way with words that is reserved for poets and novelists.
In this unit, students are positioned to read like cognitive linguists to uncover and study aspects of our language that remain hidden to even the most proficient language users. In this way, students are detectives, studying the words that writers and speakers use and uncovering what those words highlight and hide about the subject.
Table of Contents
Writing Tasks
Title: Comprehension Task “Metaphorically Speaking”
Teacher Manual Instructions:
Session 2
Place students in trios and take a minute to review the assignment with the class. Encourage students to highlight or underline key information on the assignment sheet and to make notes in the margins as needed.
Before students get started on this task, let them know that even though this is small-group work, each student should compose a summary of the sections in his or her notebook. Alternately, you may ask students to do this work on loose paper so you can collect and review it. Either way, suggest to students that they write on every other line so that it’s easy to make changes later.
Teaching Note: A variation of this task is to replay the video as part of Step 1. This might help students who are likely to struggle with the content of the text. Additionally, let students know that it’s okay if there are parts of the text that they do not understand fully. That’s one of the reasons why the whole group will come together to discuss Steps 1 and 2 before students move on to Step 3.Students should use the work period to complete Steps 1 and 2 of the comprehension task with their partners. If they need additional time to finish Steps 1 and 2 (homework or additional class time), postpone the closing meeting discussion until that work is completed.
Use this time to confer with students about this work. Take note of where they are struggling with the ideas in the text so that you can address them with the whole group during the closing meeting.
Title: Metaphors Are All Around Us
Teacher Manual Instructions:
Session 4
Display a copy of “Metaphors Are All Around Us” for the class to see and distribute a copy to each student. Read the opening quotation. Let students know that this quotation is from the book Metaphors We Live By, which was published in 1980. In the book, authors George Lakoff and Mark Johnson explore the relationship between metaphor and thought and action and introduce the idea that metaphors actually shape our thoughts and actions, usually without us even noticing them.
Work as a class to complete the steps for the first excerpt before students do the others in their small groups.
Once again, convene the whole group. Invite pairs to share what they wrote. Consider calling on pairs whose conversations and ideas would benefit the rest of the class.
Ask students to reflect on the work they just engaged in by having them talk about what they did and thought about in order to complete the task for the first excerpt. Consider charting what students say so that they have a written record for when they engage in the rest of this task with their partner.
Give students the remainder of the work period to work with a partner to complete the task for the remaining excerpts. Circulate around the room to offer support and assistance as needed.
Title: Studying Klinkenborg’s Several Short Sentences About Writing
Teacher Manual Instructions:
Session 6-7
Title: Metaphorically Speaking “Why Not Put Off Till Tomorrow . . . ?”
Teacher Manual Instructions:
Session 8-9
Title: The Final Assignment Application and Analysis
Teacher Manual Instructions:
Session 11 – 16
Charts for Discussion
Title: Metaphorically Speaking
Teacher Manual Instructions:
Session 1
Convene the whole group. Invite pairs to share what they learned. Create a chart titled “Metaphorically Speaking” to record their responses.
Teaching Note: During this conversation, work with students to begin to define what it means to speak metaphorically. Curzan doesn’t explicitly define this in her talk, but from the examples that she provides, students should be able to take a stab at a definition that they can refine over the next several sessions. Over the next several sessions, students should come
to understand that we are speaking metaphorically when we speak of or describe one thing in terms of another. Sometimes we make this comparison outright by saying one thing is another (i.e., metaphor), and other times, we use the words “like” or “as” to create the comparison. To quote James Geary, the author of a talk students will listen to in the next session, “A simile is just a metaphor with the scaffolding still up.”
Title: Time Is Money
Teacher Manual Instructions:
Session 1
Next, as a class, discuss the “time is money” metaphor that Curzan brings up in this video.
To do this, write “Time Is Money” on a chart. Ask students to state the metaphors from Curzan’s text that embody the larger “time is money” metaphor as you record them. Underline the metaphorical language. Then, as a class, brainstorm other statements that treat time as money.
Title: What Makes Metaphorical Language Effective
Teacher Manual Instructions:
Session 10
Begin by asking a volunteer to share and explain one of the most effective or interesting metaphors or similes they identified. Record the information the student provides on the chart. Then invite others, especially those who selected the same moment, to build on what was said. Support students to explain their thinking, especially related to why they find the moment effective or interesting.
Then invite another student to share another moment and go through the same process again. Facilitate the conversation so that students do the majority of the talking.
After many different moments are shared, ask students to study the final column of the chart and draw some conclusions about what makes metaphorical language effective. Capture what students say on a chart titled “What Makes Metaphorical Language Effective.”
Checks for Understanding
Title: Important or Confusing Moments in Several Short Sentences About Writing
Teacher Manual Instructions:
Session 6
Have students open their reader to the excerpt from Several Short Sentences About Writing. Tell students that you will read this text aloud to them. As students listen, they should follow along and mark moments that seem important to understanding Klinkenborg’s ideas about writing, as well as moments that leave them confused or with questions.
After reading, ask students to share the moments they marked with a partner.
Convene the whole group. Invite students to share the moments they marked. Resist the temptation to discuss the text at this point. This is simply a rapid-fire share out where students say what they think is important or what they have questions about.
Title: Important or Confusing Moments in “Why Not Put Off Till Tomorrow . . . “
Teacher Manual Instructions:
Session 8
Convene the whole group. Invite students to share the moments they marked. Resist the temptation to discuss the text at this point. This is simply a rapid-fire share out where students say what they think is important or what they have questions about.
- Begin by asking students to share the moments that seem important to understanding Patchett’s ideas about writing. Capture those moments on a chart titled “Important or Confusing Moments in ‘Why Not Put Off Till Tomorrow . . . ?’”
- Then ask students to share the moments that leave them confused or with questions. Add these to the chart as well. (You will revisit this chart in the next session.)
Independent Reading
Title: Reading Log
Teacher Manual Instructions:
Independent Reading
As you transition to independent reading, discuss how students can keep a reading log. Show students how you would like them to set up and use their reading log to record their independent reading this year. An example of one way a reading log could be set up is provided nearby. You may choose to have students create a table in their notebooks, use a pre-made sheet, or a digital format.
Explain to students that they should make an entry in their log only after they have finished a book. You will need to negotiate with students how to handle the entry of magazine readings (for example, entire issues versus individual articles).
After students have set up the log, including proper headings, creating the grid, etc., show students how to make an entry.
Answer any questions students have about the reading log.
Begin independent reading.
Consider conducting individual reading conferences with students as they are engaged in independent reading. In No More Independent Reading Without Support, Debbie Miller and Barbara Moss (2013) suggest that during early conferences, you should listen to students and work to build trust: Ask students how they view reading and how they think of themselves as readers; ask what they are interested in. Over time you can ask more about what they are reading and about how you can help them or what they are struggling with. Use what you learn from these conversations to guide additional instruction with groups or with the class.
Title: Independent Reading – Individual Planning Sheet
Instructions:
Title: End of Marking Period Self-Assessment
Instructions:
Unit Resources
Title: Comprehension Task: “Metaphorically Speaking”
Title: Studying Klinkenborg’s Several Short Sentences About Writing
Title: Metaphorically Speaking: “Why Not Put Off Till Tomorrow . . . ?”
Title: The Final Assignment: Application and Analysis
Title: Scaffolds and Modifications: Descriptions and Use