Year 4 Weather: descriptive writing worksheet

“Similes and personification” is free to print, with no account. It is the first sheet in the Year 4 English unit “Weather: descriptive writing”, for children aged 8 to 9, and takes about 20 minutes.

Print it on A4. The child's pages come first; the answers, and what each wrong answer tells you, are on the grown-up page that follows. Weeks 28 to 30 of the year, 7 sheets in the unit.

Free sample · answers on the last page

Similes and personification

Name: ____________ · Date: ____________
Year 4 · English · about 20 minutes
Answers are on the grown-up page

Today I can spot similes and personification, and say why they make descriptions vivid.

A Look back3 min

1.
The rain was heavy. We still went out. Which joining word shows the second part is a surprise? Circle one.
andbutbecause
2.
Circle the word that names a feeling.
gloomypuddlejump
3.
Maya ran home. Circle the word that could replace Maya.
SheQuicklyUnder

B Watch me, then you4 min

Read the sentence. Find the two things being compared, and the word that links them.

A grey stormy sea with white waves breaking on a rocky shore

Watch me

The sea and a lion are very different things.

The word 'like' links them, so this is a simile.

The surprise makes the waves sound fierce and wild.

Now you

1.
The hills were as quiet as a sleeping cat. Circle the word that links the two things.
asquiethillssleeping
2.
Circle the sentence that uses personification.
The lamp was bright and yellow.The lamp winked at me from the table.The lamp was as bright as the moon.

C Your turn6 min

Read each sentence. Look for a comparison with 'like' or 'as', or for something given a human action.

A rainy street with wet shiny pavement and puddles

1.
Circle the sentence that has a simile.
The puddle was wide and grey.The puddle shone like a mirror.The puddle was cold and wet.
2.
Circle the sentence that gives a human action to something that is not human.
The wind was loud and fast.The wind moaned round the chimney.The wind was as cold as ice.
3.
Circle the sentence that appeals to the sense of hearing.
The pavement was shiny.The thunder rumbled in the distance.The air smelled of fresh bread.
4.
Write a simile for a windy day. Use 'like' or 'as' to link it to something very different.

Say it out loud: What did the simile link together? What human action did the personification give to something that is not human?

D Spot the mistake3 min

A windy hillside with one bent tree under racing clouds

Ali says: “A wind and a dragon are not alike, so ‘The wind was like a dragon’ cannot be a simile.”

1.
Is Ali right? Write one or two sentences to explain.

E Think deeper3 min

A dark evening sky over a field with a bright flash of lightning

1.
Make up one simile about thunder. Link it to something very different. Tell your grown-up why the surprise helps the reader.

How did it feel?

I can do it Nearly Not yet

For the grown-up

Similes and personification · 2 minutes to read

Answers, and what a wrong one tells you

A

1. but If your child chose and or because, ask: did you expect people to go out in heavy rain? 'But' shows a surprise.

2. gloomy

3. She your child chose a word that does not stand for a person. Ask: which small word could stand in for Maya's name?

B

1. as your child picked a describing word. Ask: which small word joins the hills to the cat?

2. The lamp winked at me from the table.

C

1. The puddle shone like a mirror. your child chose a sentence with only describing words. Ask: is anything being compared using 'like' or 'as'?

2. The wind moaned round the chimney. your child picked the simile because it has 'as'. Ask: did the wind do something only a person does?

3. The thunder rumbled in the distance.

4. Look for: A sentence about wind that uses like or as to compare it with something different.

D

1. Look for: No: a simile is marked by like or as, and unlike things still make a simile. your child thinks similes must link two alike things. Ask: which small word makes a sentence a simile? Then ask: is the surprise what makes it vivid?

E

1. Look for: A simile about thunder using like or as, and a short reason about surprise or a clear picture.

Words to use

Say“Point to the word 'like' or 'as'. What two different things does it join, and why is that surprising?”

Instead of“Tell them similes must always compare two things that are alike.”

After the sheet

Look out of a window together. Each say one simile and one personification about what you can see, then say why each one helps you picture it.

Tick what your child got right in StudyDen. Anything missed comes back in a later Look back box, so there's no need to redo the sheet.

The rest of this unit

6 more sheets come with a StudyDen plan, in teaching order:

Stormy weather comparisons(with a plan)
Planning the storm(with a plan)
Zooming in on a storm(with a plan)
Planning Our Desert Island(with a plan)
Describing a Desert Island(with a plan)
Pictures from Words(with a plan)

Every Year 4 English worksheet

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