Personification is when a writer gives human characteristics or actions to something nonhuman, and it is very common in poetry. As students read Brown Girl Dreaming, they will come across several examples of this type of figurative language. For this activity, students will identify and illustrate at least three examples of personification. Teachers may ask the kids to illustrate the phrase literally, as it’s intended in the text, or both. The example for this activity shows the literal interpretation of each example of personification. Teachers may also want to give the students a list of examples, or have them do a “scavenger hunt” either as they read, or as an activity after reading.
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Due Date:
Objective:Create a 3 cell spider map, illustrating and describing three examples of personification in the text.
Student Instructions:
Guide students to create original sentences by choosing an object and brainstorming ways it might act or feel like a person. This helps students internalize personification by practicing it themselves.
Think aloud as you pick a classroom object (like a pencil) and describe what it might do or feel if it were human. For example: "The pencil danced across the page." This provides a clear example for students to follow.
Have students turn to a partner and share their best personification sentence. Listening and giving feedback helps spark creativity and builds confidence.
Invite a few students to read their sentences aloud. Celebrate creative examples and discuss what makes them personification.
Ask students to draw a quick sketch of their sentence, showing the object acting like a person. This visual step deepens understanding and makes learning memorable.
Personification in Brown Girl Dreaming is when the author, Jacqueline Woodson, gives human qualities to nonhuman things, like describing the sun as "kissing the sky" or a bus "humming through the night." This figurative language helps readers connect emotionally with the story.
To teach personification with Brown Girl Dreaming, have students find examples in the text, discuss their meanings, and illustrate them. You can assign a scavenger hunt or use a spider map activity to help students identify and explain the figurative language.
Three examples of personification from the book are: the weekend "calling us" (p.78), a porch swing "thirsty for oil" (p.32), and the sun "kissing the sky" (p.267). Each gives life-like actions to objects or ideas.
Personification helps students in grades 4-6 better understand poetry by making abstract ideas more relatable and engaging. It encourages creative thinking and deeper interpretation of texts.
A simple activity is to have students pick three personification examples from the text, write their literal and figurative meanings, and create illustrations for each. This reinforces understanding through both explanation and art.