Non literal language

Speech and language therapy

﻿Hello, everybody, my name's Emma, and welcome to today's lesson. I'm looking forward to today's session and I hope you are too. I can't wait to get started, but before we do, just a quick reminder. We here at Oak are here to support any approaches you might already be using and any work you might have already been set. We know this lesson is going out to so many different children and families. So if you're not sure or have any questions, please do contact your child's school or usual speech and language therapy team. In today's session, I'll be talking to you about non literal language. We're going to do so listening to words. These words won't be meaning what they say, but we'll have a go working it out together. Throughout all of the activities, I'll be sharing some tips for adults so that they're able to help you with your understanding of language, and specifically, your understanding of non literal language. So for today's session, all you'll need is a downloadable resource. It's available on the Oak website with this lesson. So before we begin, find a quiet place where you won't be disturbed for the lesson. Turn off any distractions or notifications that you might have running on your device, and then make sure that you and your adult are both seated comfortably, and then we'll begin. Okay, let's start by doing some talking and thinking about non literal language. non literal language is when the words used in a sentence say one thing, but they actually mean another. It can be quite confusing thinking about non literal language and people might use this type of language out and about. Because of this, it's really important that we know how to listen out for, identify and understand non literal language. It can be helpful to learn about non literal sayings so that we understand how words might have another meaning. One type of non literal language that we can listen out for is a simile. A simile is when people use language to compare two things using the words like or as. For example, my grandma is as friendly as a grizzly bear. Here's a couple more examples. Let's see if you can work out what these would mean. You jump like a kangaroo. Pause here to discuss this with your adult, and then when you're ready, press play to continue. Here's another. His hands are as a rougher sandpaper. Pause the video here to discuss this with your adult and then press play to continue when you're ready. Let's see if you can work this one out. Mary was as good as, pause the video here to choose one of the words to complete the sentence and the simile. When you're ready, press play to continue. He was as quiet as a, pause the video here to complete the sentence and complete the simile. When you're ready, let's continue. This one's up to you. The lion had teeth as sharp as, pause the video to discuss what the lion's teeth could be as sharp as. When you're ready, press play to continue. There are more types of non literal language. Similes create interesting images in our minds. Metaphors are another type of non literal language. They compare two things by saying they're the same. For example, the sun was an orange in the blue sky. This metaphor compares the sun to an orange, as in the fruit, and it means that the sun and the orange have something in common, their colour. Here are a few more metaphors. Pause the video on each one to discuss what it means with your adult. When you finish working through each of the metaphors, press play to continue the lesson. It can be really helpful to draw similes and metaphors to help us to understand the non literal aspect of the language. Using the downloadable resource, have a go turning some of the similes and metaphors into drawings. You could even create a non literal language poster to remind you of some of the things that you might hear people say and what they actually mean. You could also try making up some of your own similes and metaphors. Pause the video to have a go. Press play when you're ready to continue. Continue to use the downloadable resource with your adult to think about non literal language. In the resources I've included a task, work it out. This will be great for really trying to understand non literal language when it's used as part of a longer story. Well, that brings us to the end of today's lesson, but a really big well done on all the fantastic learning that you've achieved today on non literal language. If you'd like, you could ask your parent or carer to send a picture of your work to your teacher at school so that they can see the fantastic progress that you've made with your understanding of language, and if you'd like, you could even ask your parent or carer to share this work on Instagram, Facebook or Twitter tagging @OakNational so I can see your fantastic progress too. Well, all that's left for me to say is thank you, but take care and enjoy the rest of your learning today, bye-bye.

Non literal language

Non literal language

These resources will be removed by the end of the Spring Term 2026.

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