Why Not Go Out on a Limb? Isn't That Where the Fruit Is?

I start each year with a quote on my high (unreachable) bulletin board that I do not want to have to get up and change throughout the year.  I want this board to be attractive and meaningful, because we have to look at it all year long!  I decided a few years ago that the best way to approach this was to have the students set goals for the year and revisit these goals at the end, that way there is a reason for leaving them up all year. I have found that there is an added bonus to this, as the students refer to this quote throughout the year, it becomes very meaningful to them.

So, here's what we did:
My students all have a Quote Journal (either a spiral notebook or a composition notebook) that they write in daily.  This quote is the first quote of the year, and we discuss the figurative language as well as the meaning of the quote.  With this one, since this is new to my students, I walk them through the thinking before they write so they are ready to write when I ask them to.  I told the students that there are actually two forms of figurative language in this quote, an idiom and a metaphor.  I reminded them of what an idiom is, and then asked which part they thought was the idiom.  Once they identified it, we talked about the literal meaning as well as the figurative meaning of the words. We then did the same thing with the metaphor, and then discussed what the quote was really talking about.  Clearly not trees!  Once I was sure that they all understood the quote I had them write for ten minutes about the quote.

The next day we revisited the quote, and I told them that they were going to create a character for themselves and then choose any fruit that they wanted and write a goal for the school year on the fruit.  I did give them a template for size, which they could use or create their own.  For the fruit, I gave them all the same size piece of construction paper in whatever color they chose.  I asked them to make the fruit as large as they could with that size piece of paper, that way the fruits were all of similar size.

Here's some of their handiwork:

Last year's quote was "Those That Reach the Stars Walk in Stardust," and here's what the board looked like:

I find that inspirational quotes and quotes that utilize figurative language are a great way to have students stretch for those common core standards.  The discussions that we have in my classroom are simply amazing, and the critical thinking skills are phenomenal!

You can all do the same thing in your own classrooms!  It's well worth the time and effort on your part, but I can make it easier for you.  I have put together a collection of many of my favorite quotes divided into categories.  There are quiz forms and worksheets as well.  Check it out at my Teachers Pay Teachers store:

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Critical-Thinking-and-Figurative-Language-with-Inspirational-Quotes-Mega-Pack-309265