Teacher notes for this lesson. Two sides of A4, not for pupils.Mild sheetMedium sheetSpicy sheetAnswers
Teacher notes · not for pupils Writer's craft sequence

A Million Meatballs

Hyperbole: exaggeration on purpose

Lesson 8 of 12
Year 5 45 min

Objective

Recognise hyperbole as deliberate exaggeration that nobody is meant to believe, explain its effect, and use it for humour, feeling or drama.

Board title: Hyperbole  ·  Say it: “By the end of today you'll be able to spot hyperbole, say what it really means, and use it for effect.”

Curriculum

  • Y5/6: reading — how authors use figurative language, considering the impact on the reader
  • Y5/6: composition — selecting vocabulary and language for effect
  • Y3/4: similes and idioms (lessons SIMLD, IDIOD) (built on)
  • Terminology: hyperbole · exaggeration · literal · effect

Success criteria

  • spot hyperbole in a sentence
  • say what it really means
  • tell hyperbole from a plain fact
  • use hyperbole for effect

Key vocabulary

hyperbole · exaggeration · literal · effect · humour · drama

Run of the lesson

4 min
Starter on the board: I made a million meatballs! against I made sixty meatballs. Did he really make a million? One minute of paired talk.
8 min
Model Example 1 and 2. For each hyperbole, ask what it really means and why the speaker turned it up.
6 min
The trap: I read twenty books this year. Could it be true? Then it is a fact. Hyperbole is too big to believe.
6 min
Flavour Match on the whiteboard, Spicy band, Level 11 then Level 12. Class votes first; ask: could it really be true?
18 min
Worksheet, independent. In Task 2, pupils ask of each line: could it be true? The flat lines get turned up.
3 min
Plenary: Polpetta calls Gino a fibber, then the class quiz for HYPRE on the board.
On screenSPAGhetti → Flavour Match → Spicy. Play Level 11 (turn it up) then Level 12 (hyperbole, simile or plain?); both are open from the start. ~10 items in 6 minutes with discussion.
SPAGhetti · Writer's craft sequence · Lesson 8 of 12  ·  Teacher notes 1 of 2
Teacher notes · not for pupils A Million Meatballs · side 2

On the day

If the tech failsSkip the game. Read out plain sentences; pairs turn each one up as far as it will go, then the class votes for the one that made them laugh. The lesson works with no screen at all.
If they're on devicesLesson code HYPRE (on the worksheet footer) opens Flavour Match on Spicy, with the two hyperbole levels open. For writing, set Cook Up a Story and ask for one hyperbole used for humour or drama.

Misconceptions to watch for

Any big number is hyperbole. Forty people came for lunch. That could be true, so it is a plain fact. Hyperbole is too big to believe: a million people came for lunch.

Mixing it up with a simile. As soft as a cushion is a simile; bigger than the whole town is hyperbole. Some lines are both. Ask: is it comparing, exaggerating, or both?

Hyperbole is lying. A lie wants you to believe it. Hyperbole is so big that nobody does, so nobody is tricked. It shows feeling, not facts.

More is better. Hyperbole in every sentence stops working. One or two, in the right place. Never in a report, a recipe or instructions, where the reader needs true facts.

The three sheets

Same four tasks on every sheet, in the same order, with the same look. Only the demand changes. Print the one each child needs; nobody does two.

Mild

Same four tasks as every other sheet, same order, same look, the demand is lower, not the dignity. Shorter passage in Task 2, and in Task 3 a word bank or words to tick, with printed sentence starters. Give it to anyone who needs a way in, and expect them to move up.

Medium

The core sheet. Give this to most of the class. No word bank; in Task 3 pupils choose from a few close options, then use one in a sentence of their own.

Spicy

Same four tasks, more demand, a longer passage with a subtler error, and Task 3 asks for two things at once. Not extra work; harder work. Nobody should be doing Spicy and the Medium sheet.

Adaptive teaching

  • Support: Give a turn-it-up ladder: plain, a bit more, a lot more, too big to be true. Climb it together for one sentence before writing.
  • Stretch: Write a short tall tale where every sentence is hyperbole, then a plain version, and explain what each version does for the reader.
  • SEN: Gentle mode on. Some pupils, especially autistic pupils, take hyperbole literally. Teach it explicitly: say the hyperbole, then say what it really means, and agree a class signal for that's hyperbole.
  • EAL: Compare exaggerations from home languages. Many use the same ideas: a million, forever, a mountain of.

Play it

Lesson code HYPRE at playspaghetti.com. The code is printed on the bottom of every pupil sheet with a QR, and Class Quiz in your dashboard opens the plenary quiz for this lesson pre-picked.

SPAGhetti · Writer's craft sequence · Lesson 8 of 12  ·  Teacher notes, not for pupils 2 of 2  ·  Ludora