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Literal and Non-Literal Language

A 40-minute Grade 3 lesson on distinguishing literal from non-literal language in a story, poem or play.

Literal and Non-Literal Language is a free 40-minute Grade 3 English lesson plan for Common Core standard RL.3.4 — tell when words mean what they say and when they do not. It is timed across 5 sections, gives the exact wording to use where the wording carries the meaning, names 3 misconceptions with the teaching move that addresses each, and ends with an exit ticket and a printable worksheet with its answer key.

Grade:
Grade 3
Length:
40 minutes
Standard:
RL.3.4

Grade 3 · Reading: Literature

RL.3.4

Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, distinguishing literal from nonliteral language.

Objective

Students will be able to decide whether a phrase in a story means exactly what its words say, and give a meaning for a non-literal phrase that makes sense when put back into the sentence.

Students are successful when they can

  • Sorts phrases into Literal and Non-literal using the drawing test.
  • Gives a plain-words meaning for each non-literal phrase ("butterflies in his stomach" = "nervous").
  • Reads the meaning back into the sentence to check it fits.
  • Can explain why "the cat climbed out of the bag" is literal but "let the cat out of the bag" is not.

What you need

  • "Test Day" (the paragraph in the Teach section) on chart paper
  • Two sorting columns on the board labeled Literal and Non-literal
  • Six phrase cards per pair (listed in Guided practice)
  • Mini whiteboards for quick drawings
  • The printable practice sheet linked at the end of this plan

The lesson

Warm-up — draw it literally

5 min
  1. Write: "It was raining cats and dogs." Ask students to sketch on whiteboards exactly what the words say — 30 seconds only.
  2. Hold up a few drawings of animals falling from clouds. Ask: "Could this actually happen?" No. "So what does the sentence really mean?" It was raining very hard.
  3. Write on the board: "If the exact picture is impossible or silly, the words mean something else." That is the drawing test.

Teach — the drawing test

13 min
  1. Read "Test Day": "On the morning of the spelling test, Kai had butterflies in his stomach. He ate two slices of toast and walked to school in the rain. When Ms. Ortiz handed out the papers, his mind went blank. Then he read the first word and smiled — it was a piece of cake. He finished early and put his pencil down on the desk. At lunch he told Ruby he was over the moon."
  2. Take "butterflies in his stomach." Ask: "Draw it exactly. Is that possible?" No. Ask what it means here: nervous. Put it back: "Kai felt nervous." It fits a boy before a test, so write it under Non-literal with its meaning.
  3. Take "ate two slices of toast." Draw it exactly — perfectly possible, and it is what happened. Literal.
  4. Do "his mind went blank" (could not think of anything), "a piece of cake" (easy) and "over the moon" (very happy) the same way. Each time: draw, judge, give meaning, put it back.
  5. Place "put his pencil down on the desk" under Literal. Point out the paragraph mixes both kinds; that is normal in stories.
  6. Finish with a borderline case: "Kai flew down the stairs." Could a boy fly? No — so it is non-literal, meaning he ran very fast. But "the bird flew down the stairs" is literal. Same words, different sentence. The sentence decides.
“Draw it exactly as it says. If that picture is impossible or ridiculous, the words mean something else — and the rest of the sentence is your clue to what.”

Guided practice — sort six

12 min
  1. Give each pair six cards: "That bike cost an arm and a leg." / "Maya hit the books all weekend before the test." / "The dog barked at the mail carrier." / "Dad let the cat out of the bag about the party." / "The kitten climbed out of the bag." / "The sun rose over the hills."
  2. Pairs sort them into Literal and Non-literal and write a meaning on every non-literal card: very expensive; studied hard; told the secret.
  3. Put the two bag cards side by side on the board. Ask: "Same words — why is one literal?" Fish for: "A kitten really can be in a bag, but Dad did not have a cat; he told a secret."
  4. Pairs check each meaning by reading it back into the sentence: "Dad told the secret about the party." If it does not sound right, they change the meaning.
“Put your meaning back into the sentence and read it aloud. If it sounds like a real sentence a person would say, you have found the meaning.”

Independent practice

8 min
  1. Students complete the figurative-language page. The passage is on the sheet.
  2. Remind them to underline the rest of the sentence they used as a clue for each meaning.

Close

2 min
  1. Say: "My brother has a heart of gold." Take thumbs up for literal, thumbs down for non-literal, then one meaning: very kind.

What goes wrong, and why

Each of these is a reasoning error rather than carelessness. The fix addresses the reasoning.

Reads a non-literal phrase literally, e.g. "Kai had real butterflies inside him."

Why: Every word in the phrase is a word they know, so they assume the sentence must mean what the words add up to. Nothing in the print signals that the meaning has shifted.

Fix: Run the drawing test aloud and ask whether it could truly happen. Then ask what the rest of the paragraph tells them: it is the morning of a test, so how might Kai be feeling? The context gives "nervous."

Sorts a vivid but possible description as non-literal, e.g. "the tall, dark tree swayed in the wind."

Why: Figurative and descriptive language both feel like "fancy writing," so anything colorful gets put in the same box.

Fix: Draw "the tall, dark tree swayed in the wind" exactly. It is perfectly possible, so it is literal even though it is descriptive. Non-literal is about whether it could be true, not about how colorful it sounds.

Gives a meaning that does not fit, e.g. "hit the books" = "threw her books."

Why: They have half-remembered the phrase or guessed from the main verb, and have not tested the guess against the sentence.

Fix: Substitute it: "Maya threw her books all weekend before the test." Ask if a sensible person would do that before a test. The context ("before the test") points to "studied hard."

If they are not there yet

  • Three phrase cards rather than six: "a piece of cake," "the dog barked at the mail carrier," "let the cat out of the bag."
  • Give two candidate meanings for each non-literal phrase (e.g. "a piece of cake" = "a dessert" or "very easy") and ask which fits the sentence.
  • Let them draw the literal picture for every card before deciding, rather than imagining it.

If they finish early

  • Write two sentences that use the same words literally and non-literally, like the two bag cards (e.g. "break the ice").
  • Rewrite "Test Day" with every non-literal phrase replaced by its plain meaning, then explain in one sentence what the story lost.
  • Explain "it's raining cats and dogs" to a visitor who has never heard it, without using the word "rain" in the first sentence.

Exit ticket

Read: "When Maya's team won the final, she was on top of the world." Is "on top of the world" literal or non-literal? What does it mean here?

What to look for: Non-literal, meaning very happy or proud, linked to the win. "Literal, she climbed a mountain" means repeat the drawing test; "non-literal" with a meaning like "she was tall" means meanings are not being checked back in the sentence.

Printable practice for RL.3.4

Free to print and copy, answer key included. Each sheet can generate a fresh set of problems for a retake.

Questions about Literal and Non-Literal Language

How long does the Literal and Non-Literal Language lesson take?

40 minutes, split across 5 timed sections: warm-up 5 min, teach 13 min, guided practice 12 min, independent practice 8 min, close 2 min. The minutes are stated per section and add up to the stated length, so the plan can be cut or extended at a section boundary rather than abandoned halfway.

Which standard does Literal and Non-Literal Language teach?

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.3.4 — RL.3.4, Reading: Literature for Grade 3: “Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, distinguishing literal from nonliteral language.” In plain terms, tell when words mean what they say and when they do not.

What do I need to teach this lesson?

"Test Day" (the paragraph in the Teach section) on chart paper, two sorting columns on the board labeled Literal and Non-literal, six phrase cards per pair (listed in Guided practice), mini whiteboards for quick drawings and the printable practice sheet linked at the end of this plan. Everything listed is either ordinary classroom equipment or a free printable from this site — there is nothing to buy and nothing to prepare beyond photocopying.

What mistakes should I expect in this lesson?

Three, each a reasoning error rather than carelessness: reads a non-literal phrase literally, e.g. "Kai had real butterflies inside him."; sorts a vivid but possible description as non-literal, e.g. "the tall, dark tree swayed in the wind." and gives a meaning that does not fit, e.g. "hit the books" = "threw her books.". The plan gives the thinking behind each one and the teaching move that addresses the thinking rather than the symptom.

How do I know whether the lesson worked?

The exit ticket asks: “Read: "When Maya's team won the final, she was on top of the world." Is "on top of the world" literal or non-literal? What does it mean here?.” Non-literal, meaning very happy or proud, linked to the win. "Literal, she climbed a mountain" means repeat the drawing test; "non-literal" with a meaning like "she was tall" means meanings are not being checked back in the sentence. That tells you whether the class needs a reteach or a thirty-second conversation before you plan tomorrow.

Is there a worksheet to go with Literal and Non-Literal Language?

Yes — 1 printable RL.3.4 worksheet, linked at the end of the plan and free like the rest of the site. Each one comes with an answer key and 25 versions, so the practice after the lesson can be a different paper on every desk.

Is Literal and Non-Literal Language free to use?

Yes. The plan, its printables and their answer keys are free to read, print and photocopy for your own class, with no account and no email capture. It was last reviewed on October 8, 2026. Please do not resell it or republish it as your own.

Last reviewed 2026-10-08. Aligned to RL.3.4 of the Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts.