What is a Verb?
K-2
1
What is Personification?
Lesson Details
Grade Level
3-5
Duration (minutes)
1
Summary
A Language Arts lesson on personification — giving human actions to non-human things — with clear examples and a non-example for contrast, plus a sentence frame for practice.
Student Worksheet: What Is Personification?
Teacher Note: Students can watch the video lesson above and answer the questions. Click the “Teacher Answer Key” dropdown below when you are ready to review the solutions!
Key Concepts:
• Personification: When a writer gives a non-human thing a human action, to create strong pictures and feelings for the reader.
• Not the Same as a Description: Simply describing something (like “the thunder was loud”) is not personification unless it’s given a human action.
Instructions: Read each question carefully and write your answer in the space provided.
- Question 1: What is personification?
- Question 2: In “The wind whispered through the trees,” what is the non-human thing, and what human action is it given?
- Question 3: In “The alarm clock screamed at me,” what human action is the alarm clock given?
- Question 4: Why is “The thunder was loud” NOT personification?
- Question 5: Why do authors use personification in their writing?
- Question 6: Using the sentence frame from the video, write your own example of personification.
Click to reveal Teacher Answer Key
1. When a writer makes something non-human act like a person.
2. The wind; it is given the human action of “whispering.”
3. Screaming.
4. It only describes the thunder — it doesn’t give the thunder a human action.
5. To create strong pictures and feelings in the reader’s mind.
6. Answers will vary — check that the sentence gives a non-human thing a genuine human action, not just a description.
Disclaimer: This worksheet was generated with AI assistance based on original video content. It is intended for educational reference only. Teachers are encouraged to review and adjust questions to fit their curriculum standards before classroom use.
🎯 Extension Activity: Give students 6 sentences (a mix of personification and plain description) and have them sort each one, then rewrite each "plain description" sentence to turn it into personification.