This book has been created to provided targeted practice exercises for the two common core language skills most requested by teachers and most troublesome for many students. These are understanding similes and metaphors, and recognizing and explaining the meaning of idioms, adages, and proverbs. The student will focus on these key language skills by completing sets of focused exercises that increase from easy, to moderate, and then to advanced. This leveled and focused approach will introduce students at a comfortable level and then build on the skills so that students reach and then exceed grade level expectations. Covers 10+ Common Core Skills - produces a thorough understanding of idioms - encourages students to understand and relate to adages and proverbs - develops the ability to understand and use similes and metaphors - provides practice recognizing the meaning of common phrases - introduces exaggeration and hyperbole - teaches students to use context to determine meaning - helps students understand the literal and nonliteral meanings of words - increases vocabulary and enhances knowledge of word meanings - develops writing skills including persuasive, descriptive, and narrative writing - enhances reading comprehension skills Key Features - 101 exercises focused on figurative language and sayings - includes exercises covering idioms, common phrases, adages, proverbs, similes, metaphors, and hyperbole - 10 complete sets of exercises organized into easy, moderate, and advanced - vocabulary, reading level, and difficulty increase through the sets - each set includes a variety of tasks that allow students to develop and then apply new skills - includes a complete answer key About the Common Core Standards The Common Core Standards are a set of standards adopted by most American states. Student learning is based on these standards throughout the year, and students in most states are tested based on these standards at the end of the school year. This workbook develops many skills listed in the Common Core Standards for English Language Arts, including skills in the reading, writing, and language strands. The major skills covered include interpreting figurative language such as similes and metaphors, and recognizing and explaining the meaning of idioms, adages, and proverbs. A complete list of the specific skills covered is included in the back of the book.