Connecting new vocabulary with a mental picture can definitely help students accept and retain information. My goal is to take this learning strategy one step further. I would like to encourage students to make their connections between concepts and images nonliteral, not directly equivalent. Metaphors and other figurative language pervade our speech at almost every level of discourse. They are considered the tools of the greatest poets, but at the same time, are worn threadbare by speakers in the most mundane circumstances.
Students make comparisons and connections to images all the time.
Play with language. Just like any other skill, imaginative thinking can and should be taught explicitly. To introduce the concept of a metaphor, explain to students that there are two sides to such a figurative expression, just like a mathematical equation. This activity makes students analyze both sides of the equation, determine the essential characteristics of both items, and then synthesize the common attributes into a brief explanation. At first, students responded with generic definitions of language, simple descriptions of its purpose and value.