Make literary devices come to life with our The Thing About Oliver Onomatopoeia Worksheets. This engaging resource focuses on examples of sound words from Deborah Kelly’s novel, helping students explore how onomatopoeia enhances storytelling and reflects Oliver’s sensory world. By analysing, illustrating, and creating their own examples, learners gain a deeper understanding of figurative language while also developing empathy and creativity.

The worksheets encourage students to locate onomatopoeia in the text, examine its purpose, and apply it in their own writing and drawing tasks. Activities include matching sounds to events, illustrating scenes, and describing Oliver’s reactions to different noises. A final creative challenge invites students to design a comic strip where onomatopoeia is used to bring scenes to life, combining visual and linguistic expression in an engaging way.

This resource supports comprehension, empathy, and social-emotional learning by helping students consider how sounds can shape experiences, particularly for Oliver. Whether used in whole-class lessons, small groups, or independent practice, these worksheets provide an interactive approach to figurative language and character study.

Key Learning Outcomes:

• ✅ Identify and analyse examples of onomatopoeia in the text
• ✅ Understand how sound words enhance storytelling and character perspective
• ✅ Create original examples of onomatopoeia in writing and drawings
• ✅ Strengthen comprehension by linking sound to meaning and mood
• ✅ Develop empathy for Oliver’s sensory experiences through reflection tasks

What’s Included:

• Worksheets for identifying and analysing onomatopoeia in context
• Matching activities linking sounds to events in the novel
• Illustration tasks to visualise sound in storytelling
• Comic strip creation worksheet for applying onomatopoeia creatively
• Reflection prompts for text-to-self and empathy connections

Materials Needed:

• Printed worksheets for each student
• Pencils, pens, and colouring tools for writing and drawing
• Copies of The Thing About Oliver for locating text examples

How to Use:

1. Ask students to locate examples of onomatopoeia in the novel and record their context.
2. Guide them through activities such as matching sounds to events and illustrating key scenes.
3. Encourage students to consider Oliver’s perspective by describing his reactions to loud or surprising noises.
4. Challenge students to complete the comic strip activity, using sound words to enhance action and mood.

Ideas for Classroom Use:

• 💡 Have students read aloud passages with onomatopoeia to hear the sound effects
• 💡 Model one or two examples as a class before independent work
• 💡 Use the worksheets in literacy rotations as part of a figurative language focus
• 💡 Display finished comic strips to create a figurative language gallery
• 💡 Pair with metaphor or simile lessons for a broader study of literary devices

Top Teacher Tips:

• 💛 Encourage students to exaggerate sound effects when reading aloud to make them memorable
• 💛 Provide sentence starters for students who need support creating original examples
• 💛 Celebrate creative responses by sharing student work in class discussions

The The Thing About Oliver Onomatopoeia Worksheets provide a hands-on and creative way for students to engage with figurative language while developing empathy for the characters’ experiences. This resource is part of our The Thing About Oliver Novel Study Package.