Language and Content: Idioms

GRADES 3-5; 6-8; 9-12

VOCABULARY

LESSON PROCEDURE

Vocabulary

1. Watch the Vocabulary movie to introduce the new words, stopping to ask questions, give examples, and encourage students to make connections to the words.
2. In pairs, have students sort the pictures of things that zip, snap, button, and tie into the four categories. Then have them report their examples to the class. You can use their examples to make a class poster illustrating the four words.
3. Have students find examples of different kinds of signals, such as traffic signals, referees’ or coaches’ signals, signals between friends, words that signal a language structure. For example, “if” signals the conditional.
4. Project the picture side of Flash Words onto the board or interactive white board. Have students label the words they know and then flip the pictures to check if they are correct.

Grammar

1. Have students look up the meaning, and related words for literal and figurative, and then Think-Pair-Share definitions, connections, and comparisons of the two words. For example:
   Literal - literary/literature - books - dictionary
   Figurative - figure - picture - image/imagine
2. Play an idiom charades game. First, divide the class into pairs and provide each pair with an idiom that you’ve written on a slip of paper. Next, have students review each word in their idiom with their partner to make sure they know its meaning. Then, give pairs 5 minutes to rehearse how they will act out the literal meaning of the words that make up their idiom. As they are practicing, project the chart below onto the chalkboard or an interactive white board, or pass out copies to the class.
   Invite one pair at a time to present to the class. First, they signal how many words their idiom is made up of, then they act out each word. Once students guess the words in the idiom, help the students to understand the idiom’s figurative meaning. Students then fill in the table.
   Review the completed chart. Then invite students to share examples of idioms from their native languages.
   Suggested Idioms: apple of my eye / break a leg / lend an ear / shake a leg / zip your lips / Give a hand / keep an eye out / egg on your face / get your head out of the clouds / put your foot in your mouth / cost an arm and a leg / raining cats and dogs

   Number	Students' Names	Idiom	Figurative Meaning
   1
   2
   3
   4
   5
   6
   7
   8
   9
   10

3. Watch the Grammar movie. Pause after Moby imagines the literal meaning, but before Ben says the figurative meaning. Ask students to guess what the figurative meaning is before Ben says it. Then continue the movie so students can check and confirm their answers.
4. For homework, have students complete the Literal and Figurative Graphic Organizer. They may choose any idiom, and then illustrate both the literal and figurative meanings. Encourage them to do more than one idiom. Have them share their graphic organizers with the class the next day.

Movie

1. After watching the movie Egg on Your Face (L3U6L4), distribute the Idiom Match activity, using the chart below. Differentiate the level of the activity by choosing one of these two versions:
   a. Cut out the sentence strips from the copies you made of the Idiom Match chart below, and distribute to pairs of students, Students match these idioms from the movie with their figurative meanings.
   b. For an added challenge, provide the idioms only, and have students explain the figurative meanings in their own words. Students must find and write their own answers.

Idiom Match

Idiom	Figurative Meaning
Shake a leg.	Hurry up.
Get your head out of the clouds.	Stop daydreaming.
You’re all thumbs.	You are clumsy.
Your heart is in the right place.	You’re trying to be helpful.
Give me a hand.	Help me.
Zip your lip.	Be quiet.
Keep an eye out.	Look and see.
Play it by ear.	Don’t make a plan.
Have egg on your face.	Feel embarrassed or silly.

Features

1. Watch Hear It, Say It. Students may listen and repeat sentences from the movie, or record their own voices and listen back.
2. Have students do Hear It, Say It in pairs, taking turns repeating the line and asking what the idiom means. For example:
   Student A: Shake a leg, Moby! We have a lot to do this morning.
   Student B: What does "shake a leg" mean?
   Student A: It means to hurry up.
3. Invite students to do the remaining interactive features, including : Play It, Warm Up, and You Can Do It.