Idioms in Action

I mentioned in this post that I was planning a big lesson on idioms for my firsties.  This week we dove in head first.  I started out with a quick PowerPoint with my objectives, I can statements, definitions, and some examples of idioms. 

Here's a peek at my objectives.  I call my students CLUEsters.  Our gifted program is called CLUE (Creative Learning in a Unique Environment.) So CLUE students are CLUEsters, get it?!?

Then continued by reading aloud, "My Teacher Likes To Say." (pictured below)

This book is packed full of easy idioms that we discussed and talked about the origin of some of them. There are literal illustrations of each idiom in the book which resulted in a lot giggles.  This was a great time to discuss the terms "literal" meaning of idioms and "actual" meanings of idioms.  Which was a segway to one of the assignments they would be completing.  

I had several different idiom sheets (like the one pictured above) for them to choose from, student choices equals them being invested in the assignment.  This one is, "He's in hot water."  On the left side they drew the literal meaning and on the right the actual meaning.  I defined the idiom at the top right:  "He got into trouble."  This activity was reinforcement for my lower group. Each child completed a different idiom.  This created exposure to a variety of idioms when they shared at the end of class.  

I also used some matching cards from this packet and we did a little scavenger hunt around the room.

Probably my favorite part of this lesson was the original idioms they wrote.  I copied several, and again, they could choose the one they wanted.

 Never bite the hand of the restaurant waiter.

Get off on the wrong road.

(Maybe this is a good time to discuss homophones!!)

You can grab this fun activity here.  Be prepared to crack up!

What's your secret for teaching idioms?  Young children think so literally, it's a tough skill to teach.