I’ll be honest, I love idioms. I love how they play with the English language. However, most people studying English find idioms to be quite the challenge. The lesson below is a quick introductory lesson for students just beginning to play with idioms. It’s best used as an idiom needs assessment. What might you have to teach after this class?

Pre-class Preparation:

Write the following idioms on the board:

1. Bark up the wrong tree; 2. Cry over spilt milk; 3. Drive me up the wall; 4. Have an axe to grind; 5. Jump the gun; 6. On pins and needles; 7. When pigs fly; 8. X marks the spot

If you don’t like these, find a great list on the Idiom Site.

Also, create small pieces of paper with the numbers 1-8 on them, four pieces with the number “1”, four pieces with “2”, etc. and put them in your hat. You’ll also need to create small pieces of paper with the letters A-D on them, eight pieces with the letter “A”, eight pieces with the letter “B”, etc.

Give students a piece of blank copy paper.

Introduction: (~10 minutes)

Once the class is settled, have students read the statements on the board. Allow students to look up new vocabulary in a regular student dictionary or a bilingual dictionary. Have students talk with their neighbors about what they have learned. Have students pick a piece of paper with a number on it from your hat.

Independent work: (~10 minutes)

First, students should study the statement that coincides with the number they picked from the hat. Next, students will draw an exact representation of the statement on the blank paper they received at the start of class. They can use colored pencils if necessary but pencil and paper will suffice. To clarify, students who picked #7 would have to draw pigs in the sky with wings, or something similar. This is an independent activity.

Find your group: (~15 minutes)

Once all pictures are complete, have students form groups based on the number they picked from the hat. So all students who picked #7 will take their pictures and form a group somewhere in the room. (There should be eight groups, one for each statement on the board.) In these groups, students must perform four tasks:

1. Share their art with each other

2. Form consensus a definition that goes with their idiom

3. Create at least four sentences using their assigned idiom

4. Write these sentences on the back of their art

While students are working in their groups, the teacher should quietly hand a letter to each member of the group a letter: A, B, C, or D. Since there are eight groups with four members each, one student in each group should have an A, another student should have a B, etc.

Find your next group: (~20 minutes)

Once groups have finished their first tasks, students should look at the letter card you gave them and find their new group.(There should now be four groups with eight people in them.) Give each group a clean sheet of notebook paper. In this group, several things need to take place:

1. Each student should share their idiom’s photo, definition and sentences.

2. After each student shares their information, the group must vote which sentence represents the idiom best.

3. Each winning sentence should be written on the notebook paper.

Closure: (~5 minutes)

Once groups are finished with writing the eight winning statements, have groups exchange papers and read the winning statements. At the end of class, ask each group to share their favorite. Collect the notebook paper as students leave class. This notebook paper acts as your needs assessment. Plan future lessons accordingly.