About this Resource
Idioms can be fun to explore with students and can also be challenging for students who are learning English. Please keep this in mind when planning these activities.
Use any or all of these ideas to explore idioms with your students:
Find My Meaning: Use the idiom cards (see below) for this activity. Mix them up and hand them out. Students need to find their match by pairing the idiom with the meaning. The cards can also be repurposed for a game of concentration at a word word station/centre in the future.
Explore With Picture Books: The bookshelf of book suggestions (below) will offer more than enough idioms for your students to explore.
Literal VS Figurative: Each student gets a blank sheet of paper. Fold the paper in half (hamburger style). Have students select an idiom at random (draw from a hat). On one half of the page they need to illustrate the literal meaning of the idiom (and write the idiom). On the other half of the page they will illustrate the figurative meaning of the phrase (and write the ‘translation’).
Idiom of the Week: Each week explore a new idiom with students. They can write each idiom using cursive (to practice). Discuss what it means and when you might use it in conversation. Have students be on the look out for idioms in their independent reading to add to the idioms you explore as a class.
