Guest post by Lori Wolfe
St Patrick’s Day is right around the corner! I love using this holiday to teach about idioms!
St Patrick’s Day Idioms
What is an idiom?
Idioms are words that don’t mean what they say! They are usually a group of words, well known and used by native speakers of a language, that can’t be understood by the individual meaning of the words.
Why teach idioms?
Students develop a clear understanding of idioms with direct instruction, read-alouds, teacher modeling and student-centered activities. According to readwritethink teaching idioms offers students the ability to further comprehend texts that contain metaphorical and lexical meanings beyond the basic word level.
Here is one way to teach St Patrick’s Day idioms:
- When presenting idioms to students, introduce a group of 4 to 5 idioms together. It is best to group the idioms into a category, for example; before St. Patrick’s Day teach idioms that use green in them!
- Always use stories or relate personal conversations to introduce each idiom in context.
- Use an Idiom Journal to record the idiom and it’s meanings. Don’t forget a picture.
- Practice by offering students a student centered activity.
Click here for a downloadable fun free activity of Green Idioms.
Click here to download a Student Journal Page to make your own Idiom book!
Now you are on your way to teaching idioms!
I like these idioms for green!
- Get or give someone the green light
- Green with envy
- Grass is always greener on the other side
- To be green
- Green thumb
- Green around the gills
Here are some fun sites for idioms!
- Eye on Idioms-THE IDIOM CONNECTION
- My English Teacher
- Learn English
What are some of your favorite idiom activities! I would love to hear about them.
About the Author
Lori Wolfe has taught English Language Development, bilingual 1st & 2nd grades, and as a Title I Reading and Math specialist. She also presents professional development workshops, develops curriculum and blogs. Follow her blogs at Fun To Teach ESL and Fun To Teach Math Blog for more great teaching ideas, tips, freebies and more. You can also find Fun To Teach on Facebook.