Idioms? Go figure!

Idioms and figurative language are always so much fun to teach, although they can be confusing to our English learners (or any of our students who don't read very much). 

As an introduction to figurative language this year,  we started with a class play from Bad Wolf Press, Alice's Adventures with Idioms.  "Alice follows her cat and dog down the rabbit hole and arrives in...the land of idioms! And a crazy place it is. All the familiar Wonderland characters -- the White Rabbits, Tweedledee and Tweedledum, the Mad Hatter and March Hare, the Cheshire Cat, the King and Queen of Hearts -- are there to share their kooky wisdom as they help Alice and her pets navigate the mysterious world of the English language."

My kids LOVED performing this musical, with catchy songs and hilarious lines. We used the script to close read, highlight and annotate all the figurative language.

We learned about similes, metaphors, alliteration, and of course, idioms!

Following up with our play, a super-easy way to reinforce idioms was Idiom Day. Each student had to pick an idiom (or two) and either dress as the idiom or bring props to demonstrate the idiom.

As each student shared their idiom, the class took turns guessing which idiom was being represented and what it actually means.

Once the kids start learning about idioms, they notice them EVERYWHERE!

How do you teach figurative language? Your students will get such a kick out of idioms! (Hey, that's another idiom. . .)