Animalidioms Lesson Plan

Animal Idiom Lesson Plan
By Patrick Cutrona
Language Skills English Center
Boston, Ma
This is a lesson I taught while I served in the Peace Corps in Ukraine that was extremely
popular and effective, which presents a handful of common English animal idioms, also
gives us a chance to practice the use of similes and comparisons by using as [adj] as
I.e. as healthy as a horse or as sick as a dog. Just follow the instructions below and
use the attached materials for this lesson or as a base for any lesson focused on the
apprehension of new idiom vocabulary. Provided below are activities than can be used
for a normal 45-50 min. class along with a number of supplementary materials that can be
added to extend the lesson to a longer lesson or for a second lesson.
Objectives:
-To enlarge students vocabulary on American Idioms;
-To practice dialogues with new idioms and initiative speaking;
-To be able to use as in in comparison sentences;
-To use new idioms in new sentences.
Materials: Vocabulary jig-saw slips of paper, crossword, wordsearch, dialogue,
slips of paper with slang to replace on dialogue, a monolingual dictionary
Procedures.
1.
Warming up:
To start the lesson the teacher does a quick introduction with students to warm up
the English speaking part of their brains. Asking students how they are, talking about the
news, and the weather, are east topics that are common and necessary in their everyday
lives.
2.
Presentation of the topic:

The teacher will start with the definition of an idiom and explain the meaning of
simile and metaphor using a few examples. A good way to increase class participation at
this point to have a few students see if they can create similes or metaphors. beautiful
like a flower or as beautiful as a flower.
The teacher will pass out sets of idioms and their definitions, which the students
are to match without prior knowledge of the meaning. They are able to do this by using
the vocabulary and definitions like puzzle pieces. Each sheet of paper with an idiom will
match the exact shape to fit into its corresponding definition. This can be easily done by
writing the idiom on one side of a scrap of paper, and the definition on the other, then
cutting a distinct pattern between them. The students will get out of their seats with their
vocabulary copybooks, find their match and sit with their new partner. This allows the
students to stretch their legs a bit as well as working with a student who they normally do
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not have much contact with. This is also an opportunity for teachers to match weaker
students with the stronger, creating a communal learning environment, and peer teaching.
3.
After each pair is found and seated the teacher will call up group by group to help
explain their idiom in the order they are written on the board with a space next to it for a
written explanation. One student will come up to the front of the class and read the idiom
and their partner will read the definition.
as sick as a dog
as busy as a bee
>
>
as slow as a snail
as healthy as a horse
as strong as an ox
as proud as a peacock
>
>
>
>
as poor as a church mouse

as happy as a lark
as happy as a clam
as free as a bird
>
>
>
>
very ill, not feeling well, under the weather

lots of work to do, very occupied, moving fast from
task to task
not fast, moving at a low speed
not sick at all, feeling 100%, having lots of energy
physically powerful, showing great strength
a feeling of happiness or honor and pride for
yourself
having little or no money or support
being glad, pleased, or in a good mood
being glad, pleased, or in a good mood
able to do whatever you want, without obligations
or work
The teacher asks students try to make up sentences with the idioms such as Las week I
got the flu and I was as sick as a dog. In this development we move from the idiom
alone to its use in a sentence. Once all of the questions about situational use and meaning
are clear, idioms have been copied, and sentences have been created, the teacher will
present a dialogue using all of the idioms.
4.
The students will model the dialogue as it is read in literal English language. This
is to say, first, without the slang so as to understand the context of the dialogue. Next the
teacher hands out different slips of paper with the slang words written on them so the
students can replace the literal words with the slang words. The dialogue should be
written in two different colors, representing the words that are to be covered by the new
slips of paper with the slang in one color, and the words that do not change in another.
Without animal idioms
A: Hey whats up?
B: Not much, I have been very ill, and you?
A: Thats too bad. I have been very busy lately.
B: I am jealous, I have been moving slowly because of my illness.
A: You ought to rest so that soon you will be healthy.
B: I have been taking vitamins so that when I get better I will be very strong. How is your
new job?
A: Oh, its great! I am so proud to have finally got it, but all the time it took me to find it
has left me without money.
B: And what is your boss like?
A: She is such a great woman, and she is always very happy.
B: Well congratulations, I am very happy that you found a job you like.
A: Thanks, and get well soon!
B: Next week, I will back to normal and free. Lets do lunch!
With animal idioms
A: Hey whats up?
B: Not much, I have been as sick as a dog, and you?
A: Thats too bad. I have been as busy as a bee lately.
B: I am jealous, I have been moving as slow as a snail because of my illness.
A: You ought to rest so that soon you will be as healthy as a horse.
B: I have been taking vitamins so that when I get better I will be as strong as an ox too.
How is your new job?
A: Oh, its great! I am as proud as a peacock to have finally got it, but all the time it took
me to find it has left me as poor as a church mouse.
B: And what is your boss like?
A: She is such a great woman, and she is always as happy as a lark.
B: Well congratulations, I am as happy as a clam that you found a job you like.
A: Thanks, and get well soon!
B: Next week, I will back to normal and as free as a bird. Lets do lunch!
The students then model the dialogue again, now with the new animal idioms in place.
Once all pronunciation problems and questions have been dealt with, the teacher removes
the slips of paper with the animal idioms, leaving the original dialogue. The point of this
is to force the students to read the literal words and translate them into the idioms as they
go, reinforcing the association between the idiom and its meaning.
If time allows the last part of the class the teacher will clear up any final
confusion about the meanings and uses of the idioms and then instruct the pairs to create
their own dialogues with the new slang words. This enables them to creatively use the
new idioms. If they complete them in class they can then present their new dialogues. For
a home task the teacher will then assign them to write and memorize their new slang
dialogues to present at the beginning of the next class.

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Animal Idiom Lesson Plan

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as poor as a church mouse

very ill, not feeling well, under the weather

2013 Language Skills English Center

2013 Language Skills English Center

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