Spill the tea: Explaining idioms

• Tell learners they're going to play a picture guessing game. Show Slide 2. Ask them if they can guess the expression. Help them by eliciting the words one by one and writing them in the blanks (_ _ _).  
• Show the answer on Slide 3 and ask Can 'break the ice' have another meaning? (Elicit: to start a conversation and make people feel comfortable)  
• Repeat with Slides 4 and 5. Elicit the meaning of 'spill the tea': to tell a secret or share gossip. 
• Repeat with Slides 6 and 7. Elicit the meaning of 'no cap': 'I'm not lying' or 'what I'm saying is true'. 
• Alternatively, you could draw pictures on the board to illustrate the idioms. For example, for 'break the ice', start with a block of ice (draw a cube). Add snowflakes (to show it's cold) or water drops (to show it's melting). Draw a hammer next to it. Add a crack in the ice, then small broken pieces. 
• Ask learners if they already knew these expressions. Tell them that expressions like 'break the ice', 'spill the tea' and 'no cap' have a special name. Do they know it? Elicit 'idioms'. Tell learners that they're going to read a text that explains more about idioms 

• Show Slide 8. Give out the Worksheet and set up Task 1. Tell learners to read the text and decide if the sentences are true or false. 
• Ask them to check with their partner and then check with the whole class.  Answers: 1 – false; 2 – true; 3 – false.  
• Show Slide 9 (Worksheet Task 2). Ask learners to read the text again and underline the idioms. Then ask them to check their answers with a partner. 

• Show Slide 10 to confirm the five idioms from the text, then ask learners to answer the questions with their partner (Worksheet Task 3). 

• Show Slide 11. Set up Worksheet Task 4. Ask learners to work with a partner to match the idioms with the definitions. 
• Monitor closely and provide help where needed.
• Check the answers with the whole class. Show Slide 12. 

• Set up Worksheet Task 5. Ask learners to work with a partner to answer the questions.
• Monitor closely and provide help with language where needed.
• Check the answers with the whole class.  

Answers: 1 – b; 2 – c; 3 – a; 4 – b; 5 – a 

• Tell the learners that, with a partner or in a group of three, they're going to invent and act out a short dialogue based on one of the idioms they've learned.
• Show Slide 13. Nominate one of the stronger learners to play one of the roles and read out the dialogue with you.  
• Ask some concept-checking questions to check understanding. For example, Is Sarah really burning something in her room? What does Sarah's dad mean when he says she's 'burning the midnight oil'? Does Sarah understand her dad at first? 

• Put the learners into pairs or groups of three. Tell them that they are going to choose a different idiom and create a dialogue using the same pattern. If they are in a pair, they are A and B. If they are in a group of three, they are A, B and C.
• Show Slide 14 (Worksheet Task 6) and talk through the step-by-step instructions for inventing the dialogue. Check understanding by referring back to the example dialogue, e.g. What's the setting of this sketch? Sarah's bedroom.  
• Give learners ten minutes to create and practise their dialogue.
• Monitor closely and provide help with language.
• Invite some of the groups to perform their dialogue to the whole class.  

• Idioms in your language 
  In pairs, learners think of an idiom in their own language. They discuss and decide how to explain the literal and idiomatic meaning to someone who doesn't speak their language.
• Finding equivalents 
  In pairs or small groups, learners try to find idioms in their language that have a similar meaning to the ones on Slide 11 (Worksheet Task 4). Are they identical or do they use different imagery?
• Guess the idiom 
  Invite individual learners to the board to draw pictures to illustrate an idiom (similar to the pictures in the lead-in stage). The rest of the class tries to guess the idiom.
• Idiom poster display 
  Learners create posters to illustrate a favourite idiom (either literally, idiomatically or both). Display the posters in the classroom.
• Reflection discussion 
  Why do we use idioms? How do they make language more interesting?