Idioms: Elementary Set
Common classroom and family idioms, chosen because they are heard before they are taught.
Session summary (SOAP)
Stays on this screen. Nothing is saved or sent.
Mark a card Correct, Correct with cue or Incorrect and the summary writes itself here.
How to run it
Ask what the literal words would mean before giving the figurative meaning. Letting a cat out of a bag is a funny image and drawing attention to it makes the gap between words and meaning explicit, which is the actual lesson. Then ask for a situation where the student would use it, since an idiom that cannot be placed in a context has been memorised rather than learned. Twelve minutes covers the sixteen.
Cueing ladder
Start at the top. Add support one step at a time.
- IndependentPresent the item and wait 5 seconds of quiet before helping.Log as correct
- HintReread the key sentence, or point back to the clue in the text or picture.Log as cued
- Two choicesOffer the literal meaning and the intended one, and ask which the speaker means.Log as cued
- ModelThink aloud: say how you worked it out, then the student says the answer and why.Log as cued
Adjust it
Read it aloud to the student and offer two choices from the start.
Ask the student to say which words gave them the clue, not just the answer.
Matching IEP goal
Given short texts or spoken prompts, Student will explain the intended meaning of figurative language in 8 of 10 opportunities across 3 consecutive sessions, given no more than an indirect cue.
Send it home through the parent portal →About this activity
Sixteen items on the idioms children hear long before anyone teaches them: hang in there, she let the cat out of the bag, that's a piece of cake, he's under the weather, hold your horses, it cost an arm and a leg, we're in the same boat. Each is offered with a literal option alongside the figurative one, because the literal reading is the error being tested.
What to listen for
Watch for literal answers surviving instruction. A student who still chooses she opened a bag after being told the meaning is not being careless — idioms are genuinely arbitrary, and there is nothing in the words to reason from. Notice whether they can spot one in speech, which is much harder than choosing from four options.
Carrying it home
Idioms turn up in ordinary family talk constantly. Stopping on one — what do you think that means — takes five seconds and there are several a day in any household.
What's in this activity
- 'Hang in there' means ___.
- Climb up high
- Keep trying
- Hold onto a rope
- Wait by the door
- 'She let the cat out of the bag' means ___.
- She opened a bag
- She got a pet
- She told a secret
- She lost the cat
- 'That's a piece of cake' means ___.
- It's dessert time
- It is expensive
- It is very easy
- It is sweet
- 'He's under the weather' means ___.
- He is outdoors
- He is standing in the rain
- He is not feeling well
- He is running late
- 'Hold your horses' means ___.
- Grab the reins
- Go faster
- Be quiet
- Wait a minute
- 'It cost an arm and a leg' means ___.
- It was very expensive
- It was dangerous
- It was free
- It was heavy
- 'We're in the same boat' means ___.
- We are going sailing
- We are in the same situation
- We are lost
- We are best friends
- 'Break a leg!' said right before a play means ___.
- Be careful, it's slippery
- Don't go on stage
- Good luck
- You will get hurt
Questions
- What grades is this for?
- Third through fifth, using the idioms children meet in classrooms and at home.
- Is it free?
- Yes, all sixteen items play with no account.
- Why do idioms cause so much difficulty?
- Because the meaning is not in the words. Most language can be worked out from its parts; an idiom cannot, so it has to be learned individually — which is why students with otherwise strong language still miss them.
Use this board with your caseload
With a free account, every correct, cued and incorrect mark is saved to the student and scored against their IEP goal, with the data written up for you. Assign it as home practice through the parent portal.
Track progress freeFree for SLPs. No card, no trial clock.