West Virginia State University

College of Professional Studies: Department of Education

LESSON PLAN FORMAT GUIDE (Updated 8/17)

Teacher Candidate _Jennifer Herscher____________________ Date_10/09/2018__________________

School _Poca Middle School____________________________ Grade/Subject _6th/English___________
Lesson Topic _Idioms with Freak the Mighty______________

INSTRUCTIONAL OBJECTIVES/ STUDENT OUTCOMES

● Students will be able to explain what an idiom is and discern its figurative meaning from it’s literal meaning.

WV CCRs
ELA.6.7 - Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a literary text, including figurative and
connotative meanings; analyze the impact of a specific word choice on meaning and tone.
ELA.6.40 - Demonstrate understanding of figurative language, word relationships, and nuances in word meanings.
 Interpret figures of speech (e.g., personification) in context.
 Use the relationship between particular words (e.g., cause/effect, part/whole, or item/category)
to better understand each of the words.
 Distinguish among the connotations (associations) of words with similar denotations (definitions)
(e.g., stingy, scrimping, economical, frugal, and thrifty).
NATIONAL STANDARDS
NCTE 6 - Students apply knowledge of language structure, language conventions (e.g., spelling and punctuation),
media techniques, figurative language, and genre to create, critique, and discuss print and non-print texts.

ASSESSMENT
Diagnostic/Pre-Assessment
Ask the students if anyone can explain what an idiom is, or if they can give an example.
After a brief explanation, ask for opinions/ideas as to why we use idioms.

Formative Assessment
During the lesson, we will work together as a class to compile a list of idioms. There will also be a discussion
about why idioms are used and what they can tell us about a story’s character(s), setting, tone, etc.

Summative Assessment
Students will be given an activity to complete in class that ties the lesson back to the book Freak the Mighty. This
activity will require them to create their own dictionary similar to Freak’s in the back of the book. Students will
work independently or with those at their table to develop clever definitions for words used in the idioms we
discussed. They will also be encouraged to think of more.
For example: arm – half of the cost of something extremely expensive (That costs an arm and a leg.)
fart – what the brain does when it is not working properly (I just had a brain fart.)
Students will also be instructed to select one of the words from their dictionary and illustrate the literal meaning of
the idiomatic expression related to that word.
For example: word – tongue
definition – what my sister needs to hold if she wants to stay out of trouble
illustration – a picture of a girl holding her tongue in her hand

MANAGEMENT FRAMEWORK
Overall Time - 90 min
Time Frame - 05 min: word of the day
20 min: independent reading
05 min: reading response
05 min: introduction/anticipatory set
15 min: teacher-led discussion
20 min: dictionary activity
10 min: illustration
10 min: share & close
DIFFERENTIATED INSTRUCTION/ ADAPTATIONS/ INTERVENTIONS
Learning Styles:
Visual – All instructions and examples will be written on the board or displayed via the elmo
Auditory – Anything in writing will also be spoken aloud. Also, much of the lesson is verbally presented as
teacher-led discussion.
Kinesthetic – Students are allowed to do their independent reading in beanbag chairs. Also, the process of
constructing an illustration of the term/phrase will support the needs of kinesthetic learners.

Special Needs:
ADHD – The 90 minute class period is broken up into several short periods of activity, reading, writing, and
discussion. A lack of motivation is addressed by allowing students flexibility in choosing what words,
phrases, and illustrations to include in their dictionary.

Learning Levels:
Low and high achievers are both accommodated by including idiomatic expressions of varying difficulty.
Example: Don’t spill the beans (less difficult)
You can’t have your cake and eat it too (more difficult)

PROCEDURES
Word of the day:
Students copy down the daily vocabulary word with the definition (displayed on the elmo and read aloud).
The teacher leads discussion about the meaning of the root, affixes, and other related words.

Independent Reading:
Students are given this time (20 min) daily to read a book of their choosing from either the library or the
classroom collection.

Reading Response:
Students are encouraged to reflect on what they’ve read and share it with the class. For example: “In just
one sentence, describe how what you just read is important to the story as a whole.”
(The cooperating teacher will initiate these three daily activities.)

1. ANTICIPATORY SET
Show students a list of foreign idioms and read them aloud. For each one, ask students if they can guess
the meaning.
Portuguese: “Take your little horse away from the rain.” (It’s not going to happen)
Spanish: “The airplane got away from me.” (I forgot)
French: “He had mustard going up his nose.” (He’s lost his temper)
Italian: “Your eyes are lined with ham” (You can’t see something that is right in front of you)
German: “I think my pig whistles” (I can’t believe it!)
Chinese: “She is drawing a snake with feet” (She’s telling a long story with unnecessary information)
2. INTRODUCTION
Ask if anyone can explain what an idiom is and provide their own example.
Idiom: a common word or phrase which means something different from its literal meaning but can be
understood because of their popular use.
“Why is it difficult to determine what the foreign idioms mean?” (not commonly used)
Discuss the difference between literal meaning and figurative meaning to assess background knowledge.
Ask for opinions/ideas as to why we use idioms.

3. BODY & TRANSITIONS

Tell students to recall the example of “ants in the pants” from Freak the Might, as well as Freak’s definition of
boats in his dictionary.
“How can we relate Freak’s dictionary to idioms?”
 The meaning he gives a word is often different from its literal meaning.

As a class, create a list of idioms on the board. Provide a few examples to get students thinking.

When they get stumped, prompt them with questions like…

“What do people sometimes say when they think you’re lying?”
“If you want someone to keep a secret, you might say ‘don’t spill the’ what?”

When the list is complete, ask students the following questions:

“Why do we use these words and phrases?”
“When used in a story, what can they tell us about the character, setting, etc.?”
(Idioms can reveal age/time period, geographic location, culture…)
“If I said, ‘I didn’t just fall off the turnip truck’ or ‘She was madder than a wet hen’, what
might you guess about where I’m from?”

Activity: Figurative Meaning Dictionary

Give students small notebooks containing ten blank pages. Instruct them to write “Their name’s Dictionary”
on the front cover. Using the idioms and slang words we discussed, students will create their own dictionary
with figurative definitions. For example:
arm – half of the cost of something really expensive
fart – something your brain does when it can’t think of something

Illustration: Once they have written 5-10 words/definitions in their dictionaries (no less than five) they will be
instructed to pick one word and illustrate the idiom referenced by its definition. For example:
For example: word – tongue
definition – what my sister needs to hold if she wants to stay out of trouble
illustration – a picture of a girl holding her tongue in her hand

4. CLOSURE
Why is it important to recognize idioms as figurative and not literal?
For the rest of today, try to count how many you hear and say in casual conversation. How much of what
you say is figurative?

5. ASSESSMENT
The dictionaries will be collected and assessed for understanding related to idioms and figurative meaning
vs. literal meaning.

STRATEGIES
Teacher-led discussion, independent practice, small cooperative groups, guided instruction, teacher modeling,
student sharing, constructive learning

MATERIALS
Independent reading books (library and teacher’s bookshelves)
Freak the Mighty books (school provided to all students)
ELMO
Whiteboard and dry erase marker
Loose-leaf paper
Stapler
Pencils/Pens
Colored pencils/markers

EXTENDED ACTIVITIES
If Student Finishes Early
Allow the student to pick from the following options:
o Add more words and definitions to their dictionary
o Create another illustration for a different word in their dictionary
 o Write a short story in their writing notebook (or continue one) that incorporates at least one of the idioms
defined in their dictionary.

If Lesson Finishes Early

Allow the student to pick from the following options:
o Add more words and definitions to their dictionary
o Create another illustration for a different word in their dictionary
o Write a short story in their writing notebook (or continue one) that incorporates at least one of the idioms
defined in their dictionary.

If Technology Fails
Use the whiteboard to write the word of the day instead of using the elmo.