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Know Your Idioms!
Getting Started
Distribute a copy of the mini-chart on page 53 to each
student. The idioms on the chart all relate to animals
somehow. The pictures help to illustrate the meaning of
them. You may want to share the history of each idiom
with your students.
Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing
A sheep is considered a gentle animal, while a wolf isn’t.
If a person who wasn’t very nice wanted to appear gentle,
he or she might use a sheep disguise. The idea behind
this idiom appears in one of Aesop’s fables and in a story
in the Bible.
This expression was used way back in Ancient Rome (about
A.D. 300). According to folktales, crocodiles would make a
crying sound, which would attract prey curious to know
what the crying was about.
On Your High Horse
Hundreds of years ago, during ceremonial marches, people
of high rank in society usually rode on horses that were
taller than average horses. Eventually, people began to say
that a proud or snobby person, was on a “high horse.”
Clam Up
Dog Days of Summer
Ancient Roman astronomers knew that Sirius, the dog star,
rose and set with the sun during the hottest weeks of the
year, July through mid-August. People thought the heat from
the dog star combined with that of the sun to make those
weeks especially hot. People began calling this terribly hot
time, the “dog days of summer.”
Getting a Leg Up on Idioms
Encourage students to be on the lookout for idioms. You
may want to create a bulletin board display where kids
can post any idioms they’ve come across. Students can
complete pages 55 and 56 to learn more idioms.
A writer once described a person’s lips as being like
“clamshells.” When a person didn’t want to talk, their lips
would “clam up.”
Answers: Page 55: 1. f 2. e 3. a 4. c 5. b 6. d
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Crocodile Tears
Name _______________________________________________ Date ____________________________
Idioms Match-Up
Often, you can figure out the meaning of an idiom from its context. Each group of sentences on
the left includes an idiom, which is underlined. Read the sentences and then draw a line matching the meaning of each idiom given on the right.
1. Sierra and Maggie were best friends, who
did everything together. They even dressed
alike. They were like two peas in a pod.
a. overactive
2. Nino always got a base hit when he was up
at bat. So he was sure that making the baseball team would be a piece of cake.
b. very eager to listen
3. Babysitting Jonah is tough. He never stops
moving. He really has ants in his pants.
4. Jibran took a few deep breaths. The curtain
was about to open. He hoped the butterflies
in his stomach would go away before it was
his turn to sing.
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5. Andrea really wanted to win the radio contest. When the announcer read the directions, she was all ears.
6. Leif’s friends loved joking around. When they
told him an elephant had escaped from the
zoo and was heading toward his neighborhood, he was sure they were pulling his leg.
c. a nervous fluttering of the stomach
d. to jokingly try to lie to someone
e. an especially easy task
f. alike in looks and behavior
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Name _______________________________________________ Date ____________________________
A Picture Is Worth 1,000 Words
Choose one of the idioms from the box to illustrate. Your illustration should show the meaning
of the idiom.
stick your neck out
stay on your toes
smell a rat
hold your tongue
make your mouth water
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have your head in the clouds
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