Procedure
1. As a warmer, ask students to talk to their partner
about the last party they went to and the best party
they have ever been to.
2. Ask students to feed back briefly.
3. Write the words party animal on the board and
elicit the meaning from the class. Clarify as
necessary (definition: someone who enjoys going
to lots of parties). Students will often try to find a
literal meaning, so it is a good opportunity to point
out the use and difficulty of figurative language,
as well as the reasons students should look to
become familiar with it.
Activity 1 (7 minutes)
4. Hand out the worksheet. Students work individually
or with a partner to match the names of the
animals with the pictures.
5. Conduct a quick feedback session to make sure
students have the correct answers.
Key: a. hound; b. pig / hog; c. wolf; d. rat;
e. mouse; f. cock; g. squirrel; h. horse;
i. cat; j. sheep
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LESSON SHARE / Listening / Party animal
How do you think the sheep would behave at
the party?
Possible answer: It would be shy. It would be
scared to talk to anyone.
8. Put students into pairs or small groups. Have them
discuss and make notes on the qualities or typical
actions of each animal and how that animal would
act at the imaginary animal party.
Activity 3 (15 minutes)
9. Explain to students that they will now have to guess
the meanings of some figurative language involving
animals. The phrases contain the animals from
Activity 1, but are used to describe people. Students
should read each sentence and then guess the
meaning of the words in bold. They should use their
work on the typical qualities of each animal (Activity
2) to help them guess the meanings.
You can do this as a class or ask students to work
in pairs. If you ask them to work in pairs, do the
first question as a class. Note: It is important for
the teacher not to feed the students the answers.
Working the answers out will give students the
confidence to use critical reasoning to understand
figurative usage.
10. Tell students that, as you go over the answers, they
can write the correct definitions next to the words
and phrases that have been reproduced below
the questions.
Key: 1. sheepish – embarrassed; 2. a catfight – a
fight between women; 3. pig out – eat a lot / too
much; hog – keep a lot of something for yourself;
4. hound – follow someone constantly in order to get
something from them; 5. cocky – arrogant;
6. wolf down – eat quickly; 7. squirrel away – put
something in a secret place and save it for later;
8. horse around – play in a rough way; 9. rat on – tell
someone’s secret; 10. a mouse – someone who is
quiet and prefers not to be noticed; 11. a party animal
– someone who enjoys going to lots of parties
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The purpose of this activity is not only to introduce
students to particular instances of figurative language
but also to highlight the larger trend of using figurative
language to associate human beings with non-human
things.
7. Tell students to imagine that all the animals from
Activity 1 are at a party! Ask them:
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Lesson Share TEACHER’S NOTES
Overview
6. Elicit examples of the qualities most associated with
sheep, for example, Sheep are shy and gentle.
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Age: Adults
Level: Pre-intermediate +
Time:
60-70 minutes
Objectives: To introduce students to figurative
language involving animals that can be
used to describe people at parties
Key skills: Vocabulary, speaking
Materials: One copy of the worksheet per student;
one small piece of paper per student,
each with one word / phrase from
Activity 3 written on it
Activity 2 (10-12 minutes)
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Party animal
by Alex Seward
Activity 4 (25-30 minutes)
11. Divide the students into groups of four. Have them
arrange their chairs in a circle. Tell the groups to
discuss their answers to the questions in Activity 3.
Encourage the students to make the conversation
as natural as possible by asking follow-on
questions of their group members. Elicit examples
of follow-on questions using the first question, if
necessary. For example: What do you mean by
that? In what way are you sheepish?
3. Post the stories around the classroom. Students
should circulate around the room, reading the
stories. You could use this as an opportunity for
peer editing, and have students correct each
other’s texts. Each individual / pair should put a
star on the best story. The story with the most stars
is the winner.
Mingling activity (optional)
Write each piece of language from Activity 3 on a
separate piece of paper, then distribute the pieces
of paper to the students. Students must keep their
words secret.
13. Tell students that they must act in the way
indicated by the word or phrase on their piece of
paper; so, for example, the person with ‘sheepish’
must act shy and embarrassed. As they mingle at
the imaginary party, the student they’re talking to
must guess which word or phrase they have, and
respond with a sentence such as: Wow, you’re
being awfully sheepish! or Stop hounding me!
14. When students have correctly guessed their
partner’s word / phrase, they should then exchange
pieces of paper and continue the activity with
another classmate.
Extension activity – Writing gallery
Have students use the new vocabulary in context
by creating a fictional story of a party where all
of the characters demonstrate the language from
the lesson. Remind students that they are to be
descriptive, that is, students must not merely
assign a trait to a person haphazardly; they must
also show what that person is doing / saying that
demonstrates that characteristic.
1. Individually or in pairs, students create a story
using the vocabulary.
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© Macmillan Publishers Limited, 2014
LESSON SHARE / Listening / Party animal
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2. When students have finished, collect the writings
and distribute coloured pens to each individual
or pair.
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Lesson Share TEACHER’S NOTES
12. In this activity, students can practise the newly
learned vocabulary by role-playing at a pretend
social gathering with their classmates.
horse
wolf
pig / hog
squirrel
rat
cock sheep
mouse
cat
hound
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
g.
h.
i.
j.
2. In the box below, write down the qualities of each animal. Then write down how you think
each animal would behave at a party.
Behaviour at a party
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© Macmillan Publishers Limited, 2014
LESSON SHARE / Listening / Party animal
Qualities
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Animal
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Lesson Share WORKSHEET
1. Match the names of the animals with the pictures below.
3. Guess the meanings of the words and phrases in bold.
1. Do you often feel sheepish if you make a mistake?
2. Have you ever had or seen a catfight? What happened?
3. Do you have a habit of pigging out on junk food or hogging the best food for yourself?
4. Have you ever been to a party where someone was hounding you? Who was it? What did they do?
5. Are you a cocky person? Or, if not, do cocky people irritate you?
6. Do you tend to wolf things down or do you take your time while eating?
7. Have you ever squirreled away food in your pockets or bag to eat after a party?
8. When you see others horsing around, do you join in or wish that they would stop?
9. Has anyone ever ratted on you? What was the secret they told? What was your reaction?
10.Do you know anyone who you would describe as a mouse?
11.Are you a party animal?
sheepish
a catfight
to pig out
to hog (something)
to hound (someone)
cocky
to wolf (something) down
to squirrel away (something)
to horse around
to rat on someone
a mouse
a party animal
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© Macmillan Publishers Limited, 2014
LESSON SHARE / Listening / Party animal
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4. Discuss your answers to the questions in Activity 3.
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Lesson Share WORKSHEET
Figurative animal language