You can do this lesson with any level in SHS or perhaps even an advanced JHS class. :)
Most of my students have little to no experience with English idioms, and it's unfortunate given how many there are and how often we use them. Their English textbooks also don't really cover idioms at all. Without any experience with idioms, I felt like my students would be at a disadvantage when it came to conversational or casual English. Therefore, I decided to create a lesson that teaches the students 6 commonly used idioms at one time. This activity is fairly low prep since you only need to print the worksheet and use a tablet/PC to display the PPT.
First, I start by sorting students into groups. The group size doesn't really matter and smaller classes can work as a pair. Once they're sorted into their groups, you can start the PPT. Begin by explaining to the students what an idiom even is. It helps them to know what the purpose of an idiom is before you start telling them about all these different words and phrases. On the 2nd slide, I put a short Youtube video to help further explain, but I've found my students don't need the video. It's up to you if you want to use it. Please try to tell the students a few times how important it is for them to learn these idioms. Frame it in a way that would make it more relevant to your students (they can understand English media better, they can talk with native speakers, etc.).
On slides 3 and 4, I put some charts that I found online with a bunch of various idioms that are specific to things like happiness or making decisions. The point of these slides is to show the students how idioms can be applied to nearly any topic in English. This also further proves to the students just how common they really are. I quickly go over 1-2 idioms per slide, but don't spend too much time on these since the students aren't really meant to focus on them.
You can pass out the worksheet now or before you start the PPT, but they'll need it for this next part. There are 2 sides to the worksheet. The left side is for the students to write what each idiom means and the right side is for the students to practice using the idioms in a sentence. For the next few slides, the students are going to only work on the left side, although sometimes they will work ahead and fill in the sentences early. Don't worry if they do. :)
When you introduce the idioms, read out the idiom so the students can hear how it's pronounced. Ask them to repeat it back to you. Next, explain that you're going to show them a picture. Tell them that they will have to discuss as a group what they think the idiom means by using the picture. I made sure to choose entertaining stock photos, so the students enjoy trying to decipher the picture. When you reveal the picture, DO NOT CLICK AGAIN!!! If you click again, the definition will be revealed and it'll all be ruined.
Once the students have seen the picture, ask them once again to discuss as a group what they think the idiom means. Make sure they know that they are only guessing so they don't need to focus on having the correct answer. Tell them you'll give them (x amount of time) to talk and write their ideas. They can write their ideas in either English or Japanese on their worksheet. After the time has passed, the students will share their ideas. They can share either in English or Japanese and feel free to ask your JTE to help translate if you don't understand Japanese.
Once the guesses have all been shared, then you can reveal the actual definition. Some students are able to guess the meaning correctly and others are totally way off. Give them some time to copy the actual definition since a couple of them are quite long. Repeat this process until you get to the 6th and final idiom.*
The last part of this lesson is meant for the students to practice using the idioms in a sentence. It's a pretty self-explanatory activity (just fill in the blank), so they probably won't need more than 5 minutes for this part. Go over the answers once everyone is done.
*A quick note about the 2nd idiom (cold shoulder). You should mention that whenever we use this idiom, we use it as a part of a phrase (giving me/her/him/us the cold shoulder). Write it on the board and LEAVE IT UP THERE. This will come in handy later :)
Thanks for your support and let me know if you have comments/questions :3
I used your Easier English Riddles lesson and it was such a hit I thought idioms would be a good next lesson, and I was so pleased to find that you also made one on them! Trying it out today, thanks so much!