Idiom, NOT Idiot...

I. Love. Figurative. Language.

I would just die without it. Figurative language is the butter to my popcorn. It's like the sugar on the strawberries of life. Figurative language swoops into our writing and paints a beautiful picture that was lacking with common words. Figurative language is aces in my book.

Outside: 10 common idioms (chosen from a list)

Did I get them all? Let's see: hyperbole, metaphor, simile, personification, idiom... I think so!

Inside: Actual meaning and what it
might be mistaken to mean  (picture)

My students are on fire for figurative language. We start looking for it early on in the year and then while we read our novels students just about leap out of their seats when they find an example.

For this post I'll show an organizer we use when we're starting idioms. I start my talking about the difference between "figurative" and "literal" language. If you literally were to "crack someone up" what would that look like? We have fun going through lists of common idioms and talk about what it would be like to be from another culture listening to these idioms. We would sound crazy!

Why do Americans keep cats in bags?? Perhaps because they keep catching our tongues? Sneaky American cats!!

Mrs. J

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