Idioms Expressing Emotion

Transcription

1 Idioms Expressing Emotion Page 1 The following lesson is designed for upper intermediate to advanced learners. Below is vocabulary which actually consists of the idioms themselves. With each idiom you also have a sentence with the idiom used in context. In addition, after the emotion, synonyms (adjective form) are listed for the emotion. You may want to do this lesson late in the camp week. You could teach and then put up an idiom each day and have several learned before you even get to the lesson. (See Idiom Wall below.) Materials Needed Vocabulary cards with each emotion and its synonyms Vocabulary cards with idioms and sentence showing context (All this vocabulary could be listed in your workbook ) Pictures showing some of the idioms (see end of lesson) Paper and pencil for groups to write their situational vignettes Vocabulary 1. Idioms: words that have a different meaning from the how the words are normally used by themselves 2. Emotions: feelings Idioms for Happiness/happy Adjectives for happy: glad, joyful, cheery, merry, jolly 3. feel like a million dollars: feel wonderful I feel like a million dollars today so I think that I will go for a walk. 4. got it made: be happy and successful Brandy s got it made: she has a career and a loving family. 5. tickled pink: happy, very pleased Aunt Sophia was tickled pink to receive a photo of the family. Sadness/sad Adjectives for sad: unhappy, depressed, gloomy, miserable 6. feel blue; got the blues: feel depressed and sad The rainy weather makes me feel blue. After such a big disappointment, he s got the blues. 7. down in the dumps: depressed I don t know what s wrong, but I feel kind of down in the dumps. 8. heavy heart: a feeling of being weighed down with sorrow, unhappiness We left the meeting with a heavy heart when we heard that our boss would soon have to leave the company because of illness. When someone is sad, you might say keep your chin up: don t despair or worry too much I know that things have been difficult for you recently, but keep your chin up. Everything will be better soon. Anger/angry Adjectives for angry: irritated, annoyed, mad, cross, upset 11. hit the ceiling: become very angry Dad hit the ceiling when he found out that Sam broke the window.

2 Page blow your top: become extremely angry My father blew his top when I came home late. 13. lose your temper: become angry; get mad When you lose your temper, the children become frightened. 14. ticked off: to feel or make really angry When he showed up late, it really ticked me off. When someone is angry, you might say Cool it: calm down There s no need to be upset. Just cool it. Fear/fearful Adjectives for fearful: afraid, frightened, scared, terrified, anxious 16. chicken (adjective or noun): cowardly or fearful Fred will never ask Lucy for a date. He s chicken/ a chicken. 17. scaredy cat or fraidy cat: a person who is a afraid or is a coward. The girls will say scaredy cat if I don t go in the water. 18. yellow: lacking courage; afraid to defend Some fans think he s yellow because he doesn t fight. 19. wimp (noun or verb): a weak or fearful person, someone who lacks courage Don t be such a wimp riding a horse is not difficult. He wimped out on us because he was afraid to play. Love (romantic) Synonyms: adore, admire, strongly like 20. head over heels: in love with Lan s head over heels for Chan. 21. crazy about: in love with She s crazy about him. 22. fall for: begin to like very much, begin to love He fell for the woman at the bank but he was afraid to ask her for a date. Lesson Begin the lesson by explaining the two key concepts of idioms and emotions. You may want to have a student write the Chinese word below your vocabulary word on your card or the board so that these two concepts are very clear. Also explain that every country has idioms and unless you know some of them, sometimes it s hard to understand what someone is saying because they are used so often. Next introduce the emotions to be covered, making certain that each is well understood. You may want to have a separate part of the board or front of room to post the emotion and then eventually its idioms. Be very physical in teaching these emotions with facial expressions and body language (e.g., you might slump over for sadness, put hands on hips for anger, etc.). TPR After the vocabulary for emotions has been introduced, play a quick game with TPR (total physical response). Have the class stand and you name an emotion, using either the original word or one of its

3 Page 3 synonyms. Then point to an individual. They must repeat your word and then express the emotion physically with facial expression and body posture. After several individuals have done it, make the whole class respond. Next, doing one emotion at a time, teach the idioms that express that emotion. Pictures and drawings are effective for showing the contrast between the literal and figurative meanings (see pictures following lesson). Always have the students repeat the emotion or phrase as you teach it. When you teach anger and fear, you could use these simple jazz chants (which could be listed in your workbook ). Idiom Jazz Chants Are You Angry? Are you angry? Are you mad? Are you angry? Are you mad? Are you ready to hit the ceiling? That s too bad! Are you ready to lose your temper? Are you ready to blow your top? Are you ticked off? Cross? You must stop! Cool it! Calm down! Listen to me! Things will be fine just wait and see! Poor Old Joe (Fear) Poor old Joe, poor old fellow-- He s so scared; he s so yellow! He s a chicken, a fraidy cat, too! He would wimp out if I said, Boo! After you ve taught all the idioms for each emotion, move to group work. The goal of this work is that students verbalize the idioms in context. Remind them that all group work must be done in English! Class assistants can help with this. Think-Pair-Share: In this technique students pair up with a partner, with partners designated as 1 and the other number 2. Students focus on only one idiom that you assign to them. You may be able to simply hand each pair one of your vocabulary cards. Their assignment is for each one to come up with a sentence using the idiom in context. Partners think about the idiom, share their response with their partner, helping each other as necessary. After a few moments, call on all 1 s or 2 s to be the partner who stands and shares his idiom sentence with the whole class. The partner s number not chosen will stand and introduce the idiom by telling the class what the idiom is and what it actually means, using complete sentences to do so. Student next move into larger groups of 4 6 students. Pass out a paper and pencil to each group who should then pick a secretary. This time each group gets an emotion with all its appropriate idioms. Again, the group may get all 3 5 vocabulary cards. The group is responsible for writing a brief vignette using all the idiom expressions in context. The goal is to choose an appropriate situation or story for the idioms assigned. All members of the group must have a part in the conversation. Seta time limit and then have groups share their vignette. If this assignment is beyond the abilities of the class, you may want to actually assign the group a situation as well as the appropriate idioms. It might be helpful to have these suggestions on 3 x 5 cards. 1. (student name) just found out that he passed his exam and will attend the university in the fall. (happy) English camp is ending and all the Americans are going home. (sad) 3. (student name) s family just got a brand new DVD paler that hey have wanted for a long time. Someone broke into their apartment and stole it. (anger) 4. (student name) must give a speech before the entire school and many important city officials. (fear) 5. A boy and girl go to the same university and meet each other for the first time. They really like each other and would like to spend more time together. (romantic love.)

4 Page 4 Blow your Top (become very angry)

5 Page 5 Down in the Dumps (depressed)

6 Page 6

7 Page 7 Head over Heels (in love with)

8 Page 8 Heavy Heart (unhappiness)

9 Page 9 Scaredy Cat (a person who is afraid)

10 Page 10