Idioms are expressions used in everyday language but cannot be understood by the literal meaning of the words. Therefore, it is essential that students learn how to determine the meaning of idioms from the context of the sentence or text.

Here are some activities that can help students to develop this skill:

1. Guessing Game

In this activity, the teacher can write down an idiom on a piece of paper and stick it on the back of each student. The students then ask yes or no questions about the idiom to determine its meaning, without actually saying the idiom. For example, if a student has the idiom ‘raining cats and dogs’ on their back, the other students might ask questions like “Does it have anything to do with animals?” and “Is it related to weather?”

2. Context Clues

Context clues refer to words or phrases in a sentence or text that provide hints about the meaning of a word or phrase. The teacher can provide students with a piece of text containing idioms and ask them to highlight context clues that can help them determine the meaning of the idiom. For example, in the sentence “She’s been feeling blue lately,” the context clues that hint at the meaning of ‘feeling blue’ are ‘she’ and ‘lately’.

3. Role Play

Role-playing is an enjoyable activity that makes learning fun. The teacher can provide students with a list of idioms, and then ask each student to act out the idiom without actually saying it. For example, if a student has the idiom ‘kick the bucket’, they might act out dying by pretending to fall over.

4. Fill in the Blanks

In this activity, the teacher provides a sentence with an idiom in it, but the idiom is replaced with a blank. The students then have to choose the correct idiom from a list of options that would make sense in the context of the sentence. For example, “I’m sorry, I can’t come to your party, I have to _____ the bullet and work overtime.”

5. Illustrated Idioms

The teacher can provide students with a list of idioms and ask them to create an illustration that would help them remember the meaning of the idiom. For example, for the idiom ‘a piece of cake’, a student might draw a picture of someone cutting a cake and smiling because it is easy.

In conclusion, these activities provide students with a fun and engaging way to learn about idioms and help them to determine their meaning based on the context of the sentence. By providing different contexts for the idioms, students can develop a deeper understanding of the meaning and use of idioms, which will help them become better communicators.