Since idioms comprise figurative language devices, the lesson lends itself to the instructional mode of textual explanation. You may apply bullet points with audio as a starting point. Simulations also work well with figurative language devices.

In terms of advance organizers and also the textual explanation, it is important to draw common idioms from everyday language to make that knowledge transfer. For example, you might want to exemplify common idioms: Let The Cat Out Of The Bag, Spill The Beans, Crocodile Tears, Take With A Grain Of Salt, etc.

My students like to complete anticipation guides where they have a form to check if they have heard the idiom before or not. It is a great way to spark interest in the lesson and make those real world applications. This method also serves as a cognitive tool in terms of graphic organizers. You want even want to adapt a KWL chart to suit this purpose.
Since your objectives specify that they will identify the meanings, it is important to offer a graphic organizer that separates literal from figurative meanings. A more compare and contrast method is advised. You also need to have dictionaries readily available for them to ascertain literal meanings.

Teaching context clues is also an important strategy for kids to be able to perceive this goal. Kids must make inferences using clues from the reading. It is important to work on some reading comprehension strategies in order to match this objective.

Given your two short stories, this goal is attainable. You might want to highlight, bold, use colors, to showcase where the idioms occur within the literary passage. In other words, you need to teach about context clues and extracting meaning from texts. This lesson also lends itself to teaching in a holistic, constructivist style. Since your students will interpret meaning from the stories and idioms, they need a venue to record and share their responses. Designing an instructional strategy where pair share or collaborative learning can occur is vital.

Another vital strategy to employ is the use of imagery to teach this concept. Since your terminal objectives embody idiom games and video clips, this method is activated. However, without Internet access, students can perform this task if you employ some strategies to create graphic representations, make physical models, and generate mental pictures. I used Idiom Pictionary this year as an instructional tool. Kids received a piece of paper with a common idiom on it: apple of my eye. They had one minute to draw pictures and pictographs as the other peers tried to guess the meaning.

Besides imagery, group brainstorming is also beneficial. You may use the board or chart paper to generate a student list of all idioms mentioned during the reading, games, discussions, etc. It is important to refer to the list as needed during the remainder of the lesson.

Since your terminal objectives focus on defining idioms, it is important as an instructional tool to use collaboration and cooperative learning to develop a class definition of idioms by recording the definition on chart paper and hanging it on the wall for reference. It also correlates with imagery. Another idea involves collaborative learning and inquiry tactics. For example, I form student teams or pairs. Students then select four to five idioms to research using the Scholastic Dictionary of Idioms or another resource. After researching the idioms, I ask each pair of students or team to select one idiom from their lists, share its origins, and discuss how its origins relate to the metaphorical meaning. I also encourage students to use each idiom in a sentence.
As a result, you may also want to infuse a class discussion on understanding the historical context of idioms and reflecting on personal experiences can make it easier to understand the metaphorical meanings of these phrases.

In terms of activating Gardner's Theory of Multiple Intelligences, you might want to assign a final project where students compile their printed idioms and passages and bind them on opposing pages to create an idiom book. This book makes a useful reference for students.

Focusing on imagery again, I also ask students to select their favorite idiom from our list and draw a literal representation of the phrase. I use the method of modeling with chart paper by selecting an idiom and drawing a literal representation of it. For example, the phrase, "it's raining cats and dogs" is depicted by drawing a picture of a storm cloud with cats and dogs falling as raindrops. I model for students to include the literal drawing on one side of a sheet of paper and then write the idiom on the back. This guided practice is also possible using PhotoShop. Idiom PowerPoints also stimulate imagery lessons.

Another idea is to develop an "Idiom Wall" where students post idioms that they discover while reading. I also altered this concept and had them create "Idiom Journals or logs." Any method for encouraging holistic connections among reading, writing, speaking, and listening, works well. Students also look for idioms in their independent novels and share them with the class the following day. A sample of worksheet could include:

Name: _____________________ Date:___________
Idioms are sayings that have hidden meanings. The expressions don't mean exactly what the words say. For example: It's raining cats and dogs. Its literal meaning suggests that cats and dogs are falling from the sky. We interpret it to mean that it is raining hard.
Unlike proverbs and similes, idioms have no fixed form and come in all sizes, shapes, and colors. American English abounds with colorful idioms. New ones are added each day. An idiom usually originates with a specific group - television, sailors, housewives, teachers, poets, or politicians - then spreads to more general use by others.

Write the meaning to the following idiom expressions:

1. catch a cold _________________________
2. see eye to eye________________________
3. under the weather_____________________
4. stuffed to the gills_____________________
5. out of the frying pan and into the fire________
6. slow boat to China_____________________
7. nose to the grindstone___________________
8. on pins and needles_____________________
9. fly off the handle_______________________
10. toot your own horn_____________________

Lastly, when connecting strategies to your objectives, you might want to add engaged motion instruction or a kinesthetic technique. Students love to perform idiom charades or frozen pictures to learn and apply this concept.