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Allison Fors, Inc.

Speech Therapy Tools for SLPs and Educators

Figurative Language: Idioms in Speech Therapy

idioms speech therapy

Idioms are a type of figurative language that speech-language pathologists work on because they are an essential skill to learn in order to communicate effectively, particularly socially. They are also important for academic success, especially in the secondary grades. Most students struggle with idioms because of a language disorder; they may also have a difficult time not taking things literally or simply haven’t had enough exposure to them.

What are idioms?
A phrase or combination of words that have a figurative meaning, differing from their literal meaning.

Why do we use them?
They help us make a point in a more impactful and efficient way.

There are tons of idioms! It’s estimated there are over 25,000 idioms in the English language! Their use is highly dependent on age, culture, and social groups.

Here is a list of more common idioms that I’ve organized into 2 levels, into what I considered simpler versus more complex. Certainly, these are not strict levels, and you may feel that some of these should be categorized.

Idioms Examples

LEVEL 1
• Have a seat
• Hang on
• Piece of cake
• Change your mind
• Calm down
• Up to you
• Lend a hand
• Give me a break
• Keep an eye on
• Butterflies in my stomach
• Hit the hay
• Back to square one
• It’s raining cats and dogs
• A couch potato
• You can say that again
• Horsing around
• Head in the clouds
• Out of the blue
• Turn the other cheek
• Picture perfect
• Play with fire
• Drag your feet
• Beat around the bush
• Have a blast
• Under the weather
• Hit the road
• Eyes in the back of your head
• Pushing the envelope
• Fishy
• Have a cow
• Cost an arm and a leg
• Look up/down to

LEVEL 2
• Icing on the cake
• Your guess is as good as mine
• Barking up the wrong tree
• The ball is in your court
• It’s on the tip of my tongue
• Shoot the breeze
• At the drop of a hat
• A little bird told me
• An open book
• Curiosity killed the cat
• Cold shoulder
• Two left feet
• Through thick and thin
• Once in a blue moon
• Call it a day
• Over the moon
• Cry over spilt milk
• Cut corners
• Throw in the towel
• It’s a small world
• Monkey business
• Red tape
• A picture is worth a thousand words
• Working against the clock
• Two peas in a pod
• Have a lot on your mind
• I’m all ears
• Break a leg
• Off the hook
• Can’t teach an old dog new tricks
• Rome wasn’t built in a day
• Keep a straight face
• By the skin of your teeth
• Practice makes perfect
• Taste of your own medicine
• The grass is greener on the other side
• Skeletons in your closet
• Coming out of your shell
• Bend over backwards
• Going out on a limb
• All in the same boat
• Eye candy
• Green thumb
• Miss the boat

Free idioms pictures

I have a Pinterest board dedicated to figurative language and idioms. You can find pictures illustrating idioms to use in your sessions. This board also contains ideas and resources for working on idioms and other figurative language concepts.

idioms pinterest

Idioms are a skill that need to be memorized and therefore are usually not fun to teach or learn. I created fortune tellers to make the repetition for memorization more engaging! They are a great way to master 8 idioms before moving onto more.

idioms fortune tellers

Do you have any tips or fun ways you work on idioms with your students?


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Figurative Language: Idioms in Speech Therapy

October 20, 2021 allisonfors 1 Comment Filed Under: Speech Resources, Therapy Ideas

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Comments

  1. MsK8SLP says

    May 24, 2018 at 5:01 pm

    There is a great resource, an illustrated book called There is a frog in my throat by Loren Leedy

    http://holidayhouse.com/docs/Theres_a_Frog_in_My_Throat.pdf

    Reply

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Hi, I'm Allison! A speech & language resource author who loves the creative process of making therapy materials and clipart, as well as connecting with educators world wide. Learn more about me here! Read More…

Effective communication comes in all shapes and si Effective communication comes in all shapes and sizes! Verbal, written, gestures, sign language, an AAC device...

As educators we understand this but it’s also our responsibly to relay and explain this to caregivers!
“Children gesture before they begin to speak and “Children gesture before they begin to speak and continue gesturing throughout the language learning process...children’s early gestures not only precede, but also predict, the onset of a number of linguistic milestones–nouns, nominal constituents, simple and complex sentences. Gesturing may thus play a causal role in language learning, and could do so in two ways: (1) Gesturing gives children the opportunity to practice expressing ideas in a preverbal form. (2) A child’s gestures offer parents and other communication partners insight into the child’s linguistic level, thus giving the partners the opportunity to provide input tailored to that level.”

Goldin-Meadow, S. How gesture helps children learn language. (2014)

Some caregivers worry that we are giving up on verbal language when we begin using gestures or other non-verbal forms of communication.But gestures can be an amazing stepping stone to words. They seem to help the concept of communication click for a child...If I do this, then I get what I want/need! Have you found this to be the true?
SPEECH INTELLIGIBILITY • I updated this graphic SPEECH INTELLIGIBILITY • I updated this graphic with the newest research!

Note: These numbers are based on unfamiliar listeners in an unknown context. You will notice the dark blue is the milestone (when 95% of children at this intelligible) and the light blue is the average (when 50% of children are this intelligible.)

The snapshot on the left is a summary given by the researchers (Hustad, et al.) as a quick way to remember and recite this new information.

Find these updated intelligibility levels in the Free SLP Handouts!

The paid handouts were updated a while back with this new information and have a more detailed summary, including word-level intelligibility. If you own them, be sure to redownload!

Free Speech Therapy Handouts: bit.ly/FreeSLPHandouts
Speech-Language Development Handouts: bit.ly/SLPHandouts
Save this post! 📚 Some favorite books for soc Save this post! 📚 

Some favorite books for social emotional learning >> inferencing >> verbs >> negation

You can find more book round-ups by categories at: allisonfors.com/?=books
📣📣📣 Phoneme awareness is the ability to b 📣📣📣 Phoneme awareness is the ability to break down a word into the smallest unit or sound. This includes phoneme isolation, blending, segmenting, addition, deletion, and substitution.

It’s ESSENTIAL to work on these skills starting in Preschool and continuing to focus on them in Kindergarten and First Grade!

The Speech-Language Development Handouts break down what to target at each grade level + the phonological awareness steps with definitions and examples!

bit.ly/SLPHandouts
What can we expect from toddler attention span? ⏰ It’s easy to over-expect the amount of time a child can sit and attend to a structured activity. Do these numbers surprise you or are they what you’d expect?

Memory trick 💡 You can remember the number of minutes a child can attend is approximately twice the child’s age.

Note: Don’t forget to use developmental age.

Save this post + tag an educator or parent!

Gaertner et al. (2008) Focused Attention in Toddlers

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