Last Edited
Mary Johnson
included this sheet music cover in her album: Bringing in the Hay.
In the teaching notes for this item, she offers two strategies for building vocabulary, one of which has students learning about other hay-related idioms.
That idea made me curious if I could find anything about teaching idioms with primary sources. A Google search turned up this article from The Henry Ford: Exploring the Origins of Idioms. In it, the author uses primary sources from their collections to illustrate each idiom.
What common idioms are important for students to know?
Challenge: Pair a primary source from the Library's collections with the origin story of a commonly used English-language idiom.
3 - 5
6 - 8
9 - 12
English/Language Arts
Idioms
Janice Warju
Erin Connors
Comments displayed by creation date
Replies displayed by creation date
Replies displayed by creation date
Edited
Thanks for the shout out, Julie Schaul. 
Debra Reid of The Henry Ford has been working closely with 
Regina Holland on the Rural American Experience grant to NCHE, so I was happy to see that you found the museum's delightful article, Exploring the Origins of Idioms.
My favorite origin story from the article was that of "eye candy" - perhaps because only last week, when my husband and I were gathering up a load of miscellaneous antiques for the auction house, I noticed something rolling around in the drawer of a small walnut chest. Little did I anticipate a connection with something in the TPS Teachers Network, but there you have it - eye candy! And with a disability history story to boot!
"Patterns of Thought: Eye Candy" by Ginny Ruffner and Steve Kursh, 1994 / THF164911
Below is a photo of the eye candy that I heard rolling around!
I think "lost her marbles" would be an apt idiom in this case. And now off I go to find more marbles in the Library of Congress collections.
Marbles
Here is a lesson plan from ReadWriteThink.org on teaching idioms: https://www.readwritethink.org/classroom-resources/lesson-plans/figurative-language-teaching-idioms
It would be a great revision or extension to add in work with primary sources!
Lisa Fink
the Eye on Idioms interactive link led to nowhere but I found it here: https://www.readwritethink.org/sites/default/files/resources/interactives/idioms/.
I found some primary sources that could be used in place of the drawings, but they might work better for older students. The only one that didn't quite work like the others is the apple of his eye, though I did find a really cool painting outside the Library.
https://www.loc.gov/item/qlt000233/
https://www.loc.gov/resource/77618337/1941-02-17/ed-1/?sp=20
https://www.loc.gov/resource/tofr.34106/
https://www.loc.gov/resource/ppmsca.65035/
https://www.loc.gov/resource/afc1981005.afc1981005_mc08/?sp=2
https://www.loc.gov/item/2014635401/
https://www.loc.gov/resource/sn87062014/1935-06-18/ed-1/?sp=3
Testimonials
-
I love that there is new info on the site daily!
-
I had a wonderful time working with the Library of Congress and learning about all of the resources at my fingertips!
-
The TPS Teachers Network has an equal exchange of ideas. You know it's not a place where you're being judged.
-
My colleagues post incredibly fine resources and ideas....the caliber of the suggestions and resources make me feel that I take a lot from it. It's a takeaway. And I hope that I can give back as much as I get.
-
Going into this school year, I have a fantastic new resource for my own instruction and to share with my colleagues!
-
I am very glad that I discovered the TPS Teachers Network through RQI. Great resources can be hard to find out there on the internet!
