The book A Little Pigeon Toad (Fred Gwynne, Aladdin, 1990) begins with the text, "Mommy says Daddy is a little pigeon toad." Most of us know that those words, spoken together, mean that Daddy walks with his toes turned in. But the daughter who hears that comment for the first time imagines in her mind that Daddy is a bird with a toad head.

The subsequent pages of A Little Pigeon Toad , and the other books by Fred Gwynne, are filled with distinctly American expressions such as that one. The books are wonderful tools for introducing students to common expressions that are not to be taken literally. Students always laugh at the illustrations; and they are a great tool for reinforcing the language concepts of idioms, homonyms, figures of speech and others.

After sharing A Little Pigeon Toad, you might introduce students to some other idioms. To gather idioms that students might illustrate, you might draw from

• other books written by Fred Gwynne (the books you did not share with students)
• In a Pickle and Other Funny Idioms by Marvin Terban (and other books by the same author).
• Web sites such as Wayne Magnuson's English Idioms, Dictionary of English Idioms and Idiomatic Expressions, and The Idiom Connection.

Give students sheets of 11" x 18" drawing paper. Have them fold the sheets in half. Have them write their idiom across the top of the left side of the page with an illustration of the false interpretation that might be made by somebody hearing the expression for the first time; on the other side of the page, students should draw an illustration of what the expression actually means.

Assessment

Submitted By

Submitted by Cindy Kimbrell, Rusk Elementary in Midland, Texas