Life is a winding road (metaphors)

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Vocabulary - metaphors

lesson on metaphors

LESSON OVERVIEW

In this lesson on metaphors students get a chance to talk about this stylistic device, watch a video on metaphors as well as learn and practise using metaphors.  

C1 / Advanced
C2 / Proficiency
60 minStandard LessonUnlimited Plan

WARM-UP & VIDEO

The lesson on metaphors starts with a warm-up in which students look at pictures and brainstorm different metaphors they can represent or illustrate. Students discuss the importance of metaphors and why they are sometimes hard to understand. Then, they watch the first part of the video and check their ideas. Students also read different opinions about metaphors and choose the one that describes their attitude best. After that, students finish some sentences with their own ideas. The sentences contain metaphors (e.g. break the ice, thorny issues, etc.), so students have to explain their meanings. Then, they complete the gaps with one word each and watch the second part of the video to check their answers. Students also talk about the video and say whether they disagree with anything and if they find any information from the video surprising. 

LEARNING METAPHORS

In this part of the lesson on metaphors, students get a lot of practice using different metaphors. First, they sort the metaphors into categories (e.g. going through a break-up, time is money, etc.) Later, they brainstorm more metaphors to fill up the categories. In the next activity, students look at different actions and decide which metaphors they would use in each case. They make notes of what they would say/write. Finally, to wrap up this lesson on metaphors, students work in pairs and ask each other questions so that their partner answers using one of the suggested metaphors.  

HOMEWORK/REVISION

The lesson on metaphors includes a supplementary task to practise the phrases from the lesson. The task is available in the teacher’s version of the worksheet and can be printed for students or accessed in the e-lesson plan for online teaching.

WORKSHEETS

 

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  1. anto62

    Thank you for this lesson! My C1-C2 students loved every minute we spent on it. There are lots of speaking opportunities and the prompts encourage the students to use their creativity when completing the gapfilling tasks in nos. 5 and 6. Due to time constraints, I had to split the lesson in two parts, so I prepared a matching task and a gapfilling task to start the second class, which took place one week later.

    1. Inna

      Thank you so much for your comment! We’re happy you and your students enjoyed this lesson 🙂

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