Critical Thinking Online Breakout · Multilingual

Idioms & Sayings for Multilingual Learners

Decode English idioms with your home language as a resource, and compare sayings across languages. For ESL and multilingual classrooms, grades 3–12. Runs in your browser — no logins, no data collected.

0
Breakouts
115+
Idioms & sayings
3
Grade bands · 3–12
7
Languages
$0
Free

Find an idiom breakout

Search by idiom, theme, language, or grade — or pick a grade band. (Every breakout runs in all seven languages.)

🕹️ Idiom Arcade — play & learn

Three fast, free browser games. No logins, nothing to install — just play.

How it's taught. Idioms are Tier-1 vocabulary that trip up multilingual learners because the words don't add up to the meaning. Each breakout separates the literal picture from the real meaning, uses context, and compares the idiom across languages — sometimes the same image (hand ↔ mano), sometimes a different one (arm & leg ↔ un ojo). Home languages are welcomed as a resource, aligned to the Texas ELPS (idiomatic expressions) and WIDA figurative-language expectations. The idiom spotlight above compares each idiom's Spanish and French equivalents — a bridge to the world-language / LOTE classroom. See the TEKS / ELPS alignment & appropriateness guide →

For teachers. Every breakout carries a lock-by-lock rationale, welcomes the home language as a resource, and runs in all seven languages (use the 🌐 menu). See the TEKS / ELPS alignment and the teacher-support pages — UDL, ELPS, and a lesson-plan guide — each in all seven languages. Printable companions: a idiom card deck and a "Bring an Idiom From Home" family activity.