That Old Cliché

Introduction

• As an introduction to this lesson, use sticky notes to post the following prompt (cliché): Time heals all wounds.
• Ask all students to suggest a meaning for the prompt.
• Have students volunteer to share their thoughts.
• They may come up with answers similar to this: “pain and misery get easier as time passes by.”
• Tell students that the prompt is a figure of speech known as a cliché.
• Tell students that clichés are phrases and opinions that usually express a popular thought or idea but have been overused so much that they have lost their originality and impact.
• Have students identify the meaning of the analogy and reveal if the cliché has any real meaning for them.
• Explain to students that in this lesson, they will understand the meaning of words and phrases that are clichés.