Everyday Idioms

Lesson 8 of 20 :

Andrew gets Fired

1. Warm Up
Answer and discuss these questions in pairs or as a class.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Do you have a job?

What are some reasons people get fired?
Do you know anyone who has been fired from a job?
What are good qualities for a worker to have?
What are good qualities for a boss to have?

2. Dialogue Building
The dialogue below is not in the right order. Your teacher will
provide you with cut up dialogue strips. Work alone or with
a partner to put the dialogue in the right order.

___ Jon: Not much. Same old, same old. Hows it going?

3. Find the idioms

___ Andrew: YeahI got canned today.

There are several idioms in this dialogue. Circle any

phrase you think is an idiom from Task 2. With your class,
go over your circled answers and then write the idioms
into the table below.

___ Andrew: Im a little down.

___ Jon: He must be out of his head. Everybody knows
youre a really hard worker.
___ Andrew: The boss said I wasnt working hard enough.

New Idiom List

___ Jon: Do you want to get it off your chest?

___ Andrew: Hi, Jon. Whats up?
___ Jon: You can get a fresh start.
___ Jon: Keep your chin up. Call me if you need anything.
___ Andrew: Totally serious.
___ Andrew: Thanks for listening, Jon.
___ Jon: Why? What happened?
___ Andrew: I know. I think my boss has gone off the deep
end. Itll be okay. I never liked the job anyway.
___ Jon: No way! Are you serious?
___ Jon: Why did they fire you?
___ Andrew: I got some bad news.

1
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Everyday Idioms
Lesson 8 of 20 :

Andrew gets Fired

4. Match these idioms to their correct definitions.

1. Whats up?
2. same old, same old
3. Hows it going?
4. to be down



5. to get something off your chest
6. to get canned
7. to be out of your head
8. to go off the deep end

9. a fresh start

10. to keep your chin up
11. no way

____ a.
____ b.
____ c.
____ d.
____
e.
____ f.
____ g.
____ h.
____ i.
____ j.
____ k.

How are you? or How are things for you?

a new beginning
What is new? or What is happening?
to stay strong; to not give up
unbelievable
(I cant believe it!)

to become crazy
to talk about a personal problem
7. Comprehension questions.
to be crazy
1. Why is Andrew down?
everything is exactly the same
2. Why did Andrew get fired?
to get fired; to lose a job
3. Is Andrew a hard worker?
to be sad
4. What did Jon suggest for Andrew
to do?

5. Fill in the blanks with the correct idioms from above.

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.

Hi, Kate. ____________________________?

Ted is ____________________________ because he got a low mark on his test.
Im glad she ____________________________. It helps to talk about it.
Johns sister ____________________________ yesterday, so she is not going to work today.
The boss is ____________________________, he fired 14 people!
Sandy got fired so I told her to ____________________________, and look for a new job.
Karyn lost her job this month. I think she needs a ____________________________ .

6. Dialogue Practice
Practice the dialogue with your partner a few times. Take turns being each
character. Then try having the conversation without looking at the sheet.
Andrew: Hi, Jon. Whats up?
Jon: Not much. Same old, same old. Hows it going?
Andrew: Im a little down.
Jon: Why? What happened?
Andrew: I got some bad news.
Jon: Do you want to get it off your chest?
Andrew: YeahI got canned today.
Jon: No way! Are you serious?
Andrew: Totally serious.
Jon: Why did they fire you?
Andrew: The boss said I wasnt working hard enough.
Jon: He must be out of his head! Everybody knows youre a really hard worker.
Andrew: I know. I think my boss has gone off the deep end. Itll be okay. I
never liked the job anyway.
Jon: You can get a fresh start.
Andrew: Thanks for listening, Jon.
Jon: Keep your chin up, Andrew. Call me if you need anything.

8. Write your own sentence

examples for each idiom from
today's lesson in your
notebook.
9. Write your own dialogue.
Work alone or with a partner.
Write your own conversation
using at least five idioms from
today's lesson. Practice and
memorize the dialogue, then
present it in front of your class.

2
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Everyday Idioms
Lesson 8 of 20 :

Andrew gets Fired

In Task 2, your students are required to put the dialogue in the correct order. Sometimes its more fun for students to put the
dialogue in order by physically rearranging dialogue strips. Below are two shuffled copies of the dialogue. Give each student
or pair a shuffled dialogue. Have them cut each into strips and rearrange them until they have put them in the correct order.
Note: Two copies of the dialogue are provided to minimize photocopying and paper usage.

Andrew: Im a little down.

Andrew: Im a little down.

Jon: Not much. Same old, same old. Hows it

going?

Jon: Not much. Same old, same old. Hows it

going?

Jon: Keep your chin up, Andrew. Call me if you

need anything.

Jon: Keep your chin up, Andrew. Call me if you

need anything.

Jon: He must be out of his head! Everybody knows

youre a really hard worker.

Jon: He must be out of his head! Everybody knows

youre a really hard worker.

Jon: No way! Are you serious?

Jon: No way! Are you serious?

Jon: Do you want to get it off your chest?

Jon: Do you want to get it off your chest?

Andrew: I know. I think my boss has gone off the

deep end. Itll be okay. I never liked the job anyway.

Andrew: I know. I think my boss has gone off the

deep end. Itll be okay. I never liked the job anyway.

Andrew: I got some bad news.

Andrew: I got some bad news.

Andrew: Totally serious.

Andrew: Totally serious.

Andrew: Hi, Jon. Whats up?

Andrew: Hi, Jon. Whats up?

Andrew: The boss said I wasnt working hard enough.

Andrew: The boss said I wasnt working hard enough.

Jon: Why? What happened?

Jon: Why? What happened?

Andrew: YeahI got canned today.

Andrew: YeahI got canned today.

Jon: You can get a fresh start.

Jon: You can get a fresh start.

Andrew: Thanks for listening, Jon.

Andrew: Thanks for listening, Jon.

Jon: Why did they fire you?

Jon: Why did they fire you?

3
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Everyday Idioms
Lesson 8 of 20 :

Andrew gets Fired

Teachers Answer Key

2. Dialogue Building
2.

Jon: Not much. Same old, same old. Hows it going?

7.

Andrew: YeahI got canned today.

3.

Andrew: Im a little down.

12. Jon: He must be out of his head. Everybody knows youre a really hard worker.
11. Andrew: The boss said I wasnt working hard enough.
6.

Jon: Do you want to get it off your chest?

1.

Andrew: Hi, Jon. Whats up?

14. Jon: You can get a fresh start.

16. Jon: Keep your chin up, Andrew. Call me if you need anything.
9.

Andrew: Totally serious.

15. Andrew: Thanks for listening, Jon.

4.

Jon: Why? What happened?

13. Andrew: I know. I think hes gone off the deep end. Itll be okay. I never liked the job anyway.
8.

Jon: No way! Are you serious?

10. Jon: Why did they fire you?

5.

Andrew: I got some bad news.

4. Matching
1.c

2. i

3. a

4. k

5.g

6.j

7. h

8. f

9. b

10. d

11. e

5. Fill in the blanks.

Whats up?

1.

Hi, Kate.

2.

Ted is down

3.

Im glad she got it off her chest . It helps to talk about it.

4.

Johns sister got canned

5.

The boss is out of his head , he fired 14 people!

6.

Sandy got fired, so I told her to keep her chin up , and keep looking.

7.

Karyn lost her job this month. I think she needs a fresh start.

because he got a low mark on his test.

yesterday, so she is not going to work today.

7. Comprehension.
1.
2.
3.
4.

He got fired.
The boss said he wasnt working hard enough.
Yes, he is a really hard worker.
To keep his chin up.

4
Copyright 2008. This eBook is produced and distributed by Red River Press Inc. All rights reserved. The contents within this e-book/document may only be
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