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English home language

Grade 7

Module 5

Proverbs and expressions

Proverbs and expressions

Don’t be a cloud if you can be the sky.Don’t be a feather if you can be a bird and fly!

Complete the following “bird” proverbs and then match the short explanation with the correct proverb or expression.

[LO 6.4.3]

Proverbs / expression Match Explanation
1. Birds of a feather (a) The person being sought (prisoner) has escaped.
2. The early bird (b) I heard a rumour.
3. A bird in the hand (c) To achieve a double result with one effort.
4. Fine feathers (d) A general view from above.
5. A bird’s view (e) Those who are early will find the most opportunities.
6. The bird has (f) People of a similar character are usually found together.
7. To kill two birds (g) A small possession is preferable to a large expectation.
8. A little bird (h) People are judged by their outward appearance.

Now how about having some Roald Dahl kind of fun? You know, where you twist the ending to make it amusing.

EXAMPLE: Have you ever wondered about the worm in the saying, “The early bird catches the worm.” Would it be correct then to say, “The early worm gets caught.”

Take any well-known proverbs or expressions and give them a twist.

LO 4.1.2

Celebrate diversity

Take a look around you. Notice how different you appear from the outside. Just imagine how vastly different each one is on the inside of their heads and hearts too.

Instead of trying to blend in and be like everyone else, be proud of and celebrate your unique differences and qualities.

To understand this, try the following in your group. Each person must bring a different fruit to add toward making a bowl of fruit salad . Once you have added the sliced fruit to the bowl, enjoy eating it. You will notice that a fruit salad is delicious, precisely because each fruit maintains its own flavour.

(Compare this to soup, which has many different ingredients, and is then put in a blender. Lovely and thick and tasty - but notice the colour and try to identify individual vegetables!)

So now you have taken time out to get to know yourself better and you have had time to get to know others around you better too. Hopefully you will have enjoyed a deliciously tasty bowl of fruit salad and taken the decision to remain true to your own character and not become blended soup.

The challenge now is:

  • Choose an example of synergy and dramatise it for your class.
  • Hints: synergy in nature (tick birds) / synergy in music (band or choir) /synergy in gymnastics (pyramid building).
  • Be original and creative!

Roadblocks to celebrating diversity

1. Ignorance

This means you don’t have the slightest clue what other people believe, how they feel or what they have experienced to make them the way they are.

Ignorance often shows itself at its worst when it comes to understanding people with disabilities. A young deaf girl said the question she hates most is:

“What’s it like being deaf?”

Her answer?

“I don’t know. What’s it like being hearing? It isn’t like anything. It just is.”

2. Cliques

Birds of a feather flock together. But what do they learn from one another if they are all alike?

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Source:  OpenStax, English home language grade 7. OpenStax CNX. Sep 09, 2009 Download for free at http://cnx.org/content/col11018/1.1
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