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The Potluck Plan: A Play Full of Idioms worksheet preview

Worksheet

The Potluck Plan: A Play Full of Idioms

Read an original short play about a family getting ready for a potluck, then recognize and explain its idioms, adages and proverbs.

Grade 4ELAInteractive · Printable

Aligned toL.4.5.b

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What’s included

  • Single worksheet
  • Auto-graded online
  • 1 Common Core standard
  • Printable answer key
  • 9 questions
  • Classroom-ready

Details

Format
Interactive · Printable
Grade
Grade 4
Subject
ELA
Question types
Fill in the blank, Multiple choice, Matching, Circle the answer, Sorting, Short answer

About this worksheet

What students practice

  • Students recognize idioms and proverbs in a play.
  • Students explain what common idioms and proverbs mean using context.
  • Students tell idioms apart from sentences that mean exactly what they say.

How to use

Assign parts and read the play aloud as a class, then have students answer the questions on their own or with a partner.

Curriculum

Common Core standard covered

L.4.5.b

Recognize and explain the meaning of common idioms, adages, and proverbs.

Preview

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Name Date

The Potluck Plan: A Play Full of Idioms

Read a short play and figure out what the family really means.

Read the play

Read the play. Each line has a number.

The Potluck Plan

1(Aunt Nadia's kitchen, one hour before the family potluck. Pots bubble on the stove, and bowls cover every inch of the counter. Twenty relatives are on their way, and each family is bringing one dish to share.)

2AUNT NADIA: The rice isn't even started, and the salad isn't made! Layla, could you give me a hand?

3LAYLA: Sure! Omar and I can wash the vegetables and set out the plates.

4OMAR: (holding up a carrot) Washing carrots? That's as easy as pie.

5UNCLE SAMI: (walking in with a huge tray) I made enough stuffed grape leaves to feed an army! I also brought extra chairs from my house, folded all the napkins and swept the front steps.

6GRANDPA YUSUF: (smiling) Sami, you always go the extra mile.

7LAYLA: (turning around) Omar! I caught you red-handed! Those date cookies are for dessert, and you have crumbs all over your shirt.

8OMAR: I was only checking that they taste okay.

9GRANDPA YUSUF: (laughing) The apple doesn't fall far from the tree. When your father was your age, he snuck cookies before every party too.

10AUNT NADIA: (lifting a lid) Oh no, I think I put too much water in the rice. (Uncle Sami, Layla and Omar crowd around the pot. One says to add more rice, one says to turn up the heat, and one says to pour some water out.)

11GRANDPA YUSUF: Too many cooks spoil the broth. Let Nadia fix her own rice. She has made it a hundred times.

12AUNT NADIA: (The doorbell rings.) They're here! Everyone, put your best foot forward. Smile and say hello to every guest.

13OMAR: (rubbing his stomach) I'll smile, but I'm so hungry I could eat a horse!

Idioms in the play

Use the play to answer each question.

1.
Match each idiom from the play to its meaning.
  1. give me a hand
  2. go the extra mile
  3. caught red-handed
  4. could eat a horse
  1. A. seen while doing something wrong
  2. B. feel very hungry
  3. C. help me with a job
  4. D. do more than you have to
2.
In line 9, Grandpa Yusuf says, "The apple doesn't fall far from the tree." What does he mean?
  • A. Omar should pick up the apples in the yard.
  • B. Omar acts the way his father did as a boy.
  • C. The family should bring more fruit to share.
  • D. The cookies were baked with apples from a tree.
3.
In line 11, why does Grandpa Yusuf say, "Too many cooks spoil the broth"?
  • A. The soup on the stove has too much salt in it.
  • B. Too many guests are coming for the food to last.
  • C. Everyone is giving Aunt Nadia different advice.
  • D. Aunt Nadia has never cooked rice by herself.
4.
In line 12, Aunt Nadia says, "Put your best foot forward." What does she want everyone to do?
  • A. Do their best to make a good first impression.
  • B. Walk to the door as fast as they can go.
  • C. Wear their nicest shoes to the potluck.
  • D. Stand in a line in front of the guests.
5.
Underline the idiom in this sentence from line 5.

I madeenough stuffed grape leavesto feed an army

Idioms at home

Show what you know about idioms.

6.
Sort the sentences. Does each one use an idiom, or does it mean exactly what it says?
Omar washed the carrots in the sink.Aunt Nadia asked Layla to give her a hand.Layla put her best foot forward at the door.Grandpa set a bowl of rice on the table.Uncle Sami carried a huge tray into the kitchen.Omar was so hungry he could eat a horse.
Uses an idiomMeans exactly what it says
7.
Write the missing word to finish each idiom from the play. The meaning is given first.

very easy: as easy as  
do more than you have to: go the extra  
try to make a good first impression: put your best   forward

8.
Which situation fits the proverb "Too many cooks spoil the broth"?
  • A. Mom cooks soup alone, and it tastes just right.
  • B. Four cousins each add a spice, and the stew tastes awful.
  • C. Dad buys a new pot because the old one has a hole.
  • D. Grandma teaches Ben her soup recipe step by step.
9.
In line 6, Grandpa Yusuf says Uncle Sami always goes "the extra mile." Explain what this means. Use details from line 5 to show why it fits Uncle Sami.

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