3. Read the following passage about animals and then talk to your partner:
Animals have the body shape and design that they do because of where they live and what they eat. An anteater, for example, has a long narrow snout that makes it possible for it to suck up ants from a small hole. If a hippo was an anteater it would have great difficulty finding ants in their nests and sucking them up into its great wide mouth. Is it then fair to describe some animals as ugly or funny-looking? Or to compare them? Even dog types are very different from each other because of their purpose.
(a) Does this information change the way you see the animals on the previous page?
(b) Can you give reasons why the animals are built the way they are?
(c) Imagine an animal that would suit the following lifestyle. You can make it up: it lives in snow, eats roots, and is eaten by larger animals. Now draw it and give it a name.
4. Your teacher will use a rubric like the one below to assess your language use in speaking.
Rubric for the assessment of language use during speaking
Looking at language
Here you are going to revise different parts of speech. The table in the activity reminds you of what the different parts of speech are. Then you will write out different types of sentences to describe the cartoon you see. Remember a sentence can be:
• a statement, for example ‘This is a book.’
• a question, for example ‘Who does this book belong to?’
• a command, for example ‘Give your book to me.’
• an exclamation, for example ‘This work is done well!’
Next you will make a vocabulary list of all new words you have found.
1. Look again at the passage given on the previous page. Find and write out
• the following parts of speech. You can use a table like the one below:
2. Write a different kind of sentence for each of the cartoons below as asked:
(a) Write a statement. Remember to punctuate it with a full stop. (.)
(b) Write a question. Remember to punctuate it with a question mark. (?)
(c) Write a command. You may use a full stop or an exclamation mark (!).
(d) Write a command. You may use a full stop or an exclamation mark (!).
Make a list of all the new words you have read so far. If you still do not know their meanings, look them up. Write the meanings next to each word. You need to do this every day. Keep a book of personal spelling and meanings. You can call it Word power.
Some quick revision
You already know a great deal about how to use language. We are going to remind you about some elements and give you some exercises to do to test your knowledge, so that we can be sure you remember these elements.
• Do you remember the spelling rule, double the consonant of words that end in only one syllable when you add a suffix such as -ed, -ing, -er? For example slip becomes slipped, slipping, slipper. We give you some sentences to write to see if you can apply this rule.
• You will also tell a story to your partner, using tense and vocabulary as well as you can.
• You will write one sentence saying what is going to happen next in a picture, using the future tense.
1. Write the following sentences in the past tense. Check your spelling.
(a) The rabbits hop through the field.
(b) The boy and his dog plod through the mud.
(c) The lamb skips away from its mother.
(d) The dog drops the ball at the boy’s feet.
(e) The balloon pops when the kitten hits it with its paw.
2. There are five sentences in the table below. Match the sentence with its description by rewriting the table.
3. Do you remember this story about animals? Tell your partner.
4. Look at the drawing below. Write one sentence to say what is going to happen next. Show your sentence to your partner to comment on.
Listening to a tale
Aesop was a storyteller who lived a long, long time ago. His fables or stories were a way of teaching lessons or morals.
In the next activity you are going to practise your listening skills and show that you have heard and understood what is read to you.
1. Look at the drawing on the next page.
2. Discuss the picture with a partner. Why do the villagers ignore the boy?
3. Can you see any moral or lesson in the picture? You and your partner should decide on one.
4. Now listen while your teacher reads you a fable. See how good your predictions were. Your teacher may use part of the activity for formal assessment.
5.
