to a story
Yet another skill that you will use and need for the rest of your life is listening well. Practise this skill by listening to the story your teacher will read you in the next activity.
If your teacher wishes to use this activity as Formal Assessment you must work alone. You will answer questions 2(i) and 2(k) in writing.
1. Listen to a story about a donkey who is not treated very well but who shows that he is cleverer than his master. Many people think that donkeys are stupid animals but this story makes us think again!
2. Now discuss the following questions with your partner:
(a) The story is a parable. Explain what this means. Can you think of examples of other parables?
(b) Describe the donkey’s health at the beginning of the story. What problems did he have and in what ways was he still healthy?
(c) What verb describes the sound that a donkey makes? Can you think of any others?
(d) Tell your partner, in your own words, what the farmer decided to do after the donkey fell into the well. What was his reason? Would you have done the same thing? [You will need to decide which of you answers question d) and which question e)]
(e) Your partner can now describe, in own words, the donkey’s plan to save himself.
(f) Explain the phrase ‘put him out of his misery’. Can you think of other situations when people might use these words?
(g) What do you think the donkey’s feelings were when he climbed out of the well at the end of the story? Explain your answer.
(h) How do you think the farmer and his friends felt at the end of the story? Explain your answer.
(i) What are your feelings at the end of the story? Tell your partner.
(j) What lesson does the parable teach us about life?
(k) Think of a situation in your own life when you could behave just like the wise old donkey. Tell your partner.
Animals in comic strips
In previous activities, you wrote stories in words. Another way of telling a story is through words and pictures, such as we find in comic strips. There are many comic strips about animals, such as Snoopy, Garfield and Fred Basset, where the animals behave and think like people. Your teacher will show you some examples of these.
Here’s how to plan a comic strip:
• Choose your animal.
• Give him/her a name.
• Think of a short story about the animal.
• Give names to the other animals or people in the story.
• Plan how you will fit the story into twelve pictures. This is quite difficult, and you may have to try a few times before you get it right!
• Decide what the characters will say and think in each picture of the story. Keep it short because there is not much space in each block.
• Now you are ready to draw and write your story. Your drawings should also be simple so that they can fit into the blocks.
1. Draw and write your own animal comic strip. Show your comic strip to your partner. Use solid bubbles, as in the first example, to show what someone is saying. Use fluffy shapes, as in the second example, to show what someone is thinking.
2. Now retell your comic strip story in your own words. Remember what you learnt about telling a story well in the previous activities. Also remember how to use indirect speech.
Have you heard of the Reach for a Dream Foundation? This is an organisation that tries to make a child between the ages of 3 and 18, who has a life-threatening illness, feel really special. They believe that no child should live without hope, and that childhood should be the most magical phase of a person’s life, filled with dreams, hopes and most of all fun!
For these ill children, the magic of childhood may be lost in dealing with their illness. Reach for a Dream creates an environment for the child that is not focused on her or his illness. They would like these really sick children to find their laughter again and find the strength to live beyond their illnesses.
The dreams they have participated in range widely from visiting an aeroplane cockpit to going to the beach, to meeting a favourite sports star, to riding on an elephant!
If you were in such a situation, what would you ask for from them? Do some research on their website and then write a paragraph about what you would like to do if you were in the situation of the children they have helped.
Introduction
Have you ever thought about what a dream really is? We all dream at night and most of us have dreams for our future. The pictures below illustrate this.
In this module you will listen to and read different articles on dreams. You will talk to your classmates about your dreams. You will hear about the dreams of some famous people. You will present a 3D-autobiography to the class. You will also look at phrases used with the word dream/s, and do revision on direct and indirect speech and different tenses. You will also do a role play, and read a poem and a scene from a play.
Read an article
In the first part of this module you are going to read an article on dreams. Read carefully as you will discuss and answer questions to test your comprehension of the article.
1. Your teacher is going to read the following article about what a dream is to the class. Follow carefully in your books while she is reading and then answer the questions below.
The four different meanings of 'dream'
The
