Unit 11 A letter to Mummy About this unit This unit is about trips and outings. The main focus is a letter from a child about a school bus trip. Pupils answer questions about it and talk about past actions. They practise words and identify and say words that begin with th. They keep their personal dictionaries up to date and revise the formation of regular plurals. Finally, they imagine packing for a bus trip themselves and write a list of items to take. The unit includes fun rhymes, a thoughtful poem and the chance to draw.1 Lesson 1 Listening and speaking: answering questions about past actions; discussion about animals at the zoo Reading: a story;past action question forms (Have you been? When did you go? What happened when?); Zoo vocabulary (went, saw, zoo, plenty, meat, thirsty, grazing, sprayed, thick, trunk); phonics(th) Writing: a caption for a picture Flashcards of zoo vocabulary Personal dictionary for each pupil Pictures of animals commonly found in a zoo Words of Lion in a cage. 1. Use your animal pictures to talk about trips to the zoo. What animals can you see there? Ask the pupils to tell you about outings they have been on. How did the animals behave? How did they feel about the animals in cages? Develop the child's natural empathy for animals. 2. Read this poem Lion in a cage Think of me, free. Then feel for me, free. I long to run, (don't you love it?) Through.Then this way.then that. Through the grass. Thick grass... (Peta Aston) Listening and speaking ( p. 47) 1. Explain that pupils will listen to a passage about an outing to a zoo. They must listen well because they will tell the story to a partner. 2. Read the text I went to the zoo on p. 47 aloud. Read slowly so that pupils can listen carefully. Use flashcards and pictures to explain new or difficult words. 3. Read the story again. Ask the class what they think the main idea is. (A trip to the zoo that a child went on with his or her mother). Ask different pupils to retell small parts of the story each. Model how to tell it in the past tense. Read through and explain the questions below the text. 4. In pairs, pupils retell the story to a partner. Listen for use of the past tense. Note where further support is needed. 5. Now pairs answer the questions, using the past tense. Answers will vary. Listen for use of the past tense and use of zoo vocabulary. 6. Ask pupils to find and write down plurals in the text: animals, lions, monkeys, elephants, trunks Phonics ( p. 47) 1. Turn to p. 47. Say the th sound and let pupils repeat it after you. Read each word in the box and let pupils repeat it 49
after you. Use the words in sentences. Ask pupils to make up sentences using the words. 2. Use flashcards of th words to practise pronunciation: thumb, then, their. 3. Pupils identify the th sound in words by looking in the text and finding th words: there, their, the, think, they, thirsty, thick 4. Pupils try to think of more words that start with the th sound. If they cannot, they may choose words from the box. 5. Use the poem 'Lion in a cage' to practise identifying th sounds. Pupils come up and circle th sounds in the poem. Then listen as they read it in pairs, pronouncing the words correctly. Draw a picture of yourself at a zoo. Give your drawing a heading that is in the past tense: The meerkats stood up and looked. 1. Explain to pupils that some words tell us about actions, e.g. walk, jump, cry. These are called action or doing words because we can do them. 2. Ask pupils to look for action words in the text on p. 47. They will probably choose words that show physical activity and that is a good way to start identifying verbs: went, saw, eating, grazing, think, sprayed, seeing. Lesson 2 Listening and speaking: saying a rhyme; discussing new vocabulary and interpreting pictures; answering comprehension questions; practising saying words Reading: a letter; new vocabulary (travelling, amusement park, since, visited, National Assembly) Flashcards of letter vocabulary Sentence strips of selected sentences Personal dictionaries Class spelling list Flashcard with sight word other Blends cards from previous lesson (support). 1. Say the rhyme The House that Jack Built together (PB p. 41). Draw pupils' attention to the th words at the start of sentences: This is the... Reading ( p. 48) 1. As a class, discuss the pictures around the letter on p. 48. What do they tell us about what the letter is about? 2. Read the letter to the pupils. Use flashcards to introduce and discuss new vocabulary. Practise the words in boxes using correct stress and intonation. 3. Read the letter again. Talk about the letter. Ask past tense questions: Who was travelling with Larai? Why were they on the trip? Point out the verbs in the simple past tense (left, visited, went). 4. In groups, pupils read the letter aloud to practise pronunciation. 5. Read and explain the questions to the class. Pupils write the answers on their own. Answers ( p. 48): 1. Larai has been to Abuja and Kaduna (or any of the sights mentioned). 2. Yes, the teachers have been kind to her. 3. Larai has played soccer and cricket. 4. Yes, she has had fun. 50
Reading and writing 1. Introduce the sight word other. Write this sentence on the board: Other people like to go by taxi. Ask pupils for more sentences using other. 2. Record new words on the class spelling list. Now pupils add new words to their personal dictionaries. Revise blends covered in previous lessons by letting pupils come to the board and match the cards and pictures and say words aloud. activity 1. Explain what is meant by the correct order of events. Use a simple example, e.g. how to make a cup of tea. 2. Pupils work in pairs to say what Larai saw in the correct order. They should start with, First Larai saw then she saw and so on. 3. Check answers as a class. Lesson 3 Listening and speaking: giving directions, learning a rhyme Reading: vocabulary (park, eaten, camel, surprise, curly; direction words such as: turn right, left, up, down, opposite, straight). Reader Flashcards of rhyme and Reader vocabulary Personal dictionaries Flashcards with sight words work, like. 1. Sing 'Wheels on the bus' (see Listening text in Unit 11). 2. Ask a few pupils to tell you about their travels (in home language and English) where and how they went, who was with them and what they did and saw. Reading ( p. 49) 1. Teach the rhyme on p. 49 to provide practise of familiar words. Use picture reading to prompt pupils to predict what the rhyme is about. Discuss new words. 2. Read with the pupils to model expression and pronunciation. Then listen again and correct where necessary. Encourage pupils to read with expression. 3. Give pupils a chance to recite the rhyme to the class. Reading (Reader p. 24) 1. Introduce direction words by giving a pupil simple directions on how to get from his or her desk to the classroom door: move forward, turn right, go down the row, turn left etc. Use home language to explain concepts. 2. Pupils turn to Unit 11 in the Reader, p. 24. Explain that they are going to give directions on how to get to the different animals from the entrance. They must look at the pictures to guide them. Provide plenty of support to help pupils with directions. 3. Model the first example: Ask everyone to point to the entrance. Where must they walk to get to the monkeys? (They must walk straight). Pupils work in pairs to give directions to the rest of the animals. Walk around and help pupils to follow the paths to the different animals. 51
Reading and writing 1. Introduce the two sight words work and like. Write these sentences on the board: My mother walks to work every day. I like to go by car. 2. Practise sight words go and know. 3. Revise blends from previous lessons by letting pupils work in groups to make oral sentences using these words. Let the pupils choose three of them to write in their note books with a picture of each. 4. Pupils add direction words to personal dictionaries 1. Reinforce the vocabulary of direction using your flashcards. 2. Pairs give each other simple directions: from the classroom to the Head teacher's office; from the school gate to the classroom etc. Listen for correct use of direction words. Ask the pupils to draw themselves on a bus and add simple labels to their drawing: wheels, driver, window, door, me. Lesson 4 Grammar: recognise and form regular plurals ending in -s Reading: vocabulary; blend and sight words; regular plurals Workbook Sets of blend and sight word playing cards Personal dictionary for each pupil Wall chart of the alphabet Objects or pictures of words showing blends such as glass, glasses, glue, bread, slipper, clock, cloth, clothes, block, a square of black, a square of blue, flag, flower, plug, plant, picture of a plane and a fly etc. 1. Revise the alphabet sounds using your wall chart. 2. Put the items on your table and show them to the pupils. Play a game of I spy using the blends. Grammar ( p. 49) 1. Revise the concept of singular and plural (one and many). Use the notes and exercises in Unit 1 and remind pupils that for most nouns it is easy to make the plural because you just add -s. Give plenty of simple examples. 2. Pupils turn to Grammar on p. 49. Guide them through the notes and let them look at the pictures showing one and many sticks and cats. 3. Read the table of singular and plural nouns. Let pupils repeat after you. Ask pupils to make up sentences using any of the words. Correct grammar where necessary, but focus on the nouns. 4. In pairs, ask pupils to list other examples of simple plural nouns that they can think of. Suggest that they look again at the text on p. 47. 5. Collect a list of examples on the board. Writing and words (Workbook p. 18) 1. Ask pupils to turn to Exercise 1 on p. 18. With their help, read through the diary entry and help pupils to identify and underline the doing/action words. Remind pupils that the action words are the ones that change when you write in the past tense. 2. Pupils have not formally covered the grammar of tenses, but they have spoken and read them during the course of the 52
year. They will therefore 'hear' the past form of many of the verbs. 3. Challenge pupils to make sense of the jumbled sentences: Answers (Workbook p. 18) 1. My school went on a tour. On Monday, we went by bus to Abuja. We were in the bus for many hours. On Tuesday, we visited Wonderland. We saw the Millennium Park. We also saw the National Assembly. We went to Aso Rock. 2. a) Lora never went on a ship. b) Bimpe often gave an apple to me. c) Obi was on the school bus for many hours. d) Ota never went on a train. 1. Pupils have a competition to see which group can spell the most sight words correctly at the board. 2. Let the pupils play a matching game with the blends and sight word cards. Pupils can practise giving directions to and from landmarks in the school. Lesson 5 Listening and speaking: discussing types of transport, what to take on a trip, etc. Reading: vocabulary (bus trip, pack, clothes, food, other useful things) Writing: familiar words from dictation; a list of things to take on a trip. 1. Talk about different kind/means of transport that can be used for a trip such as: bicycles, walking, horses, aeroplanes, cars, buses and trains. Ask the pupils which they think would be fast or slow, fun or uncomfortable. Writing ( p. 50, Workbook p.18) 1. Read out sentences describing Larai s trip slowly while the pupils listen, e.g. She went on a bus. It was fun. Repeat. Tell the pupils to write down each sentence. Remind them to use capital letters and full stops. 2. Use the picture to discuss what Larai took on her trip (PB p. 50). Ask the pupils why these things are useful. What else would be useful on a bus or train trip? Also ask silly things: Would a cow be useful? 3. Read the instructions for Exercise 2. Tell pupils that they will be going on a bus trip to attend a singing competition. They will be away for two days and a night. Pairs discuss what they need to take (12 items or less). 4. Now working alone, they list the items. 1. Draw columns on the board with different headings Clothes, Food, Toiletries, Fun, Other things. 2. The class gives you their suggestions and tells you in which column each item should go. 3. Read all the words, asking pupils to identify the initial sound of each word. 4. Identify regular plurals in the list. Play a memory game. Pupils take turns to add another item to the list of packing. They keep going for as long as they can remember every item on the list: P1: For my holiday I pack a shirt; P2: For my holiday I pack a shirt and a brush, etc. 53