Unit 28 Plants About this unit The theme of this unit is plants. Pupils talk about a picture using correct pronunciation. They learn to identify features of different kinds of printed texts. Their phonics practice is with rhyming words, and grammar revision is about the simple past tense. Pupils work with paragraphs to fill in missing words and letters. They enjoy a story about a magic orange tree and a rhyme called Daisies are Blue. Lesson one Listening and speaking: Practise correct pronunciation of words; label a picture; identify rhyming words, and make sentences. Vocabulary: Learn and record new words such as, straw hats, fruit juice, vegetables, cotton t-shirts, thatch, furniture. Workbook Flashcards of new vocabulary Picture cards of plants and produce The words of Daisies are blue on the board or a chart. Explain that is a nonsense term. The song is about growing and harvesting plants. Sing the following rhyme: Daisies are blue Palm trees are green When you are king I shall be queen. Call up your men Set them to work Some to make hay Some to cut corn. Listening and speaking ( p. 128; Workbook p. 60)) 1. Discuss the picture on page 128 in the PB with the pupils; ask them to identify as many plants as they can. Ask them to identify plant parts. (They should know these words from Unit 27.) 2. Show the flash cards of new words. Read the words in boxes clearly. Ask pupils to read them aloud and correct mistakes in pronunciation. 3. In groups, pupils list all the food and drink we get from plants. They should write their lists neatly. 4. Make a composite list on the board of all their ideas. Let groups take turns to read one item from their lists not repeating each other s ideas. 5. Discuss some of the foods on the list. What do we do to them before we eat them? For example: we grind and mix and bake wheat to make bread. 6. Pupils turn to Exercise 1 on page 60 of the WB. They label the picture of the tree. 7. Then they sort the labels into rhyming pairs. Answers (Workbook p. 60) bee tree; third bird; root boot Extension Working in the same groups as before, groups swap their lists of food and drink we can get from plants. They mark each other s lists for spelling, using your list on the board as reference. 132
Support (Workbook p. 60) 1. Let pupils look at their lists of rhyming pairs in Exercise 2 on page 60 of the WB. Lesson two Reading: Read a poem about a plant, and answer questions about the poem; compare illustrations and pictures. Vocabulary: Learn and record new words such as, heart, seed, buried, tiny, wake, sunshine, creep, bright. Workbook Flash cards of new vocabulary Newspapers, magazines, reference books with clear features. (Workbook p. 61) 1. Pupils sing Daisies are Blue from Lesson one. 2. Teach the new vocabulary by means of the flash cards. 3. Reinforce learning about plants and their uses. Pupils turn to Exercise 4 on page 61 of the WB. Read the instructions and the paragraph to be sure everyone knows what to do. Pupils read the paragraph and answer the questions. Answers (Workbook p. 61) 4. a) buck/zebra/hare, etc.; b) cow/sheep/goat; c) rice/wheat/corn; d) wheat Reading ( p. 129) 1. Read the poem aloud while pupils follow in their books. Discuss meanings: the heart of a seed; fast asleep; creep to the light. 2. Pupils read the poem aloud as a class, then, in pairs, they discuss questions 1 3. Answers (Pupil s Book p. 129) 1. The little plant 2. It is red. 3. It is a photograph. 3. Guide pupils through question 4: Explain that a photograph is taken with a camera and is exactly how the object looks in real life. An illustration is a drawing or diagram done by an artist. Let pupils turn back in the PB to find examples first, of photographs, then of illustrations. Ask pupils to tell you the page number of their examples. 4. Use newspapers, magazines, story books and reference books to show the class the differences between reading materials. They should be able to pick out photographs, illustrations, diagrams with labels, contents page, glossary, titles, and captions. Extension Help pupils to learn the poem The little plant. 1. Write the words up on the board. Pupils read it aloud. 2. Rub out some words. Pupils read the poem and remember the missing words. 3. Rub out more and more words until pupils can say most of the poem on their own. Support Pupils return to The little plant. 1. Help with reading and correct pronunciation by listening to pairs read the poem to each other. 2. Pupils identify rhyming pairs in the poem: (deep asleep; light bright, see be). 133
Lesson three Phonics: Work with rhyming words. Reading: Read a story and answer questions about the story in full sentences. Vocabulary: Learn and record new words such as, seized, finished, delicious, wrist, twist, order, thousand, height. Reader Set of rhyming word cards Flash cards of new vocabulary. 1. Divide flash cards of rhyming word cards into two sets. Do not have rhyming words in the same set. 2. Give groups a set of cards each. One group holds up a card. The other groups look for a word that rhymes with it. When they find one they hold it up and shout BINGO! Now it is the turn of that group to hold up a word. Phonics ( p. 130) 1. Use flash cards to revise rhyming words. Demonstrate that sometimes the spelling is different, but the sound is the same. for example: leap steep. 2. Pupils work in pairs to read the words in boxes. Listen for correct pronunciation. 3. Now pupils find the rhyming pairs. Answers (Pupil s Book p. 130) ball small; clean green; beef leaf; dish wish; path bath; corn thorn; third heard; wood good; ground found; feed seed; see tree; nut but Reading (Reader p. 73 75) 1. Pupils open on page 73 in the Reader, and find the second half of the story The magic orange tree. Ask learners to retell the story so far. Ask them to describe the stepmother. 2. Use flash cards and the New Word feature to introduce new words. 3. Read the story as pupils follow in their books, explaining new words and concepts: up into the sky, broke into pieces. 4. Pupils then read the story for themselves. Ask simple questions and help with queries. Ask if pupils like the ending why? 5. Ask a few pupils to retell the story giving only the main ideas. 6. Guide pupils through the comprehension questions then let them answer in pairs. If you require pupils to write their answers, teach them to put a comma after No or Yes when it begins a sentence: Yes, it was an orange tree. Listen for correct answers. Answers (Reader p. 75) 1. She seized them and began to eat them. 2. No, Maria did not want to tell her. 3. She sang softly to the orange tree. 4. The tree and Maria's stepmother broke into a thousand pieces. 5. No, she was never/not ever hungry or unhappy again. Extension (Reader p 72 75) 1. Write out the three verses of the Orange Tree poem (verse 1 page 72; verse 2 page 73/74; Verse 3 page 74) or let pupils turn to the pages as you read them consecutively. 2. Pupils choose one verse to copy into their books. Then they illustrate the verse and give it a caption using a full sentence with a full stop. 134
Support Make rhyming words. Give pupils these sentences to enjoy: Take cr off cry and put in m... Take str off stream and put in dr Take b off bee and put in s Take d off day and put in pl Take r off rain and put in m Lesson four Grammar: Revise past tense; fill missing verbs into paragraphs. Workbook. ( p. 131) Play a game with animal and plant names. Guide pupils through the instructions on page 131 in the PB. Grammar ( p.130; Workbook p. 61) 1. Revise the past tense by asking what pupils had for supper last night. Get some of them to say what they did at supper and how the food was prepared. In this way you model the past tense, without having to explain the grammar. 2. Pupils complete Exercise 1 on page 130 in the PB, filling in the correct verbs. Read the words in the boxes with the pupils, correcting any mistakes in pronunciation. Answers (Pupil s Book p. 130) Yesterday my mother made soup. She asked me to go to the shop to buy some vegetables. I bought potatoes, onions and carrots. She chopped them up and put them into a pot. She added water and salt. She boiled it all up. When it was ready, we had it for supper. We all liked it. 3. Pupils open to Exercise 3 on page 61 of the WB. Explain that the paragraph is about planting and growing beans. Read through the words and the paragraph then let pupils fill in the missing words. Answers (Workbook p. 61) Yesterday I planted some beans in the garden. I watered them well. After a few days, two leaves came up. Then the plants got bigger. They climbed up the fence. They grew flowers that later turned into beans. When they were big enough I picked them to eat. Extension and support This has been a long lesson. Lead a discussion about insects that pupils know and special places in nature they like to go. Talk about being quiet in nature. Take them outside for a listening exercise. What do you hear when you just listen? What do you see when you just sit and look? Lesson five Writing: Complete a paragraph by filling in missing letters. A set of rhyming words cards Reader (Extension activity). 1. Give each pupil in the class (or a group) a word card. Make sure that someone else gets a word that rhymes with it. Pupils must find a partner who has a word that rhymes with theirs. When they 135
have found this person, they must spell the words on the cards. Writing ( p. 131) 1. Pupils complete the paragraph on page 131 in the PB. Remind them to write neatly and to remember the punctuation. Ensure the words with the missing letters have been spelt correctly. Answers (Pupil s Book p. 131) Last month, we planted some seeds and they have started to grow. We will spend our own money and buy another packet of seeds. Come over to our house early in the morning before 7 o clock. You can help us plant them. I m sure we will have fun. Extension (Reader p. 73 75) 1. Help pupils find Unit 28 in the Reader again. 2. Divide the class into groups of three. Assign the parts of the Narrator, Stepmother and Maria. 3. Point out the use of quotation marks to identify the relevant speaker. 4. Groups read the story. Listen for good expression and correct intonation. Support ( p. 130) Give a surprise spelling test, using words from page 130 in the PB. Pupils mark each other's work. 136