Unit 7 Safety at home About this unit This unit is about safety at home. Pupils talk about and answer questions about a picture using the past tense. They read stories and identify the main and supporting ideas. They enjoy riddles and practise words starting with tr, gr and fr. A lively picture gives them ideas for using adverbs in sentences and they apply their understanding of safety in the home to drawing and labelling a picture of a house. Lesson 1 Listening and speaking: talking about a picture in the past tense; answering questions on past actions Reading: vocabulary (What is doing? Who can get hurt? dangerous, safe, accident baby, girl, boy, kitchen, bedroom, bathroom, dining room, sitting room, stool, mop, steps) Flashcards of sight words and new vocabulary Wall chart of colours and shapes Pictures of ordinary houses showing different parts Spelling list for classroom use. 1. Use your wall chart to revise shapes and colours 2. Show your pictures of houses. Revise level 1 vocabulary doors, windows, walls, roof, etc. Name the different rooms in a house. Listening and speaking ( p. 29) 1. Explain the words safe, dangerous, accident and get hurt. 2. Look together at the picture on p. 29. Tell them that it happened yesterday. In the past we use words such as was. Model some sentences: The pot was boiling. 3. In small groups, pupils discuss the picture in their home language. They look at who was in the kitchen and what was safe and what was not safe. Tell the pupils that all group members should participate and take turns to listen and speak. In this way, they develop vocabulary and oral communication skills. 4. Ask groups what they thought was safe or not safe. They should try to respond in English. Ask pupils some specific questions: Who was in the kitchen? Ask them how old they think the children are and whether babies and small children can be left alone without adults. Ask them to explain their answers in home language if necessary. Whose kitchen was this? What was each person doing? What was near that person? Was it safe or dangerous? What could happen to that person? 5. Ask pupils to suggest what can be done to make the kitchen safe. NOTE Safety in the home is of major importance as many Nigerian children are the victims of fatal accidents in their own homes. If possible use the home language of the pupils to explain these issues. If you have several home languages in your classroom and do not know all of these, wherever possible, use pupils who are fluent in these languages to 28
translate into the home language you know. So for instance, a pupil might translate from Hausa to Gbagi. Alternatively, find another staff member who can assist so that the pupils understand these very important issues before working through them in English. Point out any of the danger areas that the pupils don t mention and explain why the situation is dangerous, e.g. a baby can drown in a bucket of water, bare electric wires can give fatal shocks or cause fires; cleaning materials and large quantities (overdoses) of medicines can kill you if swallowed; closed windows are dangerous where gas (the stove) is used in case of a leak. and support 1. Tell the pupils to draw three small pictures of things that were unsafe in the kitchen. There must be a person in each picture. Give them an example, such as the child falling over things near the steps. 2. Walk around the classroom and observe while they explain their pictures to a partner. Lesson 2 Reading: Read and discuss a story, identify main and supporting ideas in the story; vocabulary (people, live, house, made, built, window, door, wall, roof, floor) Sight words from previous lessons Phonics words and pictures from previous lessons Flashcards of new vocabulary Sentence cards with sight words marked Spelling list for classroom use Personal dictionary for each pupil. Wall charts of shape and colour and rooms in a house Copy of the rhyme There was a crooked man. 1. Explain difficult words: crooked, sixpence, stile. Read There was a crooked man. Let pupils read with you: There was a crooked man Who walked a crooked mile He found a crooked sixpence upon a crooked stile He bought a crooked cat Who caught a crooked mouse And they all lived together in a crooked little house 2. Revise shapes, colours and different parts of a house. Use word cards. Reading ( p. 30) 1. Ask the pupils why we need to live in a house (protection from danger, the weather). a. Ask the pupils what their house looks like (shape, size, colour). Tell them to respond with: It is a house. b. What is the house made of? Why are these materials used? Where do they get them? c. Identify the parts of the house they know. d. Ask the pupils to look at the picture of Bimpe's house on p. 29. What do they think it is like to live in Bimpe s house? Why? Use the home language if necessary. Some suggestions are that they might feel unsafe or uncomfortable. 2. Read the story on p. 30 clearly and emphatically. Let pupils read after you and then read silently using proper eye and hand coordination. 3. Discuss the text to develop further understanding by asking open-ended 29
questions such as: Why is it unsafe to leave water spilt on the floor? etc. 4. Look at the comprehension questions. The first one, What is the story about? will help pupils to identify the main idea (the unsafe things in Bimpe's house). Explain that the other facts in the story are the supporting ideas. 5. Pupils should answer orally or in writing, using full, correct sentences. Answers: 1. The story is about the unsafe things in Bimpe's house. 2. Bimpe's house is not well kept. 3. Pupils choose examples from the many in the text. Reading and writing Be sure you have recorded new words on the class spelling list. Now pupils add new words to their personal dictionaries. 1. Practise the sight word there, for example by writing this sentence on the board: There are many different houses. 2. Revise sight words from previous lessons. 3. Revise phonics from the previous lessons (ee,ea,ch, dr, tr, fr). Let pupils come to the board and match the word and picture cards. They must say the initial blend and then the whole word. 1. Groups say and act out There was a crooked man. 2. In groups, pupils share stories about accidents or near accidents they have had in the home. They talk about what to do so that they do not have this accident again. Lesson 3 Grammar: use adverbs in sentences Reading: vocabulary (common adverbs: quietly, slowly, quickly, near, far; safety vocabulary from previous lessons; Reader vocabulary: housekeeper, careless, live wire, shock, electrical appliances, dangerous). Reader Flashcards of Reader vocabulary Spelling list for classroom use Sentence strips of selected sentences from Reader pp. 16 17 Personal dictionary for each pupil Pictures (or actual objects) an electrical plug and appliance; medicine; matches; bucket. 1. Use the pictures or the apparatus to consolidate safety vocabulary. Let the pupils find these objects in the picture on p. 29 of the. Point out that these are things that we use, but if they are used in a dangerous way they can hurt us. 2. Revise or introduce vocabulary used in the Reader. Explain difficult words but do not expect pupils to learn them. Rather concentrate on sight words. Grammar ( p. 31) 1. Remind pupils that they learned about adverbs in Unit 6. Revise. Add that adverbs can tell us more about when, where or how actions happen. For example, I phoned yesterday. 30
Yesterday tells you about when I phoned. Give examples to show adverbs of time, place and manner. 2. Pupils open on p. 31. Read the adverbs in the box. Ask different pupils to use each of them in a sentence. Write these on the board. Ask different pupils to come up and underline the adverb. Now ask if the adverb tells you when, where or how the action was done. 3. Pupils now work alone to write sentences using the adverbs. Check for grammatically correct use of adverbs. Reading (Reader pp. 16 17) 1. Pupils turn to Safety at home on p. 16. Guide them through your sentence strips as before. 2. Read out the story as the children listen. Use the picture to reinforce understanding. Explain difficult words: housekeeper, careless, live wire, shock someone, remove it. 3. Read the story again and ask pupils to follow in their books as you read. 4. Read again slowly and let them read after you. Look for good eye and finger movement. 5. Discuss the safety issues in the story. Why was Bisi so cross? 6. Try to elicit the main idea of the story (what is it about?). It is about how Bisi gets cross because Osaze is careless about safety in the home. The supporting ideas are the other ideas (Bisi saw a live wire on the floor. She learned at school not to put electrical appliances close to water). 6. Go through the comprehension questions to be sure pupils understand them. Now they discuss the answers in pairs, using full sentences. Answers: 1.Osaze is a careless person. 2.Bisi sees a live wire on the kitchen floor. 3. It is dangerous because it can shock someone. 4. Bisi says Osaze must come and remove it. Reading and writing 1. Introduce the sight words know and any. 2. Write these sentences on the board: I know Kenneth. Are any windows open? 3. To revise the sight words from previous lessons, use the sight word cards to practise reading and spelling. 1. Pupils copy the following paragraph and underline the sight words know and any. 2. They read the paragraph to a partner. I know my house is safe. We do not leave any wires open. I know who to ask about any problems. Ken knows everything. 1. As a group, list five dangerous things in the picture on p. 29 of the PB. 2. Tell each other why each thing is dangerous. 3. Report back to the class. Compile a list on the board of the dangerous things. Examples: The baby is near the cleaning things. (It is dangerous because they can poison the baby.) The baby is near a bucket of water. (It is dangerous because the baby can drown.) The boiling pot is near the edge. (It can be knocked over and can burn someone.) The little boy is playing with matches. (It is dangerous because he can start a fire.)and so on.4 Lesson 4 Reading: practising (tr-, gr- and frblends); read and answer riddles; vocabulary (leaves, branches, birds tracks, wheels, frog) 31
Workbook Personal dictionaries and class spelling list Words of Here we go round the mulberry bush (). 1. Play a game of riddles. Ask the pupils: I have four legs and a back. I am made of wood. People sit on me. What am I? (a chair) I am black and white and round. Children often kick me when they play a game. What am I? (a soccer ball) I have two legs and two wings. My feathers keep me warm. Who am I? (a bird). Reading: Phonics ( p. 31 32) 1. Read the riddles on p. 32 to the class and ask them to write the answers in their note books. 2. Elicit and write the answers on the board: tree, train, green, frog. Circle the first two letters of each word. 3. Make three columns on the board and ask pupils to add any words they know beginning with tr, gr or fr. For example, tracks, grass, grab, fruit. 4. Pupils turn to p. 31. They repeat the sounds tr, fr and gr aloud. In pairs, pupils look for and name things in the picture that start with those sounds. You may have to give them clues (tree, friend, ground). 5. Record new words on the class spelling list, then ask children to write them in their personal dictionaries. Reading (Workbook p. 13) 1. Pupils turn to Exercise 2 on p. 13. First, read the words with the class. Encourage clear pronunciation of the gr,fr, and tr sounds. Now they find and circle a word in each row that does not belong. (Prompt pupils to look at the first two letters of the words.) Answers: a) tip b) black c) glad d) tray e) pot f) fun g)glue 2. Guide pupils through Exercise 1 on p. 13. Point out the windows and door. Remind them of the vocabulary: kitchen, bedroom, bathroom, dining room, sitting room. They should include at least four rooms in their plan. Help individuals as necessary. Work with pupils in pairs or small groups to practise reading. Choose any of the Reader texts thus far and help them to read the text aloud. Help them to sound out words and explain difficult words. Take note of where further support may be required. Sing or say this rhyme, and do the actions. Change the words and add actions accordingly, e.g. pick the fruit, tie our shoes, brush our hair Here we go round the mulberry bush, The mulberry bush, the mulberry bush Here we go round the mulberry bush Early in the morning. This is the way we sweep the floor Sweep the floor, sweep the floor, This is the way we sweep the floor Early in the morning. 32
Lesson 5 Draw and label a picture Reading vocabulary, house parts Word cards with house words and safety words from previous lessons Picture of a house that can be labelled at the board and house labels from previous lessons Spelling list for classroom use Personal dictionary for each pupil Old magazines or newspapers, scissors, glue and a sheet of paper for each group. 1. Revise vocabulary for parts of a house, shapes, colours and safety words 2. Play a game of Simon says, giving the pupils two instructions at a time, e.g. stand on tiptoe and touch your left ear. Writing ( p. 32) 1. Read the instructions on p. 32 with the pupils and ask them to tell you what they have to do. 2. Put up your picture of a house on the board. Ask the pupils what they see. 3. Ask the pupils to come and put labels in the correct places on the house picture. Make additional labels if required (e.g. chimney, roof, rooms, garden). Show them how you draw a line from the object to the word. 4. Ask pupils how to make the house safe. Write their suggestions on the board: The cleaning cupboard is high. The matches are put away. The wires are far from water, etc. 5. Tell the pupils to draw a picture of a safe house. Then ask them to write five labels for it. 6. Now ask them to write two sentences about their safe house. Check for understanding of the Unit theme as well as correct grammar and punctuation. 1. Give the pupils a page from a magazine or newspaper and let them cut out as many of the sight words as they can find and stick them on a sheet of paper. They should read the sight words to a partner. 2. Practise spelling these house words, e.g. door, window, wall, roof. 3. Let a group of pupils come to the board and practise matching phonics words and pictures. Talk about what makes yards unsafe (bowls of water, toys to trip over, sharp wire, litter or plastic bags, pools, dams or drinking troughs, open drains, garden chemicals, machinery, old fridges etc.) 1. Ask pupils to draw a big empty yard. 2. Ask them to draw in three things that make it unsafe. 3. Ask pupils to label the things in their picture. 4. Let them show and explain their pictures to a partner. 33