lesson n°1

23

1

Time : 45 mins - 1 hourLevel : First Contact Primary Children in an E.F.L. context. (suggested age-group: 9-11 year olds)Grammar : To come from

To speak plus nationalities, languages and countries.

Grammar revision : Introductions. «My name’s…»Material needed : Copies of flags from the countries mentioned in the book(available from the Internet). Props for the roleplay exercise (8 x pictures ofcats, a box, a beret, a model aeroplane, a bobble hat, a police hat, papertissues, a violin, a fan, and copies of the flags).

STEP ONE

Put the flags on to the board. Ask the children in their native language if theycan identify them. What do they associate with each country ? ie food, drink,customs etc. Write everything down in the children’s own language and inEnglish.

STEP TWO

Read the story. Point out the new vocabulary using the props.

STEP THREE

Activity. Act out the story.

Each child has a role in the story, either showing the flag or helping in themime of the story as it is re-read. Divide the roles in the following way for aclass of 16 children.

8 children have a picture of a cat and a picture of a flag (include the UnionJack for the cat in the box in the book).

One child represents France and wears a beretOne child represents Spain and holds a model planeOne child represents Norway and wears a bobble hatOne child represents Greece and wears a police hatOne child represents Brazil and sneezes into tissuesOne child represents Germany and «plays» the violinOne child represents Japan and holds the fanOne child represents the United Kingdom and holds the box

As the story is re-read each child helps to mime the pictures in the book.When the first sentence «My Cat likes to Hide in Boxes» is heard, one of thechildren with a picture of a cat, stands up and puts it in the box. When the catfrom France is mentioned, the child with the French flag stands up along withthe child wearing the beret.The next time «My Cat likes to hide in boxes» is re-read, another child with acat picture stands up and puts it in the box. The story continues with theSpanish flag being shown and the child with the aeroplane standing up,followed by a repeat performance from «France». In this way the story ismimed, acted and absorbed by all the class.

Rea

l story books

forprimary E.F

.L.

How to use…

Two lesson plans

MyCat

Likesto

Hidein

BoxesEve Sutton

illustrated by Lynley Dodd(Puffin Books)

4

23

1lesson n°2

STEP FOUR

Activity No 1Homework Activity : copy the flags below and ask thechildren to colour in the flags writing the name of the countryunderneath.

MyCat

Likesto

Hidein

BoxesEve Sutton

illustrated by Lynley Dodd(Puffin Books)

C A C N B Q E N G L A N D

C H B L O N R D T A M E B

R C I R B R S T P L E A Y

D C L N A S W T H W R A C

H E A L A O U A U S I T F

J A P A N E S E Y V C G R

D H F O M W A S C B A E E

A U S T R A L I A N I R N

E R G S O L P J N E K M C

A R C H I B X E A W I A H

L C R Z I O U L D X P N L

T H A O M J E A I S W Y H

F R O S O D K Y A G O A M

B R C I T A V B N M R G P

G R E E K N S P A N I S H

Australia Brazil Canada China

Spain America France United Kingdom

Japan Norway Greece Germany

ACTIVITY No 1

These two lesson plans were written by *Diane Thomas. She is an experienced teacher currently teaching English as a Foreign language to children in Primary Schools in France.

Time : 45 mins

STEP ONE

Quickly revise the main points of the story.

STEP TWO

Write on the board the countries mentioned on activitysheet no 2 in a coloured pen. Muddle up the nationalitiesin another coloured pen and the language in another.Scatter all this vocabulary across the board.

STEP THREE

Giving them an example, show them that in Australia,Australian people speak English. Mime the verb «to speak».Circle the word «Australia», link it to «Australian» and also to«English».

Either following the order of Activity no 2 or mixing up theorder (depending on the level of the class), encourage thechildren to find the correct answers for each country,nationality, and language.«What language do they speak in Spain ?»«What is the nationality of the people from Spain ?»

OPTIONAL EXERCISES : ACTIVITY No 3

The children complete activity no 3 finding the nationalitiesand countries hidden in the Wordsearch square.

Nationalities CountriesAUSTRALIAN CHINACANADIAN BRAZIL JAPANESE AMERICA FRENCH NORWAY GREEK GERMANYSPANISH ENGLAND

ACTIVITY No 2Countries and nationalitiesIn Australia, Australian people speak EnglishIn Brazil, …………… people speak ……………In Canada, …………… people speak ……………In China, …………… people speak ……………In Spain, …………… people speak ……………In America, …………… people speak ……………In France, …………… people speak ……………In England, …………… people speak ……………In Japan, …………… people speak ……………In Norway, …………… people speak ……………In Greece, …………… people speak ……………In Germany, …………… people speak ……………

ACTIVITY No 3