Lesson plan for
Young learners www.inspirationalenglish.co.uk ©Inspirational English 2019
Teacher’s notes Step 1 Show the pictures below and ask the students to name the two insects. What do the butterfly and the caterpillar have in common?
The caterpillar turns into a butterfly. Step 2 Ask the students to match the words which rhyme. If they are not familiar with the task, explain that “words that have the same sound or end with the same sound” rhyme.
For example- cat-mat, bite-kite Step 3 Tell the students to read the poem about the Little Green Caterpillar and fill in the gaps with the rhyming pairs of words. For instance, Line 2 rhymes with Line 4. You can find the original poem here. It is written by the British poet Josie Whitehead. Step 4 The poem has been turned into a song. You can download it from the poet’s website. Use the link provided in Step 3. Play it and ask the students to check their answers. Step 5 Hold a discussion using the questions below:
1. What doesn’t the caterpillar like eating? What does he want to eat? 2. How do you think the caterpillar feels when he says: “How do I get to see more of this world?” 3. Why does the caterpillar want to be like the butterfly? 4. How does the caterpillar change at the end of the poem? 5. Where do you think the butterfly will fly to first? www.inspirationalenglish.co.uk ©Inspirational English 2019
Step 6 Let’s visualise Explain to your students that they’ll take the little butterfly from the poem on a journey. Ask them to sit comfortably, relax, close their eyes and listen. If they haven’t done a visualisation before, say that they need to listen carefully and follow the guidance of the voice. Explain that breathing is important so illustrate how they need to breathe in and out at the beginning and the end of the visualisation.
Listen to the visualisation here.
After you play the visualisation, ask them how they feel. My students love visualising. They find it extremely calming. With this particular visualisation, they commented on the clear picture in their mind. Ask some students to retell the butterfly’s adventure from the park. What details do they remember from it? What colour was the butterfly? What was the girl doing in the park? What were the children doing? Where do they think the two butterflies will go next?
Step 7 At the end of the lesson put the students in pairs and tell them they have to prepare a dialogue between the two butterflies from the visualisation.
If you are running out of time, you can assign this for homework.
www.inspirationalenglish.co.uk ©Inspirational English 2019
Student Handout Exercise 2 Match the words that rhyme: For example- cat-mat, bite-kite
Fly
blue
Fun
rumble
Day
cry
Do
sun
Crumble
play
Exercise 3 Read the poem and fill in the blanks with words from exercise 2
A little green caterpillar A little green caterpillar looked at a leaf And his tummy was starting to _________: 'Mummy has told me to eat up my leaves, But I’d far rather eat apple ___________.'
Then the fat little caterpillar looked at the sky: 'Now why is the sky very ________?' – And 'How do I get to see more of this world? Oh my goodness – just what must I ___________?'
A butterfly flew to the leaf next to him And noticed he’d started to ______. 'Now you hurry up and get on with those greens And soon you’ll be able to __________'
'But my world is so boring with nothing to do Except eating my greens every __________. I want so very much to be lovely like you And fly through the world and then ________.' www.inspirationalenglish.co.uk ©Inspirational English 2019
Lesson plan for
Young learners www.inspirationalenglish.co.uk ©Inspirational English 2019
Teacher’s notes Step 1 Bring a pebble (or a picture of one) and ask the students where they usually see pebbles. They could come up with different answers, such as on their driveway, on the path to school, in the park or on the beach. If they haven’t mentioned the beach, explain that it’s quite common to see lots of pebbles on the English beach. Draw your students’ attention to the pebble again. Let them hold it for a while and connect with the piece of rock. Then ask them to think of adjectives to describe it. How does holding the pebble make them feel? Does it have a particular smell? Does it bring any memories? Let them imagine they’re a pebble on the beach. How is the pebble feeling? Why? Maybe it’s feeling : too hot in the strong sun, cold and wet because it’s just been washed by the sea waves happy to be around so many pebbles and shells lonely because it’s been tucked or stuck under a big shell Step 2 Tell the students that you’ll read a poem called “The prettiest pebble”, written by the poet Josie Whitehead. Ask them to listen carefully and find out how the feelings of the pebble change in the poem. Why? At the beginning the pebble feels unloved but then the girl’s affection makes it “feel warmth deep down inside”. Find the poem here. Step 3 Hand out a worksheet with the poem to the students. Ask them to find examples of: 1) Adjectives that the poet uses to describe the pebble: Bright, pretty, lovely 2) What do the words “smoothness” and “shine” tell us about the pebble? 3) The poet uses personification in the poem. Can you find three examples? Ex. 1 The sea washing its face Ex. 2 And the pretty pebble, quite unloved, Feels warmth deep down inside www.inspirationalenglish.co.uk ©Inspirational English 2019
Ex. 3 But, knowing he was loved one day, Is a thought he’ll always keep.
Why do you think the poet gives traits of a human being to the pebble? 4)In the poem line 2 rhymes with line 4. Write down the pairs of rhyming words and add at least one more word to each pair. For example: face-disgrace
Step 4 Visualisation Explain to your students that you’ll take them on a journey to the beach. Ask them to sit comfortably and close their eyes. Make sure that all mobile devices have been switched off.
You can find the visualisation here
After the visualisation, ask the students about their experience on the beach. What did they see/hear/touch? My students have had some amazing experiences during this visualisation. They saw colourful pebbles, blue skies, kids playing in the water, even though they are not mentioned in the script. This fact shows how powerful and real a visualisation could be. Step 5 Let’s sing Play the song Pebble Meditation . Link: https://charityandthejamband.bandcamp.com/track/pebble-meditation-song After singing the song, ask the students to complete the following sentences:
1.I see myself as a flower when …………… 2.I feel fresh and new when……… 3.I see myself as a mountain when………. 4.I feel solid and sure when………………. 5.I see myself as still water when……….. 6.I reflect things as they are when………….. 7.I see myself as space when…………. 8.I feel free when………….
Homework: Ask the students to write a story about a time when they felt free. What gave them that feeling?
Student Handout Complete the sentences 1.I see myself as a flower when …………… 2.I feel fresh and new when……… 3.I see myself as a mountain when………. 4.I feel solid and sure when………………. 5.I see myself as still water when……….. 6.I reflect things as they are when………….. 7.I see myself as space when…………. 8.I feel free when………….
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Lesson plan
Level B1 www.inspirationalenglish.co.uk ©Inspirational English 2019
Teacher’s notes Step 1 Ask the students to brainstorm what they associate SUMMER with. I’m sure that one of the words will be BEACH. Then ask them to share some pleasurable memories they have from the time they were at the beach. Step 2 Hand out the poem Those pleasurable days by Josie Whitehead. Explain that you have removed six lines and they need to put them in the right gap. Link to the original poem here
Key: 1-f,2-a, 3-e, 4-c, 5-b, 6-d Step 3 Ask the students to find the rhyming pairs of words from the poem. For example: bay-day, too-blue Step 4 Let’s speak 1. Why does the poet repeat the phrase “What fun we all had”? 2. How do we know that the protagonist had fun at the beach? Use examples from the poem. 3. Why do you think the poet describes the sandcastle as “fit for a queen”? 4. Why did they all give a sigh when they packed their things? 5. Explain the line “those memory snapshots are great works of art”. Step 5 Tell the students that they’ll go on an imaginary trip to the beach now. Explain they have to sit comfortably and close their eyes. Ask them to pay attention to the sounds and images portrayed in the visualisation. What words from the poem are mentioned? Link to the visualisation here Words from the poem that appear in the visualisation: sunshine, sandcastle, shells, sand, bucket, fish and chips Step 6/ Homework Ask the student to write a poem/short story which describes a special memory they have from a trip to the seaside www.inspirationalenglish.co.uk ©Inspirational English 2019
Student Handout Those pleasurable days By Josie whitehead What fun we all had when we went to West Bay: ____________________1______________________ We had waves that came rolling from faraway lands And had seashells and buckets and - don’t forget sand.
What fun we all had when we went to West Bay. ___________________2_______________________ I had aunties and uncles and Mum and Dad too And, if I can remember, a sky always blue.
What fun we all had as we splashed in the sea – ____________________3_______________________ We hunted for shells, which the sea had washed clean, And I made a grand sandcastle, fit for a queen.
What fun we all had - and we shared what we ate. ____________________4________________________ But like all days of fun, the time quickly went by And we packed up our things and we gave a small sigh -
Then early next morning we went back again ____________________5_________________________ Then mackerel boats came, fully laden with fish, Although our fish and chips we preferred in a dish.
My summers at Bridport cannot be the same _____________________6________________________ But a snapshot of those days will stay in my heart And those memory snapshots are great works of art.
Read the poem and put the lines in the right verse: A) I had cousins to play with in those pleasurable days. B) But - oh typical Britain - for down came the rain. C) Oh yes, picnics are good and you don’t need a plate, D) And the time moving forward must surely take blame, E) My aunties, my uncles, my cousins and me. F) We had sunshine and sandcastles all through the day.
Let’s speak 1. Why does the poet repeat the phrase “What fun we all had”? 2. How do we know that the protagonist had fun at the beach? Use examples from the poem. 3. Why do you think the poet describes the sandcastle as “fit for a queen”? 4. Why did they all give a sigh when they packed their things? 5. Explain the line those memory snapshots are great works of art.
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