OLD FAVOURITES
TEACHERS NOTES
Objective: Respond to characters and events in nursery rhymes, books and films.
Activities covered
Read to the class some of Roald Dahl’s Revolting rhymes – how are the characters the same/different from those in the original stories?
• Reading nursery rhyme • Answering questions • Writing description
Students invent their own superhero/heroine, draw him/her and describe his/her character to the class.
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• Giving description in oral form
Read well-known legends and fables to the class and discuss the characters in the story.
Background information
Students read stories on a website and describe the characters in the story; for example, www.storybookcastle.com
Teac he r Before the lesson
The class will be divided into groups. The teacher can have ready some examples where characters can be discussed.
Students read the following poems and act them out:
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The students must choose well-known stories or rhymes and take them further to think about what the characters may have been like if they were real. Characters in novels will obviously be more in-depth and complex than those in this lesson, but students can move onto these later.
Jack vs Jill
When Jack and Jill walked up the hill, were they having a row? Did Jill say, ‘Jack, you hold the pail!’ And Jack say, ‘No, not now!’
Did Jack and Jill then have some words? Did Jill get really mad? Did she think, ‘I will get him back! He’s such a horrid lad!’
© R. I . C.Publ i cat i ons The lesson (Pages 124 and 125) •f orr evi ew pur posesonl y• Read the Jack and Jill nursery rhyme on the worksheet.
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Students answer questions about the nursery rhyme and discuss their answers with the class. Students write a description of a fictional character.
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Students describe their fictional character to their group, who must guess who it is.
Answers Teacher check
Additional activities
In groups, students choose a fairytale and act out a scene from it, each person explaining who he/she is and what his/ her character is like. Read poems about different characters to the class; for example, Mother Christmas’s demand by Andrea Shavick. TALKING AND LISTENING
A pail of water they had none, and Jill began to cry. ‘My crown got broke’, said Prince Jack, ‘and my bucket’s dry!’
Frien d or foe? I hav ear a Pook re an y d Since is his na special pet, h e ’s co me. it’s n me ever been into my li the s We p ame. fe, la we ta y togeth e lk I hav for hou r every da rs an e to s y, d for h n im to eak him hours. in the have his s See, howe house M rs. she d um is no t o She’d esn’t kno aware of w h and t make me he’s the im, hat w r ould get rid of e. not b h He’s e fair im, s ! healt o concern h, ed ab he sa out m y y He sa s I should y I won s I should eat more . ’t fit throu be so plu gh th Yes, e doo mp that my fr r. iend he sa ca y to be s that he res a lot f s w My fr ith me u elects, or me, iend n and p til the en d, et T-R ex.
‘So, stop your sniffling, let’s go up, cook needs water at ten.’ So Jack and Jill went up the hill, but did they row again?
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The class can discuss a well-known story; for example, Goldilocks. Discuss with the class what the characters may have been like – Daddy Bear, Mummy Bear, Baby Bear, Goldilocks.
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Did Jack go tumbling down the slope, and all because of Jill? Did he hang on her ponytail, and pull her down the hill?
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Have a class discussion about some nursery rhymes and the characters in them; for example, Little Bo Peep – What was she like? How did she lose her sheep? Little Miss Muffet – What was she like? (arachnophobic!) and so on.
When they had made their bucket full, and were on their way back, Did Jill stick out her foot and say, ‘Oh! Do be careful, Jack!’
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