Unit 4
“Heeelp!” he cried as he fell towards the ground. CRASH! His beautiful shell broke into little pieces. A flock of birds flew down to help him. They picked up the pieces and glued them together. Tortoise thanked them for helping him. Tortoise’s shell was not smooth any more. It was rough and cracked. If you look at a tortoise today, you can still see the cracks.
1 Why was Tortoise proud of his shell? 2 Who invited Tortoise to a party? 3 What happened when Tortoise jumped off the cliff? 4 How many different birds spoke to Tortoise? What kind of birds were they? 5 How did the birds help Tortoise? 6 Which of these words can be used to describe Tortoise?
boastful
brave
vain
clever
helpful
7 How do you think Tortoise felt at the end of the story? a) He was proud of his new shell. b) He was grateful to the birds. c) He was angry with the birds. 8 Do you try to help your friends? In what way? Story grammar Most stories are made up of the following: Setting: Where the story takes place. Characters: Who takes part in the story. Plot: What happens in the story.
• Comprehension: Question 6 introduces the idea of character . Help students to find evidence in the story which reveals Tortoise’s character, e.g. ask What makes you think Tortoise is boastful? • Question 8 can lead into a discussion of the lesson to be learnt from this story, e.g. Don’t try to be like other people. / Help your friends. • Introduce the idea of purpose . For what purpose do people tell stories: to inform, to persuade, to entertain?
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