Cuento: MONKEY PUZZLE

MONKEY PUZZLE

• Title: Monkey Puzzle
• Author: Julia Donaldson & Axel Sheffler

• When & Where:At the English lesson. You can combine reading/writing and English vocabulary with funny activities. For example, after break time, you can sing a Welcoming Song to the children (SEE in WELCOMING SESSIONS the song: "Hello Friends" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ywIu30lqKA. After it, you can invite the children to take place at the mat, and then you can begin with the story. After it, you have to check that the children have learned the vocabulary, and after it, you can make them dance a song: "JUST DANCE KIDS- MONKEY DANCE" link to: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_p53AgGnko

•  Aims: 

- To learn characteristics of the animals

- To introduce children some different animals, like bats and spiders.

- To introduce children to emotions, like to be happy or to be sad.

- To practice writing and / or reading

- To relation particular characteristics with particular animals

- To differentiate among opposites (big/small. nose / beak...)

• Procedure: 

To tell the story, you can use the monkey and the butterfly like puppets. You can choose one child to get your star helper to pass the pages, because you will have your hands busy with both puppets. Previosly, you have to choose the vocabulary you want to teach.

After you have told the story, the children have to take their seat on their desk. In each desk (big desks for 4-6 pupils), there will be a sheet with words and drawings. The children have to choose the correct words for the correct animal, and write them in their notebooks. To make sure they have learned some new words, you are asking one by one for at least one word.

You can change every day the animal to work, so children will enjoy the lesson and learn more animals and characteristics of them.

For older children who understand more English, you can read the story and the vocabulary like the original book.

Materials:

• An illustrated Book with the story ISBN 978-0-333-72001-1
• A Soft toy: A Monkey and a little butterfly made by yourself, with a string envolving the book to play the butterfly in each page.
• Drawings of following animals: Monkey, elephant, snake, spider, parrot, frog and bat.
• Felt-tip pens or crayons
• A Star helper card
• A Workbook for each child, if they have, or if you want to make it by yourself, you can ellaborate a 3 sheet book with 3 sections: Name / Vocabulary / Free drawing /writing
• To see the complete list of materials and finished sheets, please ask for it through our e-mail.

• Age: + 4

• Variations:These depends on the age of the children and the kind of class you have got. If your children can write, you can make them write. If they are to young, you can make them only repeat.