STAND-UP, SIT DOWN

Henk van Oort

FOCUS: Listening, speaking.

AGE: 8 - 11.

DURATION: 45 minutes.

MATERIALS: Some dressing up material or cards with animal names.

PREPARATION: Arrange some dressing up material or write cards. Alternatively use sticky yellow papers.

RATIONALE: Listening skills are practised by involving pupils in a story. Humoristic effects will heighten attention.

PROCEDURE:
Tell your pupils that you are going to read a story in which ten animals play a role. Ten pupils will represent these animals by either having the name of the animal on a card round their necks, or a sticky yellow paper on the chest, or by being dressed up as this animal.

The ten animals are: a lion, a mouse, an elephant, a rhino, a giraffe, a zebra, a deer, a parrot, an antelope, a monkey.

Mention the names of the 10 animals. Show pictures of them if necessary. Give the names to ten pupils who remain sitting at their desks. Read out the story below. When the name of an animal is mentioned the pupil with that name quickly stands up and immediately sits down again. .
Read the story more than once with different sets of pupils.

One day a lion went for a walk in the forest. He was a strong lion. Suddenly he saw a mouse. The lion caught the mouse. The lion said: 'I will eat you'. The mouse said: No, lion, I will help you another time'. The lion let the mouse go. After an hour the lion fell in a trap. He was covered with a big net. The lion cried: 'Help, help'. All animals heard the lion shout. The elephant came to look, but he could not help the lion. The rhino came, and asked the elephant: 'What has happened?' But neither the rhino nor the elephant could help the lion. Then the giraffe came with his long neck. The lion shouted: Help, giraffe!'. But the giraffe could not help. Then the zebra and the deer came. The zebra said: 'What must we do? The deer didn't know. The parrot, theantelope and the monkey came and looked at the lion. The parrot said: 'What must we do? The lion shouted: Help parrot! But the elephant, the rhino, the giraffe, the zebra, the deer , the parro t, the antelope, themonkey couldn't help the lion.

Then the mouse came. With his sharp teeth he cut the net and the lion was freed. The lion said: 'Thank you very much, mouse!'

EXTENSION: When the pupils have heard the text several times, the animals, not you as the teacher, say their texts aloud.