The Story of the Chinese Zodiac Signs
Designer:
Lu, Bing-Ren（Ben）
Text
type: Narrative
Once
upon a time, the Jade Emperor wanted to choose twelve animals to oversee the
hours of the day. He decided to hold a racing contest to select the twelve
fastest animals. All the animals were excited and well prepared to take part in
this great event, including the cat and the rat. Back then they were very good
friends, so the cat asked the rat to wake him up before the contest. The rat
promised, but he totally forgot the cat’s request when the race started.
“Set. Ready. Go!” The rat thought that the
ox was the fastest, so he hitched a ride and eventually rushed across the
finishing line for the first place. The ox finished second, followed by the
tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, goat, monkey, rooster, dog and the boar.
That will be the sequence of the twelve animal signs.
After
the arrangement, the cat was so angry that he regarded the rat as an enemy.
Since then, the rat will run away whenever he sees the cat. （172 words）
Target group: Fifth graders and
higher
Preteach vocabularies: emperor,
contest, promise, sequence, enemy
Teaching Strategies：
Into, Through ＆ Beyond：Integrating
Listening, Speaking, Reading and Writing
I. Into Activities：Before students reading a text
Purpose：
＊ Develop background knowledge
to understand the text
＊ Expand vocabulary knowledge
＊ Make connections between the
theme and the reading context
II. Through Activities：While students reading
a text
Purpose：
＊ Scaffold the reading and
support students as they read
＊ Develop
comprehension skills
＊ Develop
questioning skills
III. Beyond Activities：After students reading
a text
Purpose：
＊ Apply
insights and learning to new texts or situations
＊ Practice
language learned
＊ Respond to
the text orally and in writing
Teaching Activities：
I. Into Activities：Before
students reading a text
【One】K-W-L Chart
Purpose：To have students share what they
have already known about a subject and to ask questions they would like to
know.
Procedure：
Know
|
Want to know
|
Learned
|
What do you know about rats？
|
What do you want to know about rats？
|
What did you learn about rats？
|
＊ rodents, parasites
＊ sharp teeth, long
tail
＊ nibble, squeak
＊ smart, cunning,
sly
＊ pest, plague
|
＊ average weight
＊ life span
＊ genres of the mice
family
＊ how to spread
disease
＊ natural enemies
|
Record “Want to know” column questions in the “Learned” column.
Unanswered questions can become the focus of follow-up lessons.
|
We have another twelve animals to discuss about, so grouping
students and giving them different topics is a suitable way to continue this
activity, depending on your schedule.
【Two】Roundtable（Oral / Written）
Purpose：To have students generate as many facts and ideas about a
topic as they can. Students need to listen carefully to others in their group
so that they do not repeat something someone already said.
Procedure：
1. Divide the students into groups of 4 or 5.
2. Give each table group one sheet of paper.
3. Teacher writes or names the topic on the board.（e.g. Things monkeys can do）
4. The first student writes something he/she knows about the topic
on the paper and passes it to the next student clock wisely.
5. Students continue to take turns writing something a monkey can
do until the teacher calls time.
6. Ask one student from each group to read what is on the group
list. Latter groups cannot repeat what have already mentioned.
7. Teacher lists these facts or words on the board or butcher
paper.
【Three】Reading the Picture
Purpose：To have students think about the words and concepts they might
find in the story.（Predicting,
guessing.）
Procedure：
1. Teacher shows pictures of the 13 animals（including the cat）. Ask students to tell you everything they can about these animals
and what they are doing.
2. Ask them to use synonyms
for the main concepts.（e.g. He is sleeping/
dozing/ snoring/ napping/ taking a rest. etc.）
3. For higher-level students, teacher can let them try vocabulary climes（tiny, small, medium, big, huge, enormous）or comparatives/superlatives.
4. Teacher makes a web of the students’ comments on the
blackboard.
II. Through Activities：While
students reading a text
【Four】Reciprocal Reading
Purpose：To teach students to focus intently
on what they are reading by designing and asking questions and summaries. Students must
listen and teach each other the material in turns.
Procedure：
1. Arrange the class into groups of 4 or
5. One student in the group assumes the role of “Leader” and reads the paragraph out loud to
the group. The group follows along.
2. The “Leader” then asks a member of the group a
question about the text.
3. The “Leader” then asks a member of the group to
summarize the text.
4. The “Leader” then asks members of the group if they need
clarification on any words in the text.
5. The “Leader” then asks members of the group to predict what
will happen next.
6. The next student in the group assumes the role of “Leader”.
【Example】：
Leader：Why did the Jade Emperor decide to hold a racing contest？
Leader：Please summarize this paragraph in your own words.
Leader: Is there anything you want to ask me about？
Leader：Can you predict what will happen next？
【Stages】
1. Fact question（questions related to the text）
2. Clarifying question（teacher’s role：ask three questions then me）
3. Ask to summarize
4. Predict（what will happen next）
【Five】Echo Reading
Purpose：To guide students to read aloud
favorite portions of a text in a random fashion.
Procedure：
1. Teacher reads the story to the students.
2. Students highlight, phrase, or
sentences that they want to read aloud.
3. Students read aloud their favorite
portions of the article in turns.
4. Reading
is done randomly with no set order.
5. Passages can be reread by the same or
different individuals.
【Example】：
□ The Jade Emperor wanted to choose twelve animals
to oversee the hours of the day.
□ He decided to
hold a racing contest to select the twelve fastest animals.
□ The rat
promised, but he totally forgot the cat’s request when the race started.
□ “Set. Ready. Go!” Started the racing contest.
□ The rat hitched a ride and rushed across the finishing line
for the first place.
□ That will be the sequence of the twelve animal signs.
□ After the arrangement, the cat was so angry that he
regarded the rat as an enemy.
□ Since then, the rat will run away whenever he sees the
cat.
【Six】Read, Retell and Summarize
Purpose：Students reread a part of the story
and underline key words. They retell the story from the key words and write a
summary.
Procedure：
1. Read the story aloud to the students.
2. Ask students to underline key words
as you read them aloud.
3. Ask students to make a list of the
key words.
4. In pairs, students retell the story to
their partner using the key words to remember the story.
5. Advanced students can write a summary
of the story from the key words.
【Example】：
Underline the key words：
Once
upon a time, the Jade Emperor wanted to choose twelve animals to oversee the hours of the
day. He decided to hold a racing
contest to select the twelve fastest
animals. All the animals were excited and well prepared to take part in this great event, including
the cat and the rat. Back then they were very good friends, so the cat asked the
rat to wake him up before the contest. The rat promised, but he totally forgot the cat’s request when the race
started.
“Set.
Ready. Go!” The rat thought
that the ox was the fastest, so he hitched
a ride and eventually rushed across
the finishing line for the first
place. The ox finished second, followed
by the tiger, rabbit, dragon,
snake, horse, goat, monkey, rooster, dog and the boar. That will be the sequence of the twelve animal signs.
After
the arrangement, the cat was so angry that he regarded the rat as an enemy. Since then, the
rat will run away whenever he sees the cat.
III. Beyond Activities：After
students reading a text
【Seven】Jigsaw Reading / Strip Story
Purpose：Students work with the sentences
from the story and put them in order. Teacher assists students in practicing
their sequencing skills.
Procedure：
1. Teacher can prepare
sentence strips by copying sentences from the story and leaving room for them
to be cut into strips.
2. Divide the strips
equally among the students. Each group should have 5 or 6 strips.
3. Groups should
exchange sentence strips and reorder the strips and put them down on the table.
4. A representative
from each group reads aloud the reordered story to the class. Then each group
should check it against the original story.
【Example】：
□ The rat hitched a ride and rushed across the
finishing line for the first place.
□ After the
arrangement, the cat was so angry that he regarded the rat as an enemy.
□ He decided to
hold a racing contest to select the twelve fastest animals.
□ Since then, the rat will run away whenever he sees the
cat.
□ The
Jade Emperor wanted to choose twelve animals to oversee the hours of the day.
□ “Set. Ready. Go!”
□ The rat promised, but he totally forgot the cat’s
request when the race started.
□ That will be the sequence of the twelve animal signs.
【Eight】Fortune Teller
Purpose：Students design Fortune Tellers to
practice vocabulary and comprehension questions from the story.
Procedure：
1. How to make a
Fortune Teller：
（1）
On the outside flaps they write new
vocabulary words from the story that they want to learn.
（2）
On the inside flaps they write the numbers 1~8. One number in
each triangle.
（3）
Students open the triangles and write comprehension questions
about the story.
2. Each student with
the Fortune Teller asks a partner to
（1） Pick a word.（the student then spells the word as he moves the Fortune
Teller）
（2） Pick a number.（the student then counts as he moves the Fortune Teller）
（3） Pick another number.（the student then opens the triangle with that number and asks
the second student the question written there）
（4） The second student
answers the question.
3. Students trade
places.
【Example】
Outside flap：The Jade Emperor, Rat, Cat, Ox
Comprehension questions：
＊ Why the Jade Emperor decided to hold a racing contest？
＊ Why didn’t the rat
wake the cat up？
＊ Why did the rat
hitch a ride on the ox’s back？
＊ Why will the rats
run away whenever they see the cats？
【Nine】Character Sociogram
Purpose：Students make a graphic reflecting
the relationship of a main character with other characters in story. This
strategy provides students dialogue practice and the use of colloquial
language.
Procedure：
1. Write the names of
characters in separate boxes.
2. On arrows drawn
between the boxes, write a word or two that describes the relationship or
feelings between the two characters.
3. Next write a
question one character asks the other（e.g. Cat to Rat：Why didn’t you wake me up？）
4. Next that character
answers the question（e.g. Rat to Cat：I just forgot.）
5. Add other characters
and boxes if appropriate.
【Example】：
Who—Who made the decision? Who
can play in the contest?
What—A racing contest to select
the twelve fastest animals to oversee the hours.
When—Once upon a time, in the
ancient times.
Where—In the animal’s kingdom.
Why—The rat didn’t wake up the
cat.
How—Whenever the rat sees the
cat, it will run away.
Sociogram
VENN Diagram
Reading Comprehension
□ Multiple Choice：
（B）1.In the beginning, the cat and
the rat were（A）enemies（B）friends（C）neighbors（D）brothers.
（D）2. What did the cat ask the rat
to do?（A）hitch a ride（B）oversee the hours（C）run away（D）wake him up.
（C）3.Who runs the ninth place？（A）ox（B）goat（C）monkey（D）rooster
（A）4.For whom do you think the rat
have to thank?（A）ox（B）cat（C）the jade emperor（D）boar.
（D）5.In your opinion,
which animal does not exist？（A）cat（B）snake（C）boar（D）dragon.
□ Q&A：
＊ Do you think it’s a good idea to choose the 12 fastest
animals to oversee the hours of a day and a year？
＊ If you were Rat, would you wake Cat up？
＊ If you were Ox, would you give Rat a ride and let him win
the race？
＊ If you were Cat, how do you feel when Rat betrayed
you？
＊ If you were Cat,
would you forgive Rat？
＊ Can you apply 12 Taiwan’s aboriginal animals to represent the
horoscopes？
＊ How will you retell
this story？
□ Other Stories：Animal Olympics，Three Little Pigs，A Porcupine Named Fluffy，The Leopard’s
Drum，Babe，Animal Farm，Jungle Book
□ Summary
Into
|
K-W-L
Chart—Know, Want to know, Learned
|
Roundtable—Oral
or written
|
|
Reading
the picture—Predict, Synonym, Collocation, Word climes
|
|
Through
|
Reciprocal
reading—Fact, Clarification, Summary, Prediction
|
Echo
reading—Favorite choice, Read/Think aloud, Share
|
|
Read,
retell and summarize
|
|
Beyond
|
Jigsaw
reading/ Strip story
|
Fortune
teller
|
|
Character
sociogram and Venn diagram
|
□ Other interactive
activities
Find
someone who
Lend
me your ears / Following instructions
IGA
games—Information Gap Activities（Puzzles,
Flowchart, Crosswords, etc.）
Barrier
tasks—Cloze tests, Find the differences
Treasure
box—In my box there’s someone who can…
Survey,
interview, ranking
Group Competition—Different-level
grouping，boys versus girls
Thanks for sharing such a complete lesson plan.
回覆刪除You can also find the corresponding worksheet, powerpoint and other teaching resources as well.
回覆刪除