WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT BLACK CATS?

AIMS:

·         Language: Make descriptions.

MATERIALS:

·         Students try to find themselves the information required.

DEMO SUBJECT:

·         English.

·         Topic: Halloween.

ALTERNATIVE SUBJECT:

·         History (culture different countries).

·         Vocabulary for any subject.

TIMING: 5 -10 Minutes.

PREPARATION:

·         Prepare an outline of the information you want to give your students.

PROCEDURE:

1.      The teacher will ask the following question: What do you know about black cats?

Black cat:

·       For superstitious people in some countries they are a sign of bad luck.(in others countries good luck).

·         They were considered satanic animals in the past.

·         There are loads of legends that refer to them.

·         They are mysterious.

·         Some people say that if a black cat crosses in front of you in a street you will have bad luck.

They are elegant animals and devious in their moves. In the middle ages they were hated, feared and persecuted because they were instruments that the devil used and were accused of being the favourite companions of witches. Due to their nocturnal habits they believed had relationship with the devil. This meant lots of cruelty acts to these animals.

Once the students have given an answer to the question ‘What do you know about black cats?’ the teacher will tell the following tale story:

ACTIVITY 2: The Little White Cat.

The teacher uses pictures to elicit a story from the children.

AIMS:

·         Language: To draw on the children´s language resources to tell a story.

·         Other: Wh- questions.

MATERIAL:

·         Tale.

·         Flashcards.

TIMING: 25 minutes.

PREPARATION:

1.      Find a tale.

2.      Read through the story, adapting it where necessary to suit your children.

3.   Practice the board drawings, or make flashcards if you prefer. (Board drawings have the advantage of being more flexible, as you can add to them or rub parts out).

PROCEDURE:

1.      Pre-teach any vocabulary you think necessary – for example: chimney, chimney sweep, soot, cottage, paw, blind. If you tell the story in the past tense, make sure the children recognize the past tenses of verbs like: walk, run, etc.

2.      Explain to the children that you are going to tell them a story, but that you cannot speak! You can only use pictures and mime – they must try and guess what you are trying to say. Give them the title of the story. After saying the title, the teacher will make questions to work on ‘prediction’. In this way, students will be able to understand the story and will continue working on ‘Wh questions’:

Ø  Who do you think is the main character of this tale?

Ø  What do you think the tale is about?

Ø  Where do you think the main character lives?

3.    Pup up or sketch a picture and elicit some sentences from the children. Use gestures such as nodding, shaking your head, or making a puzzled or encouraging face to correct them until you have got more or less what you want. Get one or two children to repeat the sentence.

Examples of pictures:

Source: Own Elaboration.

4.      Once the story has been told with gestures and the students have got the idea, the teacher will tell the story using his voice.

The teacher will tell the following story tale:

THE LITTLE WHITE CAT

Once upon a time, there was a little white cat. This little white cat has six brothers and sisters. They are all black and her mother and father are black. The little white cat does not know that she is white. She thinks she is black too.

The little white cat grows older and older and bigger and bigger. One day, the little white cat says, ´Do I want to be a farmer? No. Do I want to be a teacher? No. I know: I want to be a witch´s cat!´

So the little white cat says to her mum, ´Goodbye, mum! I´m going to be a witch´s cat!´

Oh, that´s nice!´ says the little white cat´s mum.

´Goodbye! Come and see us soon´.

The little white cat looks for a witch. She walks and she walks and she walks. At last she finds a witch.

´Hello witch. Have you got a cat?´

´No, I haven´t got a cat´.

´Well, I´m your cat!´ says the little white cat.

´No, you´re not! You are white. Witches have black cats. Go away!´

The poor little white cat! She is so sad! But she looks for another witch, and she walks and she walks and she walks. At last she finds another witch.

´Hello, witch. Have you got a cat?´

´No, I haven’t got a cat´

Well, I´m your cat says the little white cat.

No you are not! You are white. Witches have black cats. Go away!´

The poor little white cat! She is so sad and so hungry. She hasn´t got a job. She hasn´t got any money. She hasn´t got any food. She is so hungry and so weak. But she looks for another witch and so she walks and she walks and she walks.

At last she comes to a cottage. There is a chimney sweep sitting behind the cottage. HE is eating his lunch, sandwiches and cake.

´Hello, you are a poor little cat. What´s wrong?´

´I´m so weak, I´m so hungry. I haven´t got a job and I haven´t got any money.´

´Well, here’s a sandwich´.

´Thank you!’ says the little white cat.

The little white cat eats the sandwich and then she feels better and stronger.

Then she looks at the chimney sweep´s bag of black, black soot. She puts in her paw. She looks at her paw. It´s so black! She puts in her leg. She looks at her leg. It´s so black! She jumps into the bag and then she jumps out of the bag.

´You are so black! Now you are a little black cat!´

´Am I? Am, I a black cat? That´s good because I´m going to be a witch cat!´

You´re lucky! You´re so lucky! This is a witch´s cottage! She is sitting in the rocking chair in the front door!´

The little white cat – the little black cat – walks around the house to the front door. There is the witch sitting on her rocking chair in the sunshine. Her eyes are closed.

´Hello. Have you got a cat?´

´No, I haven´t got a cat.´

´Well, I´m your cat!´ says the little white cat.

Óh, that´s nice! Jump on my knee. Oh you are a nice little cat! ´

The witch stokes the little white car – the little black cat. Ten she says, ´What a pity, I can´t see you because I´m Blind´.

Once the story has been told, the teacher will make questions to review the ‘Wh concept’ and make sure that students have understood it (serving as a model).

COMMENTS:

·         It is fun not to speak at all, but it can be very frustrating, so be flexible.

·         Stories which include a puzzle work well, especially for older children, but any short story with a strong story line will work. There are some useful pictures and stories in Andrew Wright´s book: 1000 Pictures for Teachers to Copy.

Possible extra activities:

·         Follow-up 1: The children draw pictures of the story.

·         Follow-up 2: The children dramatize the story and perform it for another group.

·         Follow-up 3: The children write a modern version of the story.

Made by: Cristina Muñoz, Pablo Pérez.