Lesson 3: Language for Describing

Text: The Peacock and Juno

Moral/Value: Each person has his or her own strengths, abilities and
talents
Classroom Bridge: Learning styles
Skills Focus: Listening / writing
Objective: Students will be able to talk about who they are in terms of
their skills and abilities and find things in common with each other.
Stage/Ti
me
Engage
10 mins.
Study /
Activate
30 mins.

Study /
Activate
40 mins.

Instructions

Materials

Introduction
Welcome Ss. to class and ask them about their day.
Have Ss. discuss in groups of 3 what their favourite animal
is and why? Then elicit answers from the class.
Listening Comprehension (pre listening / listening task /
post listening)
Introduce pictures of animals (eagle, nightingale, ox, fish,
cat, rooster, peacock) from the story and elicit answers
from Ss. about what they think that animal is known for or
good at. Tell Ss. they are going to hear a story with all of
the animals from the pictures. Ask Ss. what they think the
story is going to be about.
Have the following questions written on the board. 1) Who
are the main characters? 2) Which animals are in this
story? 3) What is each animal good at in the story? Have
three Ss. read the questions aloud for the class. Then read
Ss. the fable.
Have the Ss. discuss in pairs who the main characters of
the story are and what the strengths of each animal are by
answering the questions on the board.
Vocabulary
Give Ss. the vocabulary check sheet and have them
complete the left column.
Have Ss. complete the picture matching activity.
Have Ss. complete the pronunciation chart as they listen to
the T. give the correct pronunciation of each word.
Split the Ss. into groups of 3 or 4. Give each group a stack
of taboo cards. Ss. must take turns selecting a card and
trying to get their group members to guess which
vocabulary word is on the card without actually saying the
word. In order to guess a word, Ss. must grab the realia
(can be anything, a ball or hacky sack or eraser) in the
middle of the table. If their guess is incorrect, they must
put the realia back and let someone else take a turn. If
they are correct, then they get a point. The person with
the most points at the end of the game wins.

black
board

Animal
pictures

Vocabular
y check
sheet
Picture
matching
worksheet
Pronunciat
ion chart
Taboo
cards

Study /
Activate
50 mins.

Evaluate
35 mins.

Language Structure / Grammar

Present students with the present simple tense using a
timeline on the board. Write the structure of the present
simple tense, using I/he/she/James + can [verb] + modifier
(I can sing well, James can dance very well), on the board
for Ss. to see. Tell Ss. that the present simple is used to
talk about who you are (skills and abilities) and what you
can/cant do. Highlight the negation of can/cant to Ss.
Split Ss. into groups of three and have them ask and
discuss with each other three things that they can and
cant do. Then have Ss. try to guess what they think the
Ss. in the other groups might be good at. Then elicit some
answers from Ss. (eg. Ask a S. what they can do. Then ask
another S. what they think other Ss. can do. Check with
the second S. to see if the first one is right.)
Explain to Ss. the following structures. I can also Can
you? and I can/cant but I cant/can (I can also
sing. Can you sing? I cant sing but I can dance.)
Split Ss. into groups of 5 or 6. Explain to Ss. that they are
going to play a fluency game. Each group must choose a S.
to start. That S. begins by saying I can (eg. draw).
Then the S. should point to another S. and repeat the
question form of their statement. (e.g. can you draw?).
The S. that is chosen should respond with either two
answers. If they can do the action then they should say I
can draw. I can also (S. chooses another action they can
do. E.g. I can also cook). Then that S. selects another S.
and continues the chant. (Can you cook?). However, if
they cannot do the action then they should say I cant
draw but I can cook. Can you cook? (Chooses another S.
and the chant continues). If a Ss. is unable to answer
quickly enough or says the wrong thing, then they loose
one of two lives. As soon as a Ss. looses two lives they
loose one point and get their lives back. At the end the Ss.
with the least amount of points lost in each group wins the
activity.
Explain to Ss. that they are going to do a mingle. Give Ss.
the mingle worksheet and have them answer the first
question by themselves. Then read through the remaining
questions with the Ss. having Ss. answer the rest of the
questions during the mingle.
Speaking or Writing the main objective in the
lesson
Have Ss. work individually to write a paragraph about their
own skills and abilities in relation to others using the
information they have recorded from the mingle activity
above. The paragraph must contain 3 things they can do, 3
things they cant do and 3 things some of their classmates
can do as well. Ss. must use at least 2 similes in the
paragraph as well. Write all objectives for the paragraph
on the board for Ss. reference.
Split Ss. into pairs and have them proofread each other
paragraphs. Tell Ss. they are looking for errors concerning

Black
board

Mingle
worksheet

Notebooks

the simple present structures they have just learned.

Select 4 or 5 students to read their paragraphs out loud to
the class.

Reflect
15 mins.

Reflection or Assessment
Have Ss. write in their journals to end the lesson. The Ss.
should answer the following questions written on the
board.
Do you think everyone has the same skills and abilities?
Why or why not?
Do you think that students learn in different ways? How do
you learn through pictures, listening, doing things, etc.?
How can people with different skills and abilities work
together?
What skills and abilities do you see in your own Ss.?
How do you think your own Ss. learn?

Journals

Resources & Materials (Task Cut Outs, TCOs, Handouts,

etc.)

Juno and the Peacock

The peacock was very unhappy because he did not have a beautiful voice
like the nightingale. He complained to his friend Juno about it. He said, the
nightingales song is the envy of all the birds, but when I try to sing everyone
laughs at me. Juno tried to comfort him by saying its true you dont have a nice
voice but you are more beautiful than all the other animals. Your neck shines like
an emerald. Your tail is like a fan filled with jewels. But these words did not make
the peacock feel any better. He said to Juno, being beautiful isnt important if
you have an ugly voice like mine. Juno was a bit stern when she replied,
Everyone has different gifts. You are beautiful. The eagle can see everything.
The nightingale has a beautiful song. The ox is strong and the fish can swim. The
rabbit is fast and the rooster can tell the time. Everyone has their own gift but
you are the only one who is dissatisfied. You must stop complaining. If you were
given this wish, you would find something else to complain about.

Handout Vocabulary
A. Check the box. Do you know these words?
Vocabulary words

Before the lesson

Yes
jewel
sing

No

After the lesson

Yes

No

dance
draw
ride a bike
play an instrument
shine
voice

B. Match the following words with their pictures:

Vocabulary words

Pictures

voice H
sing ___
dance ___

A.

B.

C.

draw ___
ride a bike ___
play an instrument

D.

E.

G.

H.

F.

___
jewel ___
shine ___

C. Listen to your teacher say these words. Write the pronunciation and practice
saying the words.

Words

Pronunciation

jewel

je wel

sing
dance
draw

shine

voice

sing

dance

draw

ride a
bike

play an
instrume
nt

jewel

ride a bike

play an instrument
voice
shine

Taboo cards

D.

Mingle Questions
Name: _________________

1) What are three things that you can do?

Example I can sing very well.

________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________
2) Find three classmates who can also do the same
things?
Example James can also sing very well.

________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________
3) Find three classmates who cant do the same things?
Ask them what they can do.
Example Sarah cant sing very well but she can dance.

________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________

Answer Keys
Words

Pronunciation

jewel

je

wel
sing
dance
draw
ride a bike

sing
dance
draw
ride a bike
play an instrument

play an

shine

shine

voice

voice

Vocabulary words

in stru ment

Pictures

voice H
sing G
dance A

A.

B.

C.

draw B
ride a bike E
play an instrument

D.

E.

G.

H.

D
jewel C
shine F

F.

Bibliography
N/A