YEAR 3 READING "THE TOWN MOUSE AND THE COUNTRY MOUSE"

Story: The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse

The reading and writing targets that we are going to work with this story are:

Text level word

Pupils should be able to:

·         Write character profiles, for example simple descriptions or posters, using key words or phrases that describe the characters in the text.

·         Understand the distinction between fact and fiction, and use the terms fact, fiction and non fiction appropriately.

Sentence level work

Pupils should be able to:

·         Explore the function of verbs:

·         Notice that sentences cannot make sense without them

·         Collect examples for their own reading

·         Be aware of verb tenses and identify present tense and past tense

Word level work

Pupils should be able to:

·         Revise the common spelling patterns for each of the long vowel phonemes.

·         Read new word for topic work.

SEQUENCE OF ACTIVITIES TO WORK WITH THE STORY

Pre-reading activities

1)      Predicting. This activity is designed to get the children interested about the story, to activate prior knowledge, to review vocabulary and to give them an opportunity to talk, sharing their opinions and ideas with their partners. The teacher will guide and encourage them to talk, asking them questions. He will use the cover and the title of the book to make predictions.

-           What can you see in the picture?

-          What are the mice wearing?

-          Who do you think is the country mouse and who is the town mouse? Why?

1)      Fast word reading game. This activity is designed specifically to review some vocabulary that appears in the story, which they may have already known.

The teacher will use some words cards, with following words:

Mice    countryside    town    cup of tea     cow    noisy    goose    cup of coffee     fire engine

The teacher will turn over a card very quickly, and the children call out the word they read. The children will have to look and listen carefully and to say the word that is on the card.

During- reading activities:

At this stage, the children may be ready to read silently or in their own, so they develop confidence and independence.  However, it is also important to check pronunciation and fluency, so the teacher will ask individual pupils to read a little aloud. For example, each pupil will read one page.

Make collections of words:  in this case, the children will read the story with the aim of look for groups of words. They will have to underline words that:

-          Have “th” at the beginning, the middle or the end of the word.

For example other, thought, things, further, than.

-          Words that finish in –ed.

For example lived, invited, walked, scared, shouted, stayed.

After underline the words, they will share their opinions with a partner, and then they will write in their own notebooks. Also, the teacher will encourage them to think of more words with these patterns, that they can add in their notebooks. 

After reading activities

1)      Substituion game.

Group work and  Independent work

The teacher will give each group of children words or sentence halves on separate cards, for example, of the following sentences:

“Once upon a time, there were two little mice”

“One day the Country Mouse invited the Town Mouse to come and stay”

“The Town Mouse thought the Country Mouse lived in a strange place”

The children, in groups, will have to make phrases using the words on these cards.

They have to make phrases that should be true ones, false ones or silly ones.

After that, they will read them to a partner. Then, they will write the phrases on their notebooks. 

1)      Description of characters

Whole group and individual work

-          The teacher will stick on the board a picture of the Country Mouse and another of the Town Mouse. 

-          The teacher will write some questions next to the pictures: what is the country mouse wearing?/ where does he live?/ is he happy?... 

-          The children will answer the questions.

-          The children will write the answers in their notebooks, organizing the information into sections, for example, what the mouse looks like/where the mouse lives/what the mouse likes to do in their free time.

-          Finally, they will have written a short description of each character, the Country Mouse and the Town Mouse. 

1)      Non fiction activity: differences and similarities between urban/rural

Group work:

-          Children will do a short research about the differences and similarities between living in the countryside or in the city.

-          The teacher will hand out each group of children a mind map to help them to organize their ideas.

-          The children will have to write some short sentences for each group.

-          The children will use a Venn diagram to write the similarities and differences between the rural and urban ways of living.

-          Finally, each group will explain their opinions to the whole group.

If we want to work more with the story, children can watch the following video, so they can find more differences between rural and urban.