A THOUSAND CATS
Module
Connecting with the Natural World
Unit
Animals
Programme Outline
An old couple lived alone in a nice house with a beautiful garden around it. But they were not happy because three were some unwelcome visitors in their house. The mice had been bothering the old couple for quite some time. One day, the old woman suggested keeping a cat that could not only keep them company but also help drive the mice away.
The old man set off immediately to some far away land to look for a pretty cat. He walked over the sunny hills and through the dark valleys, and finally reached a place with thousands of cats. He first set eyes on a white kitten and brought it home thinking it was the prettiest of all as he went along, he was captivated by the other beautiful cats which he found too attractive to leave. He ended up choosing all the cats and brought them home.
The old woman was amazed at the sight of thousands of cats trailing behind the old man. Wittingly, she asked the cats which was the prettiest and let them decide which one to stay. After much quarrelling, the noise died down leaving a frightened cat behind. The old couple was happy to keep this fluffy little kitten.
Key Stage Targets
To develop an ever-improving capability to use English
- to converse about feeling, interests, ideas, experiences and plans(I.D.b)
- to develop an awareness of the basic sound patterns of English and an enjoyment of imaginative texts through activities such as reciting poems and rhymes (E.D.a)
- to respond to characters and events in imaginative and other narrative text through oral, written and performative means such as making predictions and describing one’s feelings towards characters and events (E.D.b)
Communicative Functions
1. Give a simple account of things that have happened and things that people did in the past
Examples:
The old man set off to look for a cat. He climbed over the sunny hills. He walked through the dark valleys.
But every time the old man saw another lovely cat, he simply could not leave it. And he ended up choosing them all.
2. State opinions and express feelings
Examples:
I’m a brave, brave mouse.
I go marching through the house.
And I’m not afraid of anything.
I’m really fed up with the mice around the house. If we only had a cat, then I could get rid of all these mice.
Language Skills
Listening
- recognize alliterative and rhyming words in activities such as listening games
- recognize the longer vowel sounds in words
- listen for specific information
Speaking
- using appropriate intonation and stress, and vary volume, tone of voice and speed to convey intended meanings and feelings
Reading
- use visual clues, context and knowledge if the world to work out the meaning of an unknown word and a complete expression
- recognize format and language features in narrative and non-narrative texts
Writing
- develop written texts by using appropriate format and language features when writing non-narrative texts such as a description and a simple letter
Pre-viewing Activities
1. Motivate the class by asking pupils whether they are afraid of mice or not. Ask them to share how they feel about rats and mice. Brainstorm the class on what they will do to get rid of the mice around the house.
2. Introduce the characters in the story, the old couple, the cats and the rats, to the pupils. Prepare the class by going over Part I of the COPYMASTER 1 with them.
3. Introduce the following vocabulary/expressions if necessary:
unwelcome visitors, thousands of cats, the prettiest, quarrelling,
a frightened kitten
While-viewing Activity
Make sure that the pupils have the COPYMASTER 1 and pencil on their desks before viewing. In Part I, pupils are asked to find out the main ideas in the story and fill in the blanks in the worksheet. They have to watch the programme and listen for specific information.
Answers:
1. The old woman was not happy because there were many rats/mice around the house.
2. One day the old man set out to look for a cat.
3. Finally, the old man brought a thousand/thousands of cats home.
4. The name of the cat they kept was Pat.
Post-viewing Activities
1. The design of the series of task in the programme lend itself to some interesting phonics activities.
2. Part II of the COPYMASTER 2 is a simple rhyme about Pat. Confining the pupils to choose one word from the rhyme to answer each question, teachers can draw pupil’s attention to the rhyming words with the same vowel sound and final consonant. For colouring the picture and words , pupils may use a different colour for each object and its corresponding word.
Answer:
a) Pat
b) fat
c) mat
d) bat
e) rat
3. Part II of the COPYMASTER 3 includes three poems on rats and cats which are all presented in the programme. Teachers can highlight the use of end rhymes in these poems. Notice that the same end rhyme in Cats Are Everywhere has different spellings but the words sound the same.
Answers:
Nasty Rats
Mice, nice
Things, beings
A Brave Mouse
Mouse, house
Prepared, scared
Cat, fat
Anything, anything
Cats Are Everywhere
Everywhere, there, nowhere
Chair， stair， air，fair， pair
Share, unaware, care
4. Part IV of the COPYMASTER 4 & 5 is an extended writing task. Pupils are asked to imagine themselves as Pat, the fat cat and the Brave Mouse in the programme and describe their feelings and responses. After reading Pat’s little rhyme in No 1 of Part IV, pupils are encouraged to guess the reason for the disappearance of the rats in the house. Pupils can also colour the words that rhyme in the poem.
Answers:
1. Pat, fat
me, me
food, good
things beings
unhappy, unhappy
mouse, house
5. Teachers can ask the pupils to read the guiding questions in No2 of Part IV and elicit answers to the questions before they start writing the letter for the frightened mouse. After the pupils have finished writing the letter, teachers can ask the pupils to read out their letters to the class. Teachers may provide the suggested letter to the class and ask them to colour the rhyming words. Notice the effect of repetition of words and word patterns in the lines.
Possible answers:
2.
Follow-up Activity
To reinforce the mastery of the same long vowel sound as presented in the poem Cats Are Everywhere, another interesting story about animals entitled A Man And A hare is included in Part V of the COPYMASTER 6. This cloze passage is a simple story that embodies a repetition of the same vowel sound. Notice that the rhyming words do not only appear as end rhymes but are scattered throughout the poem. Pupils are encouraged to work in pairs to sound out the meaning and spelling of the missing words. After the pupils have completed the task, teachers can ask pupils to read out the story to the class. Then the class can read the single-word answers aloud for further practice of reading the long vowel sound. Once again, these words sound the same but have different spellings.
Answers:
Once upon a time, there was a man whose head was nearly bare.
He spent a lot of time to care about his hair.
A hare ran quickly and crashed into his chair.
He caught the unlucky hare.
He ate the hare and his hair grew longer than the chair.
Next day, he wanted to have another hare.
So he sat on the chair eating his pear
He tried to stare everywhere.
Looking for another hare.
COPYMASTER I
A Thousand Cats
Part I
Cats and Rats
The old man and the old woman lived alone in a nice house with a beautiful garden around it.
But they were not happy. Do you know why?
Listen to the story and complete the following.
1. The old woman was not happy because there were many around the house.
2. One day, the old man set out to look for a .
3. Finally, the old man brought home.
4. The name of the cat they kept was .
COPYMASTER 2
A Thousand Cats
Part II
A Cat and a Rat
1. Look at the picture of a cat and a rat, and then read the rhyme about the animals.
2. Answer the following questions about the rhyme you have read. Choose one word from the rhyme to answer each question.
a) What is the name of the cat? ______
b) How does the cat look like? ______
c) Where is the cat sitting? ______
d) What is the cat holding? ______
e) What is the cat going hit? ______
3. Read the words in your answers. Do these words rhyme with each other?
Colour the rhyming words and the objects in the picture.
COPYMASTER 3
A Thousand Cats
Part III
Words and Rhyme
Read the following poems and colour the words that rhyme at the end of each line.
Nasty Rats
Those rats and mice,
My, my, they’re not nice.
They eat my food and break my things.
They’re nasty, nasty beings.
A Brave Mouse
I’m a brave, brave mouse.
I go marching through the house.
And I’m not afraid of anything.
For danger I’m prepared,
And never, never scared.
No, I’m not afraid of anything.
“What about a cat? ”
“What - a cat? ”
“ Yes, a cat!
Big and fat. ”
“ Well, except for a cat,
I’m not afraid of anything.”
Cats Are Everywhere
Cats are everywhere.
On the table, on the chair.
Under the bed, on the stair,
down on the floor, up in the air.
They are here, they are there.
They jump at you from nowhere.
They will trip you unaware.
Whatever you have, they want a share.
That’s not what I would call fair.
So though they say I’ve a nice pair.
You can have them for all I care.
COPYMASTER 4
A Thousand Cats
Part IV
A Letter from Pat
Do you remember where Pat came from?
Do you still remember the thousands of cats living in the valley?
Pat has stayed with the old man and the old woman for three months. It is the first time for Pat to live in a house. She has just written a better to her friends.
1. Read Pat’s little rhyme and colour the words that rhyme.
COPYMASTER 5
A Thousand Cats
A letter from the Brave Mouse
2. Write a letter for the brave mouse.
You may find the following questions useful.
a) Do you remember the brave mouse and the other mice living in the house?
b) How did they enjoy themselves before Pat came to the house?
c) What happened to them after Pat came to the house?
d) How did they feel?
e) Were they still around the house/
COPYMASTER 6
A Thousand Cats
Part V
A Man and A Hare
This is a story about a man and a hare. Work in pairs and fill in the blanks with words that rhyme with “hare” and “bare”
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