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Reading funRead the following dialogue with a partner and enjoy it!

Little Red Riding Hood“Once upon a time there was a little girl called Little Yellow Riding Hood”.“No! Red Riding Hood!”

“Oh, yes, of course, Red Riding Hood. Well, one day her mother called and said: ‘Little Green Riding Hood...’”“Red!”“Sorry! Red. Now, my child, go to Aunt Mary and take her these potatoes.”“No! It doesn’t go like that! Go to Grandma and take her these cakes!”“All right. So the little girl went off and in the wood she met a giraffe...”“What a mess you’re making of it! It was a wolf...A wolf.”“And the wolf said: ‘What’s six times eight?’”“No! No! The wolf asked her where she was going.”“So he did. And then little Black Riding Hood replied - ““Red! Red! Red!”“She replied: ‘I’m going to the market to buy some tomatoes.’”“No she didn’t. She said ‘I’m going to my grandma who is sick, but I’ve lost my way.’”“Of course! And the horse said-”“What horse? It was a wolf.”“So it was. And this is what it said: ‘Take the 75 bus, get out at the main square, turn right

“Grandpa, you’re terrible at telling stories. You get them all wrong. But all the same I wouldn’t mind some chewing gum.”“All right. Here is some money.”And the old man turned back to his newspaper.

FablesHere are three of Aesop’s fables for you to enjoy. Find the lesson in each one.

The old hound

became too old to continue to play his part as in his younger days.One day, when hunting a wild boar, he seized the creature by the ear, but not having

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At that moment his master rode up and, seeing what had happened, severely scolded the dog, and would have beaten him had he not sadly cried:“Spare your old servant! Although my heart is willing, my limbs are feeble. Remember what I was rather than what I am now.”

The donkey, the fox and the lion

The donkey and the fox entered into partnership together to protect each other, and swore eternal friendship. Soon after, they went hunting, but before they had gone far a lion crossed their path.

with this lion and get him to be kind to us.”So saying, he went boldly up to the lion and offered to help him trap the donkey, if his own life should be spared.The lion was quite willing to promise this, whereupon the fox induced the donkey to follow him to a deep pit, into which he managed to push him.As soon as the lion saw that the donkey was trapped, he sprang upon the fox and made a meal of him, leaving the donkey to be eaten at his leisure.

The crow and the borrowed plumes

A crow once found some peacock feathers. Wishing to make himself beautiful, he stuck them in among his own feathers and tried to pass himself off as a peacock. But the peacocks recognised him at once and they drove him from their midst, pulling out the false feathers as they did so. The poor crow went back to his own kind. The other crows, however, were so disgusted with his behaviour that they also refused to let him stay with them. Therefore, even today, the crow is a lonely bird.

The hungry reader

I was always a hungry reader - in more ways than one. I gobbled up stories and never had

were eating. Reading about the Tea Party in Alice in Wonderland, I pleaded for a cup of tea, bread and butter, and treacle. (Treacle, I guessed, was something like syrup.) My

habits!

In Treasure Island

of that apple were both delicious.

However, when Robin Hood and his Merry Men dined on venison washed down with

Coke. A dish of maize porridge took the place of Indian maize when, sitting cross-legged under our living room lamp, I devoured The Song of Hiawatha. Our neighbourhood grocer never sold - nor had we money to buy - anything like the rich feasts at King Arthur’s Round Table. Instead of the roast goose in A Christmas Carol, I gnawed a chicken leg. The pages of Winnie-the-Poohcookbook held no recipe for the nectar and ambrosia of Greek mythology; I settled for corn

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In time, to sighs of relief from my parents, I lost the habit of eating what I read about, but never my hunger for reading. I think the stories we love as children stay with us, somewhere in our hearts, to feed our imaginations. We never outgrow our need for them, any more than we outgrow our need for food. But, to me, the books I love are better than a feast.

Lloyd AlexanderQuestions

Are you a hungry reader?Have you read any of the stories mentioned? They are each and every one stories that every child should read.Do you know who wrote ‘A Christmas Carol’?Start making a list of all your favourite stories. The more you read the more you will love it and schoolwork and learning will become easier, too.Happy reading!

David’s testimony

Have you ever wished you could talk to a character from the Bible? There are lots of people

zoo. I’m sure Esther would have some interesting stories to tell about being the queen in the most powerful empire on earth. Martha would talk excitedly about seeing her brother raised from the dead, and blind Bartimaeus would welcome the opportunity to give God the glory for the miracle of his sight. There are other people I’d like to meet, too. One is the boy who gave his lunch to Jesus. We don’t know his name, so we’ll call him David just so we can make his story more personal.

parts of speech. Then use your own words to complete the story.

Noun: person place, or thing - George, Hawaii, or cat

Adverb: describes a verb and often ends in ‘ly’ - beautifully, nicely, or well.

5. Past tense verb 6. -ing verb 7. Plural noun 8. Plural noun

‘Hi there! My name is David. I guess I’m best known (or known only) as the boy who gave his lunch to Jesus. That’s what I’m here to 1. about today. I was 2 years old when this took place. I was really 3 when I saw the crowd running for the 4 . It’s so hot in the desert. Then I 5 someone say that Jesus would be there soon. I wanted to leave right then, but my mother insisted on 6 . She put in two 7 8 . Yum! I got to the desert and forgot all about it. I was too interested in seeing and hearing Jesus. By evening I remembered my 9 . I was just getting ready to 10 when one of Jesus’ friends asked for

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my meal. I didn’t know about that. My mom would be pretty 11 if she knew I gave my lunch away. But they said Jesus needed it, so I thought it was important. What an awesome miracle I saw then. I’m glad I gave my lunch to Jesus.

Indirect speechImagine that your teacher has asked you to take this message. You would probably say something like this: Good morning, Mrs Atkins. Mrs Wright asked if she could have her register back, please. Notice that, although you would have delivered the message correctly, you would not have used exactly the same words. Explain why not.

When we report what someone has said, we have to change some of the words. (How would the message have sounded if you had said, ‘Good morning, Mrs Atkins. Mrs Wright asked if I could have my register back.’) When we repeat what someone else has said, we are using indirect speech. This is also called reported speech.

Look at the following examples, paying particular attention to the words in darker print:a. ‘I can’t come to your house today,’ said James.

James said that he couldn’t come to my house that day.b. ‘I hear Michelle has been saying nice things about me,’ said Jean.

Jean said she’d heard that Michelle had been telling tales about her.

Note:

• No punctuation marks are used in indirect speech because the actual words spoken are not used.

• The past tense is used because the introductory verb is in past tense (will becomes wouldand can changes to could).

• Pronouns change.• Words like that and if are useful when introducing indirect speech.

Exercise 1

Write the following sentences in indirect speech. (Remember, punctuation marks are not used.)

b. Mrs Brown said, ‘I saw your mother this morning.’c. ‘Will you tell Derek I have borrowed his mountain-bike?’ asked Leon.d. Mom said, ‘Try to be quiet, Dad’s got a headache.’

f. ‘Tell Peter we can’t wait for him any longer,’ said Zelda.

Please fetch the register from Mrs Wright

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Exercise 2

Notice how the verbs are changed in these examples:‘I wrote to you ages ago,’ said Irene.Irene said she had written to me ages ago.‘Thandi saw them in the shop,’ said Shirley.Shirley said that Thandi had seen them in the shop.

Correct the verbs in darker print in the following sentences.a. My sister said she gave you the video tape.b. Burt said he ran all the way to school.c. Richard said that he his work.

Exercise 3

Rewrite the following sentences in direct speech. (Remember to use punctuation marks.)

a. Christiaan said it wasn’t fair that he had not been picked to play.b. He asked me if I could tell him the time.c. My mother said I would be late for school if I didn’t hurry.

Practising

1. Punctuate the following sentences.

a. I don’t believe animals should be kept in zoos said Tom.b. Why not asked Francisca.c. Tom replied I don’t think wild animals should be kept in cages.d. But many zoos are keeping certain species alive said Francisca.e. How are they doing that asked Tom.f. Francisca replied they breed the animals in captivity and then return some of them to

the wild.

2. Imagine that you were listening to the conversation between Tom and Francisca. Rewrite what they said in reported (indirect) speech.

The land of storybooks

At evening when the lamp is lit.

They sit at home and talk and sing,They do not play at anything.

Now, with my little gun I crawlAll in the dark along the wall.And follow round the forest trackAway behind the sofa-back.There, in the night, when none can spy,All in my hunter’s camp I lie,And play at books that I have read,Till it is time to go to bed.

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Answer the questions in full sentences:

1. What do the parents do at night?2. What does the little boy prefer to do?3. Which word refers to a narrow path?

5. When you move forward on your hands and knees, you ___.6. Who can see him there?

All about books and storiesLibrary rules!

These children obviously didn’t know how to behave in a library. Write down 10 sentences explaining what they were doing wrong. Start your sentences: One boy/One girl was___ orTwo boys/Some of them were ___

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Rate your reading

If you need help...

: rate, comprehension, vocabulary, context, synonym, antonym, homonym,

summarize, inference, discrimination, oral, silent, characterization, meaning, glossary, contraction, word.

(From: Skillstuff)

Even the very best readers can improve their reading skills with a little thought and effort. It’s never too early or too late to examine your personal reading habits and take steps to improve them.

to locate 27 words related to reading skills. Find and circle each one.

P E O P N O I T A I C E R P P AL E W H D N U O P M O C O C O NC O M P R E H E N S I O N D T IP H O N I C S N U E T N I O T RS O A Y T O X I F F U S I M P RU M E R T X E T N O C O O S V EM O C T A H S E I R R N R Y R GM N N E A C D I I A I A N N L GA Y E S K I T M L L L N S O G WR M R A T E I E I E L T S N N LI G E R O N W A R N N S D Y I EZ X F P A A N D T I A T H M N EE I N T R K R E B R Z A D I A NV G I C A P C S Y L L A B L E SV O C A B U L A R Y E A T B M IN L W I M Y N O T N A N T I I EX I F E R P S W I T T H D R O WE A S E L C O N T R A C T I O N

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Book titlesThese books are by writers from the United Kingdom, the United States and Trinidad. Look at the pictures and put the writers’ names with the titles.

Famous books

Here are the titles and authors of six well-known books but the vowels have been left out of the words. Can you write the correct names for each book on the dotted lines?

........................................................................................... 2. TRSR SLND by RBRT LS STVNSN ...........................................................................................3. WND N TH WLLWS by KNNTH GRHM ...........................................................................................4. LVR TWST by CHRLS DCKNS ...........................................................................................5. LC N WNDRLND by LWS CRRLL ...........................................................................................6. PTR PN by JMS BRR ...........................................................................................

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Jack and the beanstalk

Fill in the missing words

Match the thing in the left column to what they belong with in the right column

1.

2.

3.4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

C

G L

H

H

H

FE, FI, FO ,F

MOO GRRR!

1.

2.

A.

B.

C.3.

4. D.

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The reading killer

The most important thing we’ve learned, So far as children are concerned,

Them near your television set - Or better still, just don’t installThe idiotic thing at all.In almost every house we’ve been,We’ve watched them gaping at the screen.They loll and slop and lounge about, And stare until their eyes pop out.(Last week in someone’s place we saw

They sit and stare and stare and stare and sitUntil they’re hypnotized by it.Until they’re absolutely drunkWith all that shocking ghastly junk.Oh yes, we know it keeps them still,They don’t climb out the window sill,

They leave you free to cook the lunchAnd wash the dishes in the sink - But did you ever stop to think,To wonder just exactly whatThis does to your beloved tot?IT ROTS THE SENSES IN THE HEAD!IT KILLS IMAGINATION DEAD!IT CLOGS AND CLUTTERS UP THE MIND!IT MAKES A CHILD SO DULL AND BLINDHE CAN NO LONGER UNDERSTANDA FANTASY, A FAIRYLAND!HIS BRAIN BECOMES AS SOFT AS CHEESE!HIS POWERS OF THINKING RUST AND FREEZE!HE CANNOT THINK - HE ONLY SEES!

‘All right,’ you’ll cry. ‘All right!’ you’ll say,‘But if we take the set away,What shall we do to entertainOur darling children! Please explain!’We’ll answer this by asking you,‘What used the darling ones to do?How used they keep themselves contentedBefore this monster was invented?’Have you forgotten? Don’t you know?We’ll say it very loud and slow:THEY...USED...TO...READ! They’d READ and READAnd READ and READ!

from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl

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Revision

Write out the full answers in your homework book

1. Give the plurals of:a cat a glass a fox a cry a dairya hen a box a tree a duty a story

2. Fill in was or were:a. How many men ___ there? b. The bag of onions ___ badc. We ___ very pleased. d. It ___ nearly dark.e. ___ you all alone? f. Mary and you ___ talking.g. Tom and I ___ away. h. ___ she ill yesterday?j. ___ they very angry? k. We ___ going home.

3. Complete each of the following sentences.Example: This box is as heavy as lead.

as ___ as a feather as sly as a ___ as ___ as ice as white as ___ as ___ as coal as busy as a ___as ___ as grass as strong as an ___ as ___ as honey as slow as a ___

4. Give the correct form of the word in brackets:a. He was a good (run) and a good (swim).b. You were (sit) near the (shoot).c. Mother was (put) her (knit) away.d. The (rob) was easily (catch).e. They were (get) ready for (bed).

Read aloud

God’s children tell God’s story

big net. When they had rowed a little way from shore, they let the net down into the water. While they were busy doing this, they heard somebody call: ‘Simon! Andrew!’ They looked around and saw a man standing on shore - it was Jesus. He was calling them: ‘Come and

Not far away some other men were in another boat. James and his brother John were there, mending their nets. Jesus stopped by their boat and said, ‘Come, follow Me!’ Jesus wanted

the big wide world to get people and bring them to Him. First He schooled them and then they became preachers and missionaries. They told the story of salvation.

Just before Jesus went to heaven, He said to all His disciples, ‘Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel.’ If we belong to Jesus and the Holy Spirit lives in our hearts, we must

Kingdom of Heaven too.