Lesson flow
What a Mirror Can Show
Hold up a hand mirror and ask what it can show and what it cannot. Pupils may say it shows hair but cannot show whether someone is kind. Set one rule for the lesson: we talk about how the people in the story look, and never about how anyone in this room looks. Teach the six words.
Read to the Run
Read the story aloud in Grades 2 and 3. In Grade 4, partners read it to each other. Stop at "Mirrors are for girls!" Ask whether that is what is really upsetting her. Pupils predict what their father will do, then read to the end.
Hot Cheeks
Partners stand side by side. One is the boy, who holds a pretend mirror, turns his head one way and then the other, and says in a showy voice, "I must be the best looking boy in town!" The other is the sister, who says nothing but shows on her face how his words land, ending with hot cheeks. Swap. Then each pair says the sister's two lines, "He has been playing with the mirror!" and "Mirrors are for girls!", first in a hurt voice and then in a cross voice. Ask which feeling comes first, using "her cheeks grew hot."
Why Did It Sting?
Write "Every word stung his sister." on the board. Ask how that can be, when "He had not said one thing about her." Pupils talk in pairs, then share. Make clear that "Mirrors are for girls!" is what she says when she is hurt and angry, and that it is no true rule.
Look or Do Sort
Write six phrases from the story on the board: fine eyes, fine hair, good looks, doing wrong, good deeds, pretty face. Pairs copy them under two headings, How you look and What you do. Then draw two columns headed You, my son and You, my daughter, and pupils write what the father wants each child to think about in the mirror. Read the moral aloud and finish with the exit ticket.
STORY OVERVIEW
- Title and Moral: The Brother and the Sister - "What you do matters more than how you look."
- Plot Summary: A handsome boy admires himself in a mirror, and his words sting his plain sister, who runs to tell their father. He hugs them both and tells them to look in the mirror every day, the son so that he never spoils his good looks by doing wrong, and the daughter so that her good deeds may shine.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
- Retell what happens at the mirror and what the father does next.
- Explain why the boy's words hurt his sister even though "He had not said one thing about her."
- Explain the father's advice to each child in your own words.
WORDS TO TEACH FIRST
- handsome: good-looking.
- plain: not pretty or special to look at.
- mirror: glass that shows your own face.
- stung: hurt sharply.
- aimed: pointed at someone on purpose.
- deeds: things that you do.
TEXT QUESTIONS
- Why did the sister run to their father? Sample answer: The boy's words hurt her because "each word seemed aimed at her," so she told on him: "He has been playing with the mirror!"
- How did the father treat the two children? Sample answer: "He put his arms around them both and kissed them both, just the same."
- Why does the father want his son to look in the mirror every day? Sample answer: He wants him to look "so that you never spoil your good looks by doing wrong."
EXIT TICKET
Print or write this on the board and have pupils finish it: "The father wants both children to care more about ___ than about ___."
SUPPORT AND STRETCH
- Support: Read the Easier version with the pupil, who holds up a sad face and then a cross face at "The girl felt sad. Then she felt cross." Ask what the dad did next, and have the pupil show it on a simple drawing.
- On level: Complete the worksheet, going back to the full story to find each answer.
- Stretch: Write what the brother could say to his sister the next day to show that he has understood their father. Use one phrase from the father's speech.
ENGLISH LEARNERS
Hold up the hand mirror and have each pupil say "I see ___" about the mirror's frame or the room behind them, then act out stung by pulling a hand back from something sharp. Give the frame "The boy said ___. His sister felt ___ because ___" for the talk about why the words stung.
Answer key
Comprehension
- They found it lying on a chair in their mother's room.
- He said, "What fine eyes! What fine hair! I must be the best looking boy in town!"
- She felt hurt, because every word stung her and her cheeks grew hot.
- She told him, "He has been playing with the mirror!" and "Mirrors are for girls!"
- He looked from one child to the other, put his arms around them both and kissed them both.
Vocabulary
- D
- E
- B
- C
- F
- A
Writing Task
A good answer says the son should never spoil his good looks by doing wrong, and that the daughter's good deeds should shine brighter than any pretty face.
Original text available on the story page.