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Library / The Lion and the Statue

Lesson plan

The Lion and the Statue

Grades
2–4
Time
45 min
Reading level
1
PDFPrint the worksheetRead the story

Lesson flow

5 min

Proof on the Board

Draw a stick picture of yourself winning a race against the whole class. Say, "Look! This proves I am the fastest." Ask whether it does, and take two or three reasons. Leave the question open.

5 min

Arms and Stone

Teach the words. Tap your head for "cleverer," stand frozen for "statue," flex your arm for "bulged" and press a sheet of paper flat under your hand for "pinned." Show chalky fingers and say, "This proves I wrote on the board."

10 min

Read to the Pause

Tell pupils that Hercules is a very strong hero from old tales. Read the story aloud for Grades 2 and 3. Grade 4 partners take turns reading. Everyone stops at "What do you say to that?" Pupils tell a partner what the Lion will answer. Then read the ending slowly, with the yawn.

10 min

Around the Chair

Put a chair at the front to stand for the statue. Pairs come up as the Man and the Lion. The Man stands back and folds his arms. The Lion walks once around the chair, sniffs, yawns and gives his last line. Try three pairs and ask which Lion looks the least worried.

15 min

The Lions' Statue

Pupils draw the statue a lion would make and label it "Made by a lion." Ask for a lion standing tall and a man running off, not a fight. Pairs swap drawings and answer two questions: "Who won in this statue?" and "Who made it?" Write the moral on the board and ask what it has to do with the two statues.

STORY OVERVIEW

  • Title and Moral: The Lion and the Statue - "The one who tells the story picks who wins."
  • Plot Summary: A man tells a lion that men are stronger and leads him to a statue of Hercules beating a lion. The lion says it proves nothing, because a man made the statue.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

  • Retell the argument between the Man and the Lion in order.
  • Identify what the statue shows and who made it.
  • Explain the moral by saying how the statue would change if a lion made it.

WORDS TO TEACH FIRST

  • cleverer: better at thinking things through.
  • statue: a figure of a person or animal made from stone or metal.
  • bulged: stuck out in a round shape.
  • pinned: held down so it could not move.
  • proves: shows that something is true.

TEXT QUESTIONS

  1. What does the Man say makes men stronger than lions? Sample answer: He says, "We are stronger because we are cleverer," and he taps the side of his head.
  2. What does the statue show? Sample answer: It shows Hercules with his arms bulging. He has a lion pinned to the ground and is tearing its jaws apart.
  3. Why does the Lion say the statue proves nothing? Sample answer: He says, "It was a man who made the statue," so of course the man in it wins.

EXIT TICKET

On paper: "The statue does not prove that men are stronger because ____." Then pupils write one sentence saying who would win in a statue made by a lion.

SUPPORT AND STRETCH

  • Support: Read the Easier version with a small group. It says "park" where the story says "public gardens" and it does not name Hercules, so show on a drawing that the statue is of a strong man. Pupils point to answer "Who won?" and "Who made it?" and finish, "A man made it, so ____."
  • On level: Pupils draw the lions' statue, answer the two questions and finish the exit ticket.
  • Stretch: Pupils write the words for a sign on the lions' statue. Then, speaking as the Man, they write two sentences saying why the sign proves nothing.

ENGLISH LEARNERS

Act out "folded his arms," "sniffed" and "yawned" before reading. Give this frame: "A ____ made the statue, so the ____ wins." Pupils point to their drawing as they say it.

Answer key

Comprehension

  1. He said, "Men are stronger than lions."
  2. He took him into the public gardens and down a long path between the flower beds.
  3. It showed Hercules with a lion pinned to the ground, tearing its jaws apart.
  4. He walked once around the statue, sniffed at the stone lion and yawned.
  5. He said, "It was a man who made the statue." It was a good answer because a man will show a man winning.

Vocabulary

  1. D
  2. E
  3. A
  4. C
  5. B

Writing Task

A good answer shows a lion winning in the statue and sees that the lions chose how it looks, just as the man who made the first statue did.

Original text available on the story page.