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"NOT
OUR PROBLEM"
from Burma and Thailand
It was a beautiful
day. The King of Burma sat in his beautiful palace with his faithful advisor
eating puffed rice. As they were eating they leaned out the palace window
and watched the street below. The king, who was not paying attention to
what he was doing, let a drop of honey fall onto the windowsill.
"Oh, Sire, let me
wipe that up." offered the adviser.
"Never mind," said
the King. It is not our problem. The servants will clean it later."
As the two continued
to dine on their honey and puffed rice, the drop of honey slowly began
to drip down the windowsill! At last it fell with a plop onto the street
below. A fly landed on the drop of honey and began his own meal. Then
out of nowhere a gecko sprang from under the palace and with a flip of
its long tongue swallowed the fly. Before you knew it, a cat saw the gecko
and attacked it with her sharp claws. Then a dog sprang forward and attacked
the cat!
"Sire, there seems
to be a cat and dog fight in the street. Should we call someone to stop
it?"
"Nevermind," said
the King. It is not our problem."
So the two continued
to munch on their honey and puffed rice. Meanwhile the cat's owner arrived
and started to beat the dog. Then the dog's owner ran up and began to
beat the cat. Soon the two owners were beating each other!
"Sire, there are two
people fighting in the street right now. Shouldn't we send someone to
break the fight up?"
The King looked lazily
out the window. "Nevermind. It's not our problem."
The friends of the
cat's owner gathered and began to cheer him on. The friends of the dog's
owner began to cheer her on as well. Soon both groups entered the fight
and began to attack each other!
"Sire, A number of
people are fighting in the street now. Perhaps we should call someone
to stop the fight?"
The King was too lazy
to even look. "Nevermind. It's not our problem."
Now soldiers arrived
on the scene. First they tried to break up the fighting, but when they
heard the cause of the fight, some of the soldiers sided with the cat's
owner, while others sided with the dog's owner. Before you knew it, the
soldiers carrying their guns and bayonets had joined the fight! Beause
the soldiers were involved, the fight erupted into civil war. Houses were
burned down, stores were looted, and many people lost their homes. And
the King's beautiful palace was set afire and burned to the ground.
When the war finally
subsided,The King and his adviser stood surveying the ruins of what was
once a beautiful city.
"Perhaps," said the
King. "I was wrong? Perhaps that little drop of honey WAS our problem."
"NOT OUR PROBLEM"
- AROUND THE WORLD - 3 MIN, 9 SEC
LISTENING ACTIVITY
ONE:
WHAT
WE HEARD?
Students will listen
to the story "Not Our Problem".Teacher will select the most
appropriate questions from the following list to ask their students. Students
will answer questions. Then the process is repeated. For added interest:
keep score of correct answers after first listening, then compare to number
of correct answers after second listening.
WHO?
1. (K-5)
Who said, "Sire, let me wipe that up"?
(K-1) The king's (a) advisor (b) servant (c) mother
2. (K-5)
Who always said, "It is not our problem"?
3. (K-5)
Who landed on the drop of honey?
4. (K-5)
Who saw the gecko and attacked it with her sharp claws?
5. (K-5)
Who attacked the cat?
WHAT??
1. (K-5)
What were the king and his faithful advisor doing at the beginning of
the story?
2. (K-5)
What did the king drop on the windowsill?
3. (K-5)
What did the gecko use to catch the fly?
(K-1) (a) his sharp claws (b) his long tongue (c) his pointy teeth
4. (K-5)
What did the king say when his advisor wanted to break up the fight?
5. (K-5)
What happened to the king's palace at the end of the story?
WHERE???
1. (K-5)
Where did the drop of honey fall?
(K-1) (a) on the table (b) on the windowsill (c) on the floor
2. (K-5)
Where were the king and advisor at the beginning of the story?
(K-1) (a) in the palace (b) in the kitchen (c) by the river
3. (K-5)
Where were "a number of people fighting"?
4. (3-5)
Where does the story take place? (In what country?)
5. (3-5)
Where were the king and his advisor standing at the end?
WHY????
1. (2-5)
Why did the soldiers arrive?
2. (2-5)
Why did the civil war start?
3. (2-5)
Why did the king say, "Perhaps I was wrong"??
LISTENING ACTIVITY
TWO:
BEGINNING..MIDDLE..END
After listening to
the story, "Not Our Problem", students will be asked to do the
following activities, using graphic and verbal responses. Both of these
activities are art-related.
1. (K-2)
Students will draw a picture of what happened at the beginning of the
story...Was it...
(a) the
king's palace burned to the ground?
(b) a drop
of honey landed on the street below?
(c) a dog
attacked a cat?
2. (K-2)
Students will draw a picture of what happened in the middle of the story...Was
it...
(a) the
king's palace burned to the ground?
(b) a drop
of honey landed on the street below?
(c) a dog
attacked a cat?
3. (K-2)
Students will draw a picture of what happened at the end of the story...Was
it...
(a) the
king's palace burned to the ground?
(b) a drop
of honey landed on the street below?
(c) a dog
attacked a cat?
4. (K-2)
Students will describe their pictures to the class.
5. (3-5)
Students will make a list of every event they can think of that happened
in the middle of the story starting with "the honey landed on the
street below". Be sure each event uses a verb (action word) in
the description. Students will choose one of the events from the list
and draw it.
6. (3-5)
Students will describe their pictures to the class.
LISTENING ACTIVITY
THREE
GROUP COMIC STRIP
1. (3-5)
Students will be divided into three groups: one each for the beginning,
middle and end parts of the story. Each group of students will create
a six panel comic strip for its part of the story. For example the group
doing the beginning of the story will decide what needs to be included
in their part. See the model comic strip below...
Suggest model comic
strip - 6 panels
SPEAKING ACTIVITY
ONE:
CAUSE AND EFFECT
Students will note
the idea of cause and effect in the story,"Not Our Problem". The following
science and music related activities encourage research, imagination and
discussion.
1. (K-5) Review
the idea of "cause and effect" as it appears in "Not Our Problem" by having
a question/answer chain around the classroom that includes all elements
of the story.
Example:
Student 1:
What happened to the drop of honey?
Student 2:
The fly ate it.
What happened to
the fly?
Student 3:
The gecko ate it.
What happened to
gecko?
2. (3-5) Research...Students
will draw a picture of a gecko that is copied from a book on lizards.
Students will read about the gecko, then...
(a) explain
why it is in this story from Burma
(b) explain
how it might easily eat a fly
(c) explain
why it might be hard for a fly to escape it
3. (3-5) Discuss...What
is the food chain? How does the food chain appear in this story?
4. (K-5) Music...Listen
to the folk song "I Know an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly". How many creatures
are involved in this cause and effect "food chain"? Identify them and
list them on the board. Learn the song and sing it together.
SPEAKING ACTIVITY
TWO:
STORY THEATER
Teacher will work
with students to create two styles of "Story Theater" activities using
the story, "Not Our Problem"
1. (K-5)
Teacher will ask children to take the parts of the different characters:
fly, gecko, cat, dog, owners, etc.. Students will line up according
to their character's place in the story and while listening to the story,
do voices and sounds of their characters on cue.
2. (3-5)
Students will create their own version of "Not Our Problem" following
the story line but creating more dialogue for the characters and acting
out the story in a new form.
3. (3-5)
Students will create a new version of "Not Our Problem" that changes
either setting, characters or ending. NOT OUR PROBLEM
LISTENING-SPEAKING
ACTIVITY ONE:
WORD DISCOVERY
Students and teachers
will listen to the story, "Not Our Problem", to discover new vocabulary
words that they want to add to their collection. Teacher can stop the
tape/CD when students raise their hands upon discovering (hearing) a "new
word". Word Discover possibilities:
| 1.
windowsill |
7.
palace * |
| 2.
servants |
8.
Civil war * |
| 3.
Sire |
9.
looted |
| 4.
advisor * |
10.
surveying |
| 5.
gecko * |
11.
ruins * |
| 6.
sprang |
12.
sided with |
|
| *
also used in Word Search |
LISTENING-SPEAKING
ACTIVITY TWO:
WHAT DO YOU THINK?
Teachers will ask
students the following questions to encourage discussion and creative
responses to the story, "Not Our Problem".
1. Did this
story really happen? Why do you think it did? Why do you think it didn't?
2. Why is
this story called "Not Our Problem"?
3. Were you
ever asked to do something and because you didn't do it there was a
big problem? Tell us about it.
4. Is it
possible to change the ending of this story ?
5. What do
you think this story is trying to tell (teach) us?
LISTENING-SPEAKING
ACTIVITY THREE:
SEQUENCING
Teachers will instruct
students to look at the pictures on the following page...Game Page...and
to number them in the correct sequence using numbers 1-5)
Suggest five drawings
from events in story in separate pictures
AROUND THE WORLD
ACTIVITY BOOK
LEARNING STANDARDS
from N.Y. State English
Language Arts (Revised, March 1996)
The following learning
standards are used in the Listening, Speaking, Writing and related curricula.
STANDARD ONE
STUDENTS WILL READ, WRITE, LISTEN
AND SPEAK FOR INFORMATION AND UNDERSTANDING
Elementary
1. Students
gather and interpret information from audio presentation... Outcome:
Students accurately paraphrase what they heard.
2. Students
use a few traditional structures for conveying information such as cause
and effect, sequencing.
Outcome:
Students are able to use different structures in transmitting information:
cause and effect, sequencing.
STANDARD TWO
STUDENTS WILL READ, WRITE, LISTEN
AND SPEAK FOR LITERARY RESPONSE AND EXPRESSION
Elementary
1. Students
understand the literary elements of setting, character, plot, theme
and point of view and compare those features to other works and to their
own lives. Outcome: Students re-tell a familiar fairy tale/fable to
class.
2. Students
present personal reponses to literature that make reference to the plot,
characters, ideas, vocabulary. Outcome: Students create their own stories,
using the elements of literature and/or write new endings or sequels
to familiar stories.
STANDARD FOUR
STUDENTS WILL READ, WRITE, LISTEN
AND SPEAK FOR SOCIAL INTERACTION
Elementary
1. Students
take turns speaking and respond to others ideas in conversations.
Outcome:
Students participate in group discussions.
2. Students
recognize kind of interaction appropriate for different circumstances
such as story hour, group discussion and one-on-one conversations.
Outcome:
Students use appropriate
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