MEG and MOG by Helen Nicoll and Jan Pienkowski Publisher: Puffin Books ISBN: 0-140-50117-7 Book: € 7,99, Cassette: € 5,99, Video: €14,25
Short background information on MEG & MOG stories: Meg and Mog, the heroes of a series of children’s books written by Helen Nicoll and illustrated by Jan Pienkowski, were published in the 1970s. There are a couple of new titles out, and there is also an animated TV show version of Meg and Mog. Meg is a witch whose spells always seem to go slightly wrong. Mog is her striped cat with a curly tail. Their owl friend is called ‘owl’. The Meg and Mog stories have become classics, thanks to exuberant illustrations and crazy storylines. They follow the antics of Meg whose spells usually end in disaster, and Mog, her long-suffering cat. The author says children will love exploring colours, sounds and shapes in the stories, which are perfect for sharing or reading alone. The illustrator has his own webpage where you can find all Meg and Mog books with a short description (www.janpienkowski.com/books/meg -and-mog/). Under www.nutmeg.gen.nz/megandmog (a page that is an unofficial web place for fans of the books to share information and love for Meg and Mog) you can find more details and some pictures of their adventures.
To consider: Theme suitable for Halloween You can work with the book in class 3 as well as in class 4. Class 3: Introduction of main characters and keywords (see Step 1), reading, pictures and gestures explain basic story line, ask for things they remember (breakfast, animals) Vocabulary/themes to work on: clothes, colours Class 4: Vocabulary/themes to work on: rooms and basic furniture, clothes, cooking breakfast (food), animals, colours, time, morning procedures (wake up, get out of bed, dress, put on …, go down/up the stairs, take out of the cupboard, cook/eat breakfast, meet friends) Possible to work with more Meg and Mog stories • •
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Story: Meg and Mog Once upon a time there was a witch called Meg. At midnight the owl hooted 3 times and woke her up. She got out of bed to dress for the spell party. She put on her black stockings, her big black shoes, her long black cloak, and her tall black hat. She went down the stairs to cook breakfast. In the kitchen lay her big striped cat Mog. He was fast asleep. She trod on Mog’s tail. She took out of her cupboard 3 eggs, bread, cocoa, milk, a kipper and jam. She put it all in her cauldron and stirred it up. There was plenty of breakfast for everyone. At 1 o’clock she got her broomstick, her cauldron, and a spider. She flew up the chimney with Mog. Up in the sky she met her friends going to the party. Bess, Jess, Tess and Cress They landed on a hill in the moonlight to make the spell. Each of them had brought something to put in the cauldron.
This is what they put in: a frog, a beetle, a worm, a bat, a spider They all stirred the cauldron as they chanted their spell. “Abracadabra - Frog in a bog, Bat in a hat, Snap crackle pop, And fancy that” Boom! There was a flesh and a bang. Something had gone wrong. Bess, Jess, Tess and Cress all changed into mice and Mog chased them. “I’ll have to change them back, next Hallowe`en.”
Step 1(lesson 1): Show book ‘Meg and Mog’ - let pupils know that they are going to listen to it next lesson Introduce main characters and important vocabulary, present picture cards (copy from book) with word cards (necessary also later on) and bring clothes and items (authentic material) to support learning, use TPR with new words to involve pupils and to provide more comprehensible input. “Meg is a witch. She has got a broomstick . Meg is wearing a tall black hat, a long black cloak , black stockings and big black shoes . Mog is her striped cat. He has got a curly tail . The white owl is their old friend.” Also possible use of eliciting: Meg is wearing a long black …, and so on, class says missing word. TPR 1: Teacher asks children to come up front to put on ... hat, stockings, shoes, cloak, take … witch, broomstick, cat, owl. Afterwards teacher asks class to bring items back “Who has got the …?” “I have got …” (presenting new words, repetition) TPR 2: Whole class is acting without showing/holding items – but doing typical gestures/sounds (repetition) Introduce keywords: cauldron, spell party, spell - use real item, picture cards and word cards, play games with all 13 new words “What do witches do at Halloween? After midnight/12 o’clock they go to a spell party. They sing and dance. They put things in a cauldron . What do you think witches put in the cauldron? They make a spell.” Game: What is missing? - use real items and picture cards Game: Matching game - class sits in circle, task is to match word and picture cards - find pairs Game: Snap - groups of 4 sit in circle, picture cards on floor, teacher says one item, fastest pupil gets card, if wrong one - put another one back “Before I tell you the story of Meg and Mog, I’d like to show you Meg and Mog’s house.” See a house map and items under http://prod.uk.penguin.com/static/cs/uk/15/images/Meg&Mog.pdf, http://prod.uk.penguin. com/static/cs/uk/15/images/Meg&Mog.pdf, cut out and stick important items (bed, fridge, cupboard, Meg, Mog, Owl, sofa, TV, table, …) in the house, present picture to class on overhead. Let children come to the front so they can point to items they already know/recognise (basic furniture, rooms, …). Then tell and point: “Meg sleeps in a bed, her owl wakes her up, Meg gets dressed, goes down the stairs to get to the kitchen, takes out of her cupboard …, she cooks and eats breakfast, Mog sleeps on the floor, she doesn’t need a door - she flies up the chimney .” (put new words next to picture) - let children point to new words (repetition) Game: Sponge game - two teams, draw two exact same pictures on board (new words and keywords for story: house, bed, stairs, cupboard, …), teacher says one item, short time to think, first team player of each team has to wipe off picture on board • •
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Step 2 (lesson 2):
Read story (night atmosphere) - ask questions while reading to get attention “What do you think Meg and her friends put in the cauldron? What does Meg put in? What do you think happens next?” Words to introduce/repeat along reading (pointing, making sounds): Midnight, hooting, stairs, kitchen, striped, fast asleep, trod on tail, took out, cupboard, eggs, bread, cocoa, milk, kipper, jam, stirred up, flew up chimney, hill, moonlight, animals, mice Listening/Reading Comprehension: “Do you like the story? What do you remember? What do Meg, Mog and Owl eat for breakfast? What do the witches put in the cauldron?” Draw a big table and a big cauldron on black board and let children put picture cards there, discuss/introduce new words (animals/breakfast items). A child (good reader) can read story. While listening task: “The story is mixed up. You have to find the right order. I will read the story and you have to show the matching picture.” Hand out all pages of story (there is one sentence on each page = 25) to the children, let them read their sentence, read story page by page, child holds up matching page. Post reading task: Children have to put pages in the right order on the wall - team work/action (maybe two groups- need of two copies). •
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Step 3 (lesson 2/3): Role play: One group (volunteers) plays in front of class, while teacher reads story, using pictures and real items: clock, bed, stockings, shoes, cloak, hat, cupboard, table and bowls, eggs, bread, cocoa, milk, kipper, jam, cauldron, broomstick, spider, hill, frog, beetle, worm, bat, mice. Divide class into groups of 8 (Meg, Mog, Owl, 4 witches, storyteller), children have time to play in their groups, group can present in front of class with help of laminated version on wall. Prepare story text on paper. They can exchange breakfast food and animals, let them draw new items on paper with English word (personal words). Hand out red pieces of paper for new items for cauldron and blue pieces for breakfast things - work with dictionary. Result: Let children present their story, draw a big breakfast table and a big cauldron on paper discuss their new words, stick also new vocabulary (all pictures with word on it) from children on that paper - place it in class visible for everybody, can be easily enlarged in following lessons •
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Step 4 (lesson 4): Class conversation: Let children retell story Who is in the story? Meg, …) What is she doing? (midnight, gets out of bed, get dressed, steps/ treads on cat, cooks breakfast, on broomstick flies up chimney, meets friends on hill, put … in cauldron, make spell, boom, friends are mice) Do you remember what she is having for breakfast? Do you remember what they are putting in the cauldron? Other possible tasks: Pupils put keywords in chronological order Game: Yes or no – two teams, two chairs, teacher says short sentences or words, time to think, first team member runs to yes or no-chair Read story •
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Step 5: •
Vocabulary work:
Game: Bingo - groups of 5, worksheet with pictures (breakfast and animals from story), group chooses 5 pictures and puts them upside down, they should remember which picture is where, teacher says one item, a group member (rotation) decides whether and which card to turn around Let children draw picture of new words into “treasure book” (a personal vocabulary book), they have to write the English word next to it - possible homework: drawing pictures. Picture-dictation of witch and typical items, self correction with overhead version drawn by teacher - use new words, colours, sizes (tall, big, ..) Children have their own spell party: “Draw a picture of your witch/es, create a spell, design a cauldron and choose ingredients and think about how to break the spell.” Children should present their witch-picture to a partner (describing clothes, ingredients, spell, …), volunteers can present their spell party to class. Work with morning procedures presented in story: wake up, get out of bed, dress, put on …, go down/up the stairs, take out of the cupboard, cook/eat breakfast, meet friends, …, transfer to children’s life - go to school by bike, study, do homework, have lunch, do sports, … . Children can describe their morning habits/rituals and maybe free time activities. (use of speech, write down important phrases in “treasure book”)
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Differentiation/project: In groups make up own story book, Meg and Mog book as example (colour copy should be still on the wall), discuss direct speech – less difficult.
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