READING SKILLS: THE PRINCESS AND THE PEA

 

“The princess and the pea” is a famous fairy tale that originated
in Denmark and was first published by Hans Christian Andersen in 1835.
The story revolves around a prince who wants to marry a real princess.
However, he finds it difficult to determine whether the princesses
he encounters are genuine.

One stormy night, a young woman claiming to be
a princess seeks shelter at the prince's castle.
To test her authenticity, the queen decides to place a pea
under twenty mattresses and twenty featherbeds and
offers the princess a place to sleep for the night.
The next morning, the queen asks the princess how she slept.
The princess complains that she experienced great discomfort
during the night and could hardly sleep due to something hard in the bed.
The prince and the queen are convinced that she is
a real princess because only a sensitive princess
would be able to feel a tiny pea through such
a large number of mattresses and featherbeds.
The prince marries the princess, and they live happily ever after.

The story of "The Princess and the Pea" is often seen
as a tale that highlights the importance of sensitivity,
refinement, and delicacy, especially in distinguishing true nobility.
It suggests that physical appearances can be deceiving
and that true royalty lies in the qualities of the heart.

I have done a reading activity about this story with the ICT tool Genially. I hope you like it.

Click below to read the story:

THE PRINCESS AND THE PEA

WEBGRAPHY:

https://www.guiainfantil.com/articulos/ocio/cuentos-infantiles/the-princess-and-the-pea-cuentos-

tradicionales-en-ingles/

https://www.shortstories4kids.com/2020/07/princess-pea-short-story.html

https://app.genial.ly/

ANIMALS. Activities to work on listening comprehension and pronunciation.

ANIMALS

Activities to work on listening comprehension: 

For the first three activities I have chosen a Youtube video in which six different

animals are described. 

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jc9eb1p9jxg 

ACTIVITY 1: 

Timing: 15 minutes

Resources: computer, video projector and photocopied worksheets

with the activities, pencils/pens.

In the first activity the students will have to write

in the gaps the words that they are listening in the video.

They will only hear descriptions of three of the six animals.

The teacher won’t show them the video. 

ACTIVITY 2: 

Timing: 10 minutes

Resources: computer, video projector, photocopy worksheets

with the activities and pencils/pens.

Later, in the second exercise the students will have to guess

which animals were described in the first exercise

and they will have to write the animal’s number next to the pictures’ animals. 

For this activity, students will listen again to the descriptions of the first 3 animals.

ACTIVITY 3: 

Timing: 10 minutes

Resources: computer, video projector and questions papers. 

Finally, the third activity consists on watching the full video

and guessing the names of the other three animals.

Furthermore, students will can play at making

the imitations of the animals that appear in the video. 

LISTENING: Can You Guess Which Wild Animals are Hiding?

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jc9eb1p9jxg 

Activity 1: Listen to the audio and complete each gap with a word.

1. I am __________ and _________ .

I live in __________ . 

Who am I?

I’m good at climbing __________.

I like to _______ bamboo.

Who am I?

I am a __________ . 

2. I live in the _________ . 

I have bright ____________ .

Who am I?

I have a large _________. 

I lay white _________ .  

Who am I?

3. I live in the __________ .

My fur is ___________ with black __________ . 

Who am I?

I have big _________ and a long __________ .

Who am I?

Activity 2. Look at the pictures and write which number is each animal.

You have to read the information of exercise 1. 

Activity to work on pronunciation: 

Activity 4: “What’s on my head?”

Timing: 15 minutes

Resources: animals flashcards, elastic headbands and paper sheets with questions. 

Students will play “What’s on my head?” game to practice pronunciation.

Students can be grouped into teams of five.

One of them puts one of the flashcards on his head without seeing the animal’s picture.

The card will be held by the elastic headband.

This student will have to ask his classmates questions

to guess what animal he has on his head.

His classmates will only be able to answer "yes" or "no" to the questions.

The teacher will give a list of questions about animals to the students. 

Activity 4: 

“What’s on my head?” game

QUESTIONS:

Am I big?

Am I small?

Am I green/brown/red/yellow…? (Colours) 

Have I got tail?

Have I got fur?

Have I got feathers?

Have I got stripes?

Have I got spots?

Have I got scales?

Do I live in the sea?

Do I live in the forest?  

Do I live in the jungle?

FLASHCARDS’ EXAMPLES:

BIBLIOGRAPHY: 

Banzo, H. (2018). Programación didáctica 1er curso de educación primaria.

Área de inglés. Colegio Oficial de Doctores y Licenciados en Filosofía y Letras

y en Ciencias de Aragón. Retrieved April, 25 from: 

https://cdl-aragon.es/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Programa_1th.pdf 

British Council (2019). Wild animals flashcards.

Retrieved April, 24, 2023 from:

https://learnenglishkids.britishcouncil.org/print-make/flashcards/wild-animals-flashcards 

Homer ( July, 6, 2015) Can You Guess Which Wild Animals are Hiding?. Youtube.

Retrieved April, 21, 2023 from:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jc9eb1p9jxg  

Navarro, A., Lonch, S. & Díaz, X.C. (2015) Short Oral Activities in class. 

Retrieved April, 22, 2023 from: https://apliense.xtec.cat/arc/sites/default/files/

ShortOralActivitiesinclass_didactic_plan.pdf 

Ramsay, N (2006-2023). Animal flashcards. 

Retrieved April, 24, 2023 from: 

https://esl-kids.com/flashcards/animals.html 

Royal Decree 126/2014 of 28th February, that establishes the curriculum

for Primary Education.