Read & Explore 19: Big Ears

Which animals hear the best? If you said animals with big ears, you’re right! Deer have big ears, and elephants have huge ears.   

Big ears help catch soft sounds. Big ears funnel these sounds right into an animal’s ears. This helps the animals hear the sounds clearly.    

Most animals that hunt have big ears. The ears are high on the animals’ head to catch sound. Hunting animals hear sounds that we never hear! 

Activities:

1. From the text, do you know which animals have big ears? How can big ears help the animals? Discuss with your partners in simple English.
2. Big ears are helpful to animals. How about your ears? How do they work for you?

Read & Explore 18: What Do Bears Eat?

What do bears eat? Read and find out.  

In the fairy tale, Goldilocks breaks a chair. She also eats the bear’s porridge. You know that real bears don’t sit in chairs. But black bears will eat porridge! Wild black bears will eat most foods. They eat grass, roots, fruit, and insects. Bears also eat fish and little animals. Don’t be like Goldilock! If you hike in woods, make noise to scare bears away. It’s not fun if a real bear stares at you. You need to know what to do!

Activities:

1. What do bears eat? What do you need to do when you see a real bear? Discuss with your partners.
2. Draw a bear that is eating fish.
3. Watch the fairy tales about Goldilocks and the three bears.

Read & Explore 17: Lion and Eagle

Can eagle and lion become partners? Read the story and find out.

Eagle said, “I dislike fights. I dislike being hurt. I dislike my enemies. I need help.” Eagle flew to Lion. Eagle and Lion were a mismatch in size. Lion was bigger. Eagle said, “Let’s pair up to fight our enemies.” Lion said, “I distrust you. I dislike your plan. You can fly away from flights. So I must test you. Then I won’t distrust you.” 
Moral: Test someone before you trust them.

Activities:

1. What do you learn from this story? How do you build trust with others? Discuss with your partners. 
2. Draw simple pictures to illustrate the story.
3. Watch the story of Eagle and Lion. Sing the song “I just can’t wait to be king”.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F_N5iaMHgKU

Read & Explore 16: Baseball Language

You may know these funny baseball terms. A “southpaw” is a left-handed pitcher. A pitcher pitches from the mound. A batter bats from home plate. “Home plate” is one of the four bases in baseball. A batter could hit a home run. The batter touches each base and returns to home plate. Then the batter scores a run. A “moon shot” is when the ball goes really high! “Punch out” means “strike out.” A pitcher would be proud to strike out each batter. Then no batter would score!  

Activities:
1. Use simple words to explain what “southpaw”, “home plate”, “moon shot” and “punch out” mean. 
2. Do you have any experience in the baseball game? Can you illustrate your favorite game by pictures? Try it.
3. Watch the video to sing “Take me out to the ball game” with CoComelon.

Read & Explore 15: Athlete, Fans, Mascots

Do you know what an athlete, a fan or a team mascot does? Read the article to answer the questions.   

An athlete is a person who is good at sports. Athletes can compete alone or play on teams. 
A fan is a person who likes to watch athletes. Fans may not like to play sports. But cheering for a team excites them!
A team mascot helps to lead cheering. A mascot has a costume that goes with the team name. Mascots invite fans to stand up and yell!

Questions:

1. What does the text tell us about an athlete, a fan and a team mascot? What do they do? Discuss with your partners.
2. Are you interested in sports? What is your favorite sport? Watch videos to learn how playing sports benefits your body and your brain. Try some physical activities every day to get healthier.

Read & Explore 14: King Midas

Have you ever thought about what makes you happy? Here is a story about King Midas. Read it and answer the questions.

King Midas adored his daughter. He adored gold, too. He depends on both to be happy.
Each day, King Midas demanded to see his gold coins. He checked the amount. He wanted more gold.
King Midas wished each thing he touched would become gold. One day, he got his wish. All things he touched become gold!
The king’s daughter hugged him. She became gold! King Midas demanded that his wish be taken away. He needed his daughter back.
Without delay, his wish was taken back. And King Midas no longer adored gold. He only adored his daughter.

Questions:

1. What was King Midas’ wish? What happened in the story? What lessons do you learn from this story? Discuss with your partners in simple English.
2. Illustrate the story by drawing simple pictures.  
3. Are you interested in the story of King Midas Touch? Watch the video to learn more about it.

Classic Poem 经典诗歌欣赏 2: 江南

江南(jiāngnán)

[汉(hàn)] 汉乐府(hànyuèfǔ)

江南可采莲(jiāngnánkěcǎilián)，

莲叶何田田(liányèhétiántián)。

鱼戏莲叶间(yúxìliányèjiān)。

鱼戏莲叶东(yúxìliányèdōng)，

鱼戏莲叶西(yúxìliányèxī)，

鱼戏莲叶南(yúxìliányènán)，

鱼戏莲叶北(yúxìliányèběi)。

有表情地朗诵上面的诗歌，然后完成下面的任务：
1. 请指出诗中含有方向的词语，并将它们翻译成英语。
2. 从这首诗，你能想象出鱼儿怎样在水中嬉戏吗？除了鱼儿，诗中还提到什么在水中快乐地游戏呢？请用英语简单地描叙。
3. 唱歌拼图：和伙伴们一起，用七巧板拼一拼莲叶中嬉戏的鱼儿。观看下面的video，一起唱唱《江南》。

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0RVsB7VMiY

Classic Poem 经典诗歌欣赏1: 咏鹅

咏(yǒng)鹅(é)

[唐(táng)] 骆(luò)宾(bīn)王(wáng)

鹅(é)，鹅(é)，鹅(é)，

曲(qǔ)项(xiàng)向(xiàng)天(tiān)歌(gē)。

白(bái)毛(máo)浮(fú)绿(lǜ)水(shuǐ)，

红(hóng)掌(zhǎng)拨(bō)清(qīng)波(bō)。

有表情地朗诵上面的诗歌，然后完成下面的任务：

1. 请指出诗中含有颜色的词语，并将它们翻译成英语。

2. 作者是怎样描写鹅儿在水中嬉戏的情景的？找出其中的单词并将它们翻译成英语。

3. 唱歌拼图：和伙伴们一起，用七巧板拼一拼游玩的鹅儿。观看下面的video，一起唱唱《咏鹅》。

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q5ZoIWHBOuU

Read & Explore 13: Morse Code

Read the article and answer the questions.

Samuel Morse liked to invent things. He invented Morse code. He used it to send messages over wires. Morse code uses dots and dashes as signals.

A dot is a short signal. Dashes are long signals. Each letter has a set of signals. Each number has a set of signals.

Morse code was used a lot until there were faster tools. Now people use phones and e-mail.

Questions:

1. What is Morse Code? What was it used for?

2. How do you communicate with your friends? Do you want to learn more about Morse Code? Watch the following video:

Read & Explore 12: Scaly Animals

Read the article and answer the questions.

Look at the lizard skin. It is scaly. Scales are small parts of the skin.

A snake has scaly skin. Scaly skin keeps a snake safe. Scales help snakes slide on sandy or stony ground.

Fish have scaly skin. Fish scales are slimy. Slimy scales help keep fish safe. Slime helps fish swim fast. Speedy fish can escape from danger.

Questions:

1. What are scales? How does scaly skin help the scaly animals?

2. Find all the words that contain “-y”. What are their meanings? After removing the y, do you know what the new words mean? Can you find 5 more words? Give it a try.

3. The scaly skin works for fish and snake. Then how about our human skin? How does it help us? Watch the following video to learn about it.

Read & Explore 11: My Puppy

Read the article and answer the questions.

My puppy is untrained right now,

He unfolds all my shirts,

He unwraps all my presents,

And eats up my deserts.

He unpacks my big suitcase,

He unmakes the bed I made.

But trained or not, I love that pup,

I would never make a trade.

Questions:

1. How does the narrator describe his/her pup? Find all the words that contain “un-”. What does “un-” mean in these words? Can you find 5 more words? Give it a try.

2. Use tangram pieces to make as many pup shapes as possible.

3. Do you have a puppy? Is it trained or not? Have you ever played with a puppy? Discuss with your partners about your experience. Watch the following video and sing the song together.

Read & Explore 10: Seals

Read the article and answer the questions.

Seals are playful. Seals like to play.

Seals eat fish. This seal has a mouthful of fish.

Seals are peaceful. Seals like to rest, not fight. A rock is a useful place to rest.

A seal is watchful. It must stay safe from harmful animals.

Questions:

1. What do you learn about seals? Find all the words that contain “-ful”. Understand their meanings and explain to your partners.

2. Can you make seal shapes by tangram pieces? How many different shapes of seals can you make? Work with your partners.

3. To learn more about seals, you might be interested in the following video: