Project based on the story “Lost and Found” by Oliver Jeffers

by Carina Scheffel and Francesc Espadero


Age group: 9-10 year old kids
Introduction: The aim of this project is to use English children’s literature in the classroom


Book Description
There once was a boy and one day a penguin arrives on his doorstep. The boy decides the penguin must be lost and tries to return him. But no one seems to be missing a penguin. So the boy decides to take the penguin home himself, and they set out in his row boat on a journey to the South Pole. But when they get there, the boy discovers that maybe home wasn’t what the penguin was looking for after all!

Before:
Watch the trailer and guess what is the story about.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XaGTYl0hZQw[/youtube]

Answer these questions:

• Is the main character a boy or a girl?
• Is there an animal?
• What animal is it?
• Are they friends?
• Where does the boy live?
• Who rings the bell?
• Where do they go?
• Do they go by plane, bus, car, boat or submarine?
• What is the story about?
• How does it end?

Speaking activity:
Watch two little pieces of this story and find the differences in pairs:

Trailer 1:

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kMlFrSLzKUQ[/youtube]

Trailer 2:

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tz-KhGlycY4[/youtube]

Example: In Trailer 1, we can see the penguin first. In trailer 2, we can see the boy first.

 

While:

Listen to the story and the teacher asks general questions about the story to check the students’ understanding:

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lWlsZ0Mf_hA[/youtube]

Watch the movie:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hh8JZdpWsZ8[/youtube]

Listen to the story again and now the teacher makes sure that the students understand the language for the story:

• lost and found office
• missing
• come from
• disappointment
• harbour
• rowboat
• pack
• waves
• delighted
• sad / sadder /sadly
• make a mistake
• on his own
• lonely
• search
• close / closer

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YGOnepaP3M[/youtube]

The students stop the teacher whenever they don’t understand a particular word or expression.

After:

Questions for talking or writing:

Who opens the door?
Is the penguin happy?
Where do they go?
Who does he ask then?
Is the boy disappointed?
What does he find out?
…

Art:

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PuUIL6nDKN8[/youtube]
Make a “Lost and Found” sign and put it on the place where you put the lost things.
Draw a poster informing that the penguin has disapeared.

Acting out:
Act out what might have happened in the Lost and Found Office.

Computering:
Use a computer to make a poster to tell people about the penguin that the boy had found.

Science and geography:
Find out about penguins. Where can you find them? How are they adapted to living in that environment? What do they eat?
Find out about the South Pole. Where is it on a globe? Where is in relation to where you live? How far away is it? If you wanted to go there, how would you travel? What would you need?

Reading:

Penguins are birds that cannot fly, but they swim very well and spend most of their lives in the sea. There are 17 species of penguin.
Feathers: Penguins have shiny, waterproof feathers that help keep their skin dry. They have more feathers than most other birds – about 70 feathers per square inch. Each year, penguins molt, losing their old feathers and growing new ones. Some penguins have a feathery crest (like the Macaroni penguin and the Rockhopper penguin).
Anatomy: The Emperor Penguin is the largest penguin. It is up to 3.7 feet (1.1 m) tall and weighs up to 65 pounds (30 kg); this is bit less than half the size of an adult person. Males and females look very similar. All penguins have a big head, a short, thick neck, a streamlined shape, a short, wedge-shaped tail, and tiny, flipper-like wings. They have webbed feet which they use for swimming. Penguins are countershaded; they have a lighter color on the belly and a darker color on their back; this coloration helps camouflage them when they are in the water, hiding them from predators.
Habitat: All penguins live in the Southern Hemisphere (south of the equator). They live in climates ranging from the warm tropics to the frigid Antarctic. These defenseless birds usually live on predator-free islands or on remote parts of a continent. Some penguins, like the Emperor Penguin, live on pack ice in Antarctica.
Diet: Penguins eat in the ocean. They eat fish, crustaceans (like krill, etc.), and squid.

Writing:

Look at the table and tick or cross the empty spaces. Then, write a short text about penguins.

A)	green and blue	black and white
Penguins are
Penguins aren’t

B)	feet	feathers	fur	wings	arms	beak
Penguins have got
Penguins haven’t got

C)	fly	walk	run	dive	swim	jump
Penguins can
Penguins can’t

D)	jungle	Antarctic
Penguins live
Penguins don’t live

E)	fish	insects
Penguins eat
Penguins don’t eat

Watch a documentaries about penguins:
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lf26jtJfL30[/youtube]
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eQquEh6zQ5c[/youtube]

See how penguins grow

 

Where do penguins live?

Music:
Let’s learn the rhyme and sing.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycWYF-DaXLM[/youtube]
Can you invent a new version of this rhyme?

Try to follow the penguins’ dance.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQRh02ZZK4w[/youtube]
Lyrics of the song:

• Put your hands up in the air
• And shake your booties round
• Hand up on your toes
• And turn around around
• Hands way up high,
• Hands way down low
• Stamp with your feet
• And jump, jump, jump

 

Watch this video and answer the following questions in group:

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cEGkrOtzqWo[/youtube]

• Do you like the video?
• What is it about?
• What does one of the penguin say?
• What does the rest of the penguins do?
• What happens to the killer wale?
• In this story, is it important to work together as a group?