[ A HEAVENLY PARTY ]
AUTHOR: CÂMARA CASCUDO
Embedded Files
Here you will find: ► Illustrations ► Fable (text, audio, video) ► Lesson plan
The news spread among the animals that there was going to be a party in Heaven.. However, only animals that fly had been invited. The birds got very excited, and the party became the talk of the town, or rather, the talk of the forest. The flying animals teased those that couldn’t fly, making them jealous.
Now, guess who said he was going to the party too … The toad!
The toad? He was so heavy, unable to run … how on earth would he fly to the party?
For many days, the poor little toad was the object of mockery all over the forest. After brooding over the idea, he came up with a plan. A few hours before the party, he went up to the vulture. They chatted for a while, and the vulture had great fun with the jokes the toad made.
Night was falling when the toad bade goodbye to his friend.
Well, my dear friend, I must go. After all, I need to relax and look great at the party in Heaven.
Are you really coming?
Am I coming? Of course I am! See you in Heaven - without fail.
However, instead of going away, the toad went out and then jumped through the window back into the vulture’s house. Seeing the vulture’s guitar on his bed, the toad decided to hide inside it.
It was now time for the party, and the vulture got his guitar, tied it fast around his neck and flew up towards the sky.
Upon arriving, the vulture put his guitar aside and joined other birds. Meanwhile, the toad peeped out and, realizing that he was alone, jumped out joyfully.
The birds were astonished to see the toad jumping and dancing in Heaven. They were all curious to find out how he had got there, but the toad avoided being questioned, changed the subject of the conversation and continued dancing and having fun.
Morning was about to break when the toad thought it was time to get ready for his “ride” with the vulture. Without attracting the other animals’ attention, he crept out and slid into the vulture’s guitar, which was leaning in a corner. Soon the vulture came, picked up his guitar and took off to fly back to the forest.
He was flying smoothly when suddenly he felt something moving inside the guitar. He looked carefully and saw the toad coiling up like a ball, sleeping. What a cheeky toad! So, this is how you got to the party? Without even asking me? You made a fool of me!
The vulture then turned his guitar over and shook it until the toad slipped out and fell onto the ground.
Unfortunately, he fell right onto some stones in a river, but, surprisingly, he didn’t die. His back, though, was severely injured, covered with patches.
That is why toads have those curious patterns on their back…
[LESSON PLAN AND RESOURCES]
[LESSON PLAN AND RESOURCES]
PEDAGOGICAL AIMS
PEDAGOGICAL AIMS
SOCIAL AWARENESS
Understanding the perspectives and showing empathy towards others
SPECIFIC ABILITY
To develop positive relationships
To encourage teamwork and collaboration in problem-solving
MAKER CAPACITY
Gaining knowledge and developing competencies regarding specific processes and practices, such as in using a plastic needle, weaving, and creating three-dimensional images of one’s drawings
THE ENVIRONMENT
The school as a place to elevate ingenuity
1) ACTIVATE TO ENGAGE:
Take the children to an outdoor area and give them some materials: string, ribbons, plastic bags, flying seeds, rings, and scraps of light colorful fluttering fabric. Ask your students: “Can this fly? Can it flutter? Can it float?” ”
Put a number of both heavy and light materials on a tray and ask: “Can the wind blow this away? What is wind? What can the wind blow away? Is the wind strong? Can you catch wind? How do you see the wind? Does it change direction?” For more ideas about how to use open areas, click here.
Show them a specific item and ask: “Can the wind blow this away?” Each child or team member comes, one by one, and tests their hypothesis.
Give the students a few more light items such as ribbons, feathers, scraps of paper, seeds, leaves, cotton and thread so that they can broaden the scope of their investigation.
Put up a display with some of these materials and place it in the garden.
Get the students together in a circle and say: “Examine the painting O Sopro do Marili’, do artista indígena brasileiro Denilson Baniwa, da nação BANIWA”.
Going for an outdoor walk: “Look around: how many birds can you hear? What if there were no more birds in the world? Let’s go for a walk. How many different types of birds can we see?”
Choose a type of animal and represent it by sketching it, with playdough, using drawings, or using unusual materials. Is this a bird? What do its wings look like? And its beak? What about its feathers? Or could it be an aquatic animal? How does its skin feel? How does it breathe?
Note: here we can engage students’ attention by showing them pictures from books, magazines, and the Internet. Below are some questions and teasers you can use to encourage conversation:
What can you see?
Look more closely. How many animals can you perceive?
How many of these animals can fly?
Imitate one of them. Can your classmates guess which animal it is?
How do the animals in those images feel?
In how many different ways can we group these animals?
Can all birds fly? Does the wind help birds to fly? Why do you say that?
Get ready for the story!
Ask the group if anyone has ever heard of the fable A HEAVENLY PARTY. Show them the illustrations displayed on Aperte o Play. The teacher may either tell the story to the class or present the audiobook version of the fable. These are different reading challenges: while the former encompasses listening to an audiobook without the aid of images, the latter relies on the teacher performing a storytelling session of the fable, duly supported by illustrations. A third option allows the teacher to press play for the students to listen to the recorded story, either in English or in Portuguese, while showing scenes of the fable. Choose the one that suits your group best!
>> Before pressing play
Before pressing PLAY: The class receives an invitation to a feast in the sky, but not everyone can fly. What now? Wait! The Frog has sent us a letter too, and with the letter comes the story. Introduce the first part of the Beginning-Middle-End thinking routine. Say: “This is an illustration by artist Sergio Campante. It depicts the first part of the story. How does it continue? How does it end?"
>> While:
As the students watch and listen to the story, they should choose a character and observe how it feels. Press Play again!
>> After the story:
“How did the tortoise feel at the beginning of the story? Halfway through the story? At the end of the story? What about the vulture?” Play the story again, if necessary. “How can your animal help the tortoise?”
2) PLAY TO CREATE:
2) PLAY TO CREATE:
Now let’s play and create our own “carpool system”. How can we help animals go from one place to another? In how many different ways can we fly?
Shooting up like a rocket; flying like a plane; dropping gently like a parachute; floating like a butterfly; gliding like a bird.
Arrange the place in such a way that it can act as a third instructor. Choose one or more of the projects below. Build a few samples and make them available for the children to play freely with them. Be sure to have a myriad of items so everyone can experiment with them. Encourage the children to test hypotheses and to broaden their understanding of the design of the objects. Ask: “What parts can you see? How do they connect? What if they were different? What materials are used? What is the purpose of each of the parts? Why is the object working? Why has it stopped working?”
Shooting like a rocket — Straw Rockets
Gliding like a plane — Planador super rápido
Spinning like a helicopter- Flying Egg Carton craft
Dropping gently like a parachute - Simple Plastic Bag Parachute
Help the tortoise to get to the feast in the sky! Figure out your own way to take it there. Follow the steps below. They will help you in your exploration:
Explore ideas;
Do some scribbling;
Build prototypes to represent your idea;
Test and experiment with your invention (by playing with it).
Refine your invention;
Play and share;
Talk about what you invented.
REFLECT TO SHARE:
REFLECT TO SHARE:
Finally, to make your work visible to the world, choose one of the options:
Stage the fable using the illustrations shown in the Beginning-Middle-End thinking routine.
Create three dance moves to represent the beginning, the middle and the end of the fable. Also, devise a choreography for the fable.
Create, with ordinary materials or with your body, three sounds to illustrate the beginning, the middle and the end of the fable. Compose a soundtrack.
What if we had an inclusive party with our class or in our school to show what we have created? What would the invitations look like? Who would our guests be? How could we ensure that everybody would join us and feel welcome and safe?
TAKING IT FURTHER:
Build a Wind Tube;
Make your own kites;
Take the children on ‘invention’ field trips around your neighborhood. Ask them to name the things they see that were invented. Use an audio-recorder to register their comments. They will soon realize that, apart from our natural world, everything was invented and improved by human beings;
Create a curiosity corner for everything the students discover while observing and researching into the topic of animals that inspired inventions.
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