Stories are one of the main ways that our species understands the natural world. Giving human attributes to animals is by no means a recent phenomenon; ancient gods were often hybridized human-like animals (or animal-like humans). Stories play a vital role in the growth and development of children. The books they read and the characters they get to know can become like friends. It’s also good for children to understand that books are a useful source of information and that good reading skills are important for success in their future lives. Reading also helps children with their confidence levels, coping with feelings and language and learning.

48 ΤΟ ΤΖΙΤΖΙΚΙ ΚΑΙ ΤΟ ΜΥΡΜΗΓΚΙ

Elmer the Elephant – Mastori Meropi

The stories are suitable for early exploration of the themes and issues relating to the concept of diversity, as Elmer discovers that when he tries to change his appearance in order to ‘blend in’ with the other elephants, they no longer recognise him, or accept him as one of their own. This makes Elmer sad, and he experiences how it feels to be treated like an outcast, after being ostracised by his old friends. It’s only when it begins to rain, and the grey paint that Elmer has covered himself with starts to disappear, that Elmer’s ‘true colours’ are revealed, much to the surprise and delight of his friends, who preferred his multicoloured and fun loving persona. Following their happy reunion, the elephants reassure Elmer that they love him because of his differences, and not in spite of them, and they celebrate by painting themselves in multi-coloured paint, in recognition of Elmer’s unique appearance and personality.

1st Primary School of Komotini

Free digital slideshow generated with Smilebox

It is a poem from a class language book. So we decided to present it and work on it with drawings, word searching and creative writing.

From Language subject a Big  Thank you to all of you

Discuss why Elmer didn’t want to be different. Why is it OK to be different from other people?

• How can we celebrate our differences like the elephants do on Elmer Day?
• An old elephant says to Elmer “It didn’t take you long to show your true colours.” Discuss what this expression means.

​Three little pigs

Book — Three Little Pigs: The Wolf’s Story ; classic version of The Three Little Pigs

Ask student volunteers to recall the story of The Three Little Pigs. Discuss the plot, as well as the point of view from which the classic version is written (the pigs’ point of view). Ask students what words they marked in their books. Use this opportunity to model how they can read these words using decoding strategies and context clues.

• Have students share any questions they had while they were reading. Discuss how self-monitoring helped them stay actively involved in the reading process and helped them better understand and remember what they read.Discuss with students the plot of the classic story of The Three Little Pigs.Review or explain that when writing, authors create many paragraphs within a book. A new paragraph is created when the author chooses to begin writing about a new idea. The author then begins on a different line, and the new paragraph is either indented or set apart with extra space.Social Studies ConnectionDiscuss the topic of homelessness and the organizations in place to help those who are without a home. Point out the empathy displayed in the weasel’s efforts to save the homeless wolf and the neighbors’ help to build him a new home and plant a garden. Relate this to real-life situations, and ask students what they might do to help people less fortunate than themselves. at the end you can make figger dolls to retell the story

Creative writing

I gave to my students the words : crab,fish,seagull,ship,school and I asked from them to write a story with these words

we read stories with animals My students drew their favorite story

1ST PRIMARY SCHOOL OF PANORAMA THESSALONIKI GREECE

Elmer the elephant is bright-colored patchwork all over. No wonder the other elephants laugh at him!

If he were ordinary elephant color, the others might stop laughing. That would make Elmer feel better, wouldn’t it? David McKee’s comical fable about everyone’s favorite patchwork elephant teaches readers to be themselves and celebrates the power of laughter.

Mastori Meropi

Once upon a time there was a mother pig who had three little pigs .Classic  story about three little pigs & a big bad wolf

The Wolf and The Seven Little Goats- Mastori Meropi

.“The Wolf and the Seven Young Goats” is one of the most famous fairytales from the Grimm’s magnificent world of fairytales. The main characters are animals. The wolf represents a violent and evil person that wants to hurt innocent children. The Goats are the innocent children that listen to their parents but because of lack of experience they fall right into the wolf’s trap.

“cicada and ant” by Aisopos- Mastori Meropi
Aisopos was a storyteller, who was born in 7 th century b.c. He was narrating his teaching myths and never wrote them. This particular myth (cicada and ant) talks about industriousness, teamwork of ant and the cicada who never works and finally dies from the cold in winter, because didn’t care to gathr food in summer.

DG”SLANCE” LEVSKI/BULGARIA

UNDER THE MUSHROOM

One day, a little ant was walking on a path in a forest when suddenly a hard rain started unexpectedly.
Her luck was when she saw a little mushroom not far away and thought that it would be good to take it as an umbrella to protect herself from the rain.

So, she was staying there, when a nice butterfly came and asked for permission to take shelter there too. Of course, it wasn’ t any problem about it.

After a while, squeaking desperately, a little mouse came and joined them. The other friends made a little room for the poor mouse under the mushroom. Suddenly, a little bird asked for permission to join them under the mushroom, too.

The three friends called the bird and accepted it too, but they all started wondering how it was possible there was still enough place for all of them?!?!

Then a scared bunny came and asked for a shelter, too. He was accepted and all the friends were staying together. A red fox was looking for a shelter and complained that its beautiful fur was all wet, so she was accepted too.

Soon the rain stopped and the sun came back in the sky through the clouds. All the friends left and only the little ant remained there still wondering how it was possible there was enough room for all the animals under the mushroom?!!? A little green frog climbed up the mushroom and answered to the curious ant that when it rains, all the mushrooms get bigger, they grow! …that’ s the explanation!

The Wolf and the Seven Young Goats

A mother goat leaves her seven children at home while she ventures into the forest to find food. Before she leaves, she warns her young about the Big Bad Wolf who will try to sneak into the house and gobble them up. The wolf will pretend to be their mother and convince the kids to open the door. The young children will be able to recognize their true mother by her white feet and sweet voice.

The mother goat leaves and the seven kids stay in the house. Before long, they hear a voice at the door that says “Let me in children, your mother has something for each and every one of you”. His gruff voice betrays him and the kids do not let him in. The wolf goes to a market and steals some honey to soften his voice. A little while later, the kids hear another voice at the door: “Let me in children, your mother has something for each and every one of you”. This time the voice is high and sweet like their mother’s. They are about to let him in when the youngest kid looks under the crack in the door and notices the wolf’s big, black feet. They refuse to open the door, and the wolf goes away again.

The wolf goes to the bakery and steals some flour, smearing it all over his coat, turning his black feet white. He returns to the children’s house, and says “Let me in children, your mother has something for each and every one of you”. The kids see his white feet and hear his sweet voice, so they open the door. The wolf jumps into the house and gobbles up six of the kids. The youngest child hides from the wolf in the grandfather clock and does not get eaten.

Later that day, the mother goat returns home from the forest. She is distraught to find the door wide open and all but one of her children missing. She looks around and sees the wolf, fast asleep under a tree. He had eaten so much, he could not move. The mother goat calls to her youngest child to quickly get her a pair of scissors, a needle and some thread. She cuts open the wolf’s belly and the six children spring out miraculously unharmed. They fill the wolf’s belly with rocks, and the mother sews it back up again. When the wolf wakes up, he is very thirsty. He goes to the river to drink, but falls in and drowns under the weight of the rocks. The Family lived happily ever after.

The Three Little Pigs

There was an old sow with three little pigs, and as she had not enough to keep them, she sent them out to seek their fortune. The first that went off met a man with a bundle of straw, and said to him, “Please, man, give me that straw to build me a house.” Which the man did, and the little pig built a house with it.

Presently came along a wolf, and knocked at the door, and said, “Little pig, little pig, let me come in.”

To which the pig answered, “No, no, by the hair of my chiny chin chin.”

The wolf then answered to that, “Then I’ll huff, and I’ll puff, and I’ll blow your house in.” So he huffed, and he puffed, and he blew his house in, and ate up the little pig.

The second little pig met a man with a bundle of furze [sticks], and said, “Please, man, give me that furze to build a house.” Which the man did, and the pig built his house.

Then along came the wolf, and said, “Little pig, little pig, let me come in.”

“No, no, by the hair of my chiny chin chin.”

“Then I’ll puff, and I’ll huff, and I’ll blow your house in.” So he huffed, and he puffed, and he puffed, and he huffed, and at last he blew the house down, and he ate up the little pig.

The third little pig met a man with a load of bricks, and said, “Please, man, give me those bricks to build a house with.” So the man gave him the bricks, and he built his house with them.

So the wolf came, as he did to the other little pigs, and said, “Little pig, little pig, let me come in.”

“No, no, by the hair of my chiny chin chin.”

“Then I’ll huff, and I’ll puff, and I’ll blow your house in.”

Well, he huffed, and he puffed, and he huffed and he puffed, and he puffed and huffed; but he could not get the house down. When he found that he could not, with all his huffing and puffing, blow the house down, he said, “Little pig, I know where there is a nice field of turnips.”

“Where?” said the little pig.

“Oh, in Mr. Smith’s home field, and if you will be ready tomorrow morning I will call for you, and we will go together and get some for dinner.”

“Very well,” said the little pig, “I will be ready. What time do you mean to go?”

“Oh, at six o’clock.”

Well, the little pig got up at five, and got the turnips before the wolf came (which he did about six) and who said, “Little pig, are you ready?”

The little pig said, “Ready! I have been and come back again, and got a nice potful for dinner.”

The wolf felt very angry at this, but thought that he would be up to the little pig somehow or other, so he said, “Little pig, I know where there is a nice apple tree.”

“Where?” said the pig.

“Down at Merry Garden,” replied the wolf, “and if you will not deceive me I will come for you, at five o’clock tomorrow and get some apples.”

Well, the little pig bustled up the next morning at four o’clock, and went off for the apples, hoping to get back before the wolf came; but he had further to go, and had to climb the tree, so that just as he was coming down from it, he saw the wolf coming, which, as you may suppose, frightened him very much.

When the wolf came up he said, “Little pig, what! Are you here before me? Are they nice apples?”

“Yes, very,” said the little pig. “I will throw you down one.” And he threw it so far, that, while the wolf was gone to pick it up, the little pig jumped down and ran home.

The next day the wolf came again, and said to the little pig, “Little pig, there is a fair at Shanklin this afternoon. Will you go?”

“Oh yes,” said the pig, “I will go. What time shall you be ready?”

“At three,” said the wolf. So the little pig went off before the time as usual, and got to the fair, and bought a butter churn, which he was going home with, when he saw the wolf coming. Then he could not tell what to do. So he got into the churn to hide, and by so doing turned it around, and it rolled down the hill with the pig in it, which frightened the wolf so much, that he ran home without going to the fair. He went to the pig’s house, and told him how frightened he had been by a great round thing which came down the hill past him.

Then the little pig said, “Ha, I frightened you, then. I had been to the fair and bought a butter churn, and when I saw you, I got into it, and rolled down the hill.”

Then the wolf was very angry indeed, and declared he would eat up the little pig, and that he would get down the chimney after him. When the little pig saw what he was about, he hung on the pot full of water, and made up a blazing fire, and, just as the wolf was coming down, took off the cover, and in fell the wolf; so the little pig put on the cover again in an instant, boiled him up, and ate him for supper, and lived happily ever afterwards.

PLEVEN/BULGARIA

Magdalena Petkova

A little bit of winter   (Nipiagogeio Heronias)

Εκδότης : Ελληνικά Γράμματα
Συγγραφέας : Στιούαρτ Πολ
Μεταφραστής : Ρώσση – Ζαΐρη Ρένα
Εικονογράφος : Ρίντελ Κρις

A brilliant story about winter, hibernation, friendship, caring and empathy

Pazardzhik/BULGARIA

 

Grandpa’s mitten

An old man had gone for his walk one wintry morning wearing his long overcoat, brown cap and matching mittens. On his way back, he stopped at the tea shop to grab a cup of tea. In order to count the right change, he took off his right mitten and put it in his other pocket . He continued his onward journey sipping on his tea. The mitten moved in the small pocket and soon fell out on the soft snow by the sidewalk.

A little mouse scurrying by got curious. When he entered the mitten, it was warm inside. The mouse decided to stay. After a while a bunny rabbit hopping about in the cold saw the brown mitten. “Is anybody home? May I come inside?”  The mouse saw a pair of big feet from the narrow opening and felt scared. “Oh sure, come in,” he said. So the rabbit  settled in front part. The mouse moved to the back. The north wind blew outside and they felt comfortable inside. Soon after a porcupine looking for things to eat on the ground, found the mitten and decided to explore inside.  “Is anybody home? May I come inside?” Though there was not enough room, the mouse and the rabbit did not want to argue with someone covered with spines. “Oh sure, come in,” they said. They moved further to make space and the porcupine wriggled in.

Attracted by the movements in the snow, an owl flew down from a nearby tree and alighted in front of the mitten. “Hoot hoot! Who is inside? May I join you ?” The mouse the rabbit and the porcupine were snug and warm inside. However, they were scared of the sharp talons of the owl.  “Oh sure, come in,” they relented.  The woolen mitten stretched and expanded when the owl pushed her way in.

It started to snow outside. Inside the bulging mitten, the animals were warm from the proximity and each other’s body heat.  A fox was walking by in the snow storm, shivering all over. He suddenly saw the whiff of steamy breath arising from the mitten and decided to take shelter inside.  “Is anybody home? May I come inside?”  His sharp teeth glistened in the gloomy afternoon. It scared all the animals and they agreed to his request without any protest. All the animals moved around to make space for the fox. The mitten now seemed to burst at the seams. The mouse had moved to the top of the fox’s nose. As he turned a little this way and that, his long whiskers tickled the fox’s nose. “Aaaachoooh!!!”

There came a huge sneeze from the fox. The force of it sent all the animals outside the mitten and it flew up in the air. Almost at the same time, the old man, missing his mitten, had retraced his path looking in the snow. Luckily, the empty mitten landed right in front of him. He happily picked it up and put it on. It felt a little loose in his hand.  But he did not give it another thought and was well on his way towards home….

Nils Holgersson

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wonderful_Adventures_of_Nils

MUHITTIN DEVELI PRIMARY SCHOOL    MERSIN/TURKEY

(The Frog Prince);

The story begins when the princess loses her golden ball in the pond. The frog offers to help the princess in return for her friendship, and the princess agrees. But after the princess gets her golden ball, she runs back to the castle without the frog.

Later, the frog appears at the castle, and expects to sit and eat with the princess. She doesn’t like the idea, but her father, the king, says she must keep her promise to the frog. After the meal, the frog asks to sleep next to the princess. The idea repulses the princess, but once again, the king makes his daughter live up to her word. However, when they are up in the princesses room, she is so disgusted with the idea of having the frog sleep in her bed that she violently throws the frog against the bedroom wall. With that, the frog turns into a prince and reveals that he has been under a witch’s spell.

In the end, the prince and the princess marry and ride a carriage back to the prince’s kingdom. The carriage is driven by the prince’s servant, Iron Henry, who had bars put around his breaking heart when his master was put under the witch’s spell. The bands break apart because Henry is so happy to have his master return. Henry’s loyalty is quite different from the princess’s selfishness. But eventually the king teaches her how important it is to always keep your word, even when you don’t really want to.

20th Kindergarten of Katerini-Greece

The country mouse and the city mouse

Our Animal lesson