GRADE 5

Grade 5 English First Additional Language

Unit 6: Stories from Africa
Lesson plan for Term 2 weeks 1 & 2

Name of Unit: Stories from Africa Time: 2 weeks (10 hours)

Grade 5: Term 2 Weeks 1 & 2 Subject: English First Additional Language
Summary of the Unit
This unit is titled “Stories from Africa”. It features creative commons-licensed stories from the
African Storybook website. In this unit there is a selection of listening skills, reading text,
language activities and writing activities, all based on stories from Africa.

Curriculum Reference
CAPS Grade 5 English First Additional Language Term 2 weeks 1 & 2
Skill CAPS requirements Activities
Listening & Speaking Listens to a story Speaking:
(2 hours) Answers literal questions; Stories from Africa
answers questions about what
came first, second, third, etc.; Listening and speaking:
gives a personal response; The day the sun went away
answers more complex
questions, e.g. Why don’t
they …? What would you do Speaking:
…? Expresses feelings and Practise a poem
opinions, e.g. Why couldn’t …?

Takes part in a conversation

on a familiar topic, code-
switching if necessary
Asks and answers questions;
respects other learners by
listening to them; encourages
other learners to speak

Practises listening and

speaking
(Choose one for daily practice)
Performs a short poem
or rhyme; plays a simple
language game; gives and
follows instructions/directions;
tells own news

Reading & Viewing Reads a story

(5 hours) Pre-reading: reads and
discusses title and looks
at pictures; uses reading
strategies,

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e.g. making predictions, using Reading and viewing:
contextual clues; discusses Mrs Maneo’s pumpkin
new vocabulary; identifies
sequence of events, setting Reading and viewing:
and characters; makes up Discuss and learn new
questions about the story; vocabulary
uses a dictionary
Reading and viewing:
Does comprehension activity Read a book review
on the text (oral or written)
Reading and viewing:
Reads a simple book/story Independent reading: Give an
review oral book review
Identifies key features, e.g.
title, list of characters, brief
summary and rating; gives
opinion of the review

Practises reading
Reads aloud with appropriate
pronunciation, fluency and
expression

Reflects on texts read during

independent/pair reading
Does a short oral book review

Writing Writes a simple story with a Writing:

(2 hours) frame Write a book review
Writes an appropriate opening
sentence; writes about events
logically; uses connecting
words (and, but); uses some
adjectives as comparatives
and superlatives; writes an Writing:
appropriate ending Write an African story using a
frame
Writes a simple book/story
review with a frame
Uses frame correctly; includes
title, main characters and plot/
topic; includes summary of
plot; gives personal opinion of
text

Records words and their

meanings in a personal
dictionary
Writes sentences using the
words or explanations to show
the meaning, etc.

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Language structure and Spelling
conventions Uses the dictionary to check
(1 hour) spelling and meanings of
words; uses knowledge of
alphabetical order and first
letters of a word to find words
in a dictionary
GRADE 5
Language structures: The 40
common words spelling game
Language structures:
Countable and uncountable
nouns

Working with words and Language structures:

sentences Adjectives
Uses nouns that have only
plurals, e.g. scissors and Language structures:
trousers; begins to understand Comparison of adjectives
there is no article with
uncountable nouns (e.g. I Language structures:
like fish); builds on use of Revision
adjectives (before nouns),
e.g. The small dog; uses some
adjectives as comparatives
and superlatives; develops
the use of question forms, e.g.
who, what, when, which, why,
how; uses connecting words
to show addition (and) and
contrast (but)

Vocabulary in context
Words taken from shared
or individually read texts;
collocations, e.g. Happy
birthday, fish and chips
Educator preparation for the whole unit before starting
1. Read through the activities in this unit and familiarise yourself with them and what
resources they require so that you can be totally prepared before the unit begins. Look at
the videos of the stories and plan to show these after the corresponding lesson and not
before.
2. Identify the necessary vocabulary for this unit and write the words on wordlists. Constantly
revise the vocabulary and ensure that the learners’ understanding of the terminology is
consolidated. Try to include two spelling tests over the two-week period. Use the ten
suggested words taken from the reading activities this week.
3. Note that this unit does not include any reading activities based on the graded readers used
by the class or the Grade 5 First Additional Reader used by the class.
4. Note who might need remediation and extension and plan accordingly by finding relevant
activities for learners who come to your notice.
5. Provide a selection of books in the reading corner in the classroom. Books and other
reading material should include both fiction and non-fiction at different levels of difficulty
to accommodate all readers. Supplementary graded readers should also be available. The
learners will choose from these texts for independent reading activities.

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 GRADE 5
Resources
Learner worksheet activities, dictionaries, personal dictionaries, library books, classwork books
and a variety of graded supplementary reading books. The words of the National Anthem are
taken from Wikipedia.com (https://goo.gl/8TSCof ) and the National Anthem is sung on YouTube
at https://goo.gl/nnfSf7.
The link to the stories on the African Storybook website are:
* Selemeng’s cats: https://goo.gl/3VMfeM
* The day the sun went away: https://goo.gl/7JFD3P
* Mrs Maneo’s pumpkin: https://goo.gl/4LSg6Y
* How the toad got its skin: https://goo.gl/K6fx1R
Assessment
Informal Assessment
This unit uses informal assessment, which is mainly formative assessment where you mark
activities using your own guidelines with the purpose of noticing how each learner is
progressing. The rating scale below can also be used.
Rating code Description of competence
7 Outstanding achievement
6 Meritorious achievement
5 Substantial achievement
4 Adequate achievement
3 Moderate achievement
2 Elementary achievement
1 Not achieved

Listening and speaking: Stories from Africa

This unit is about stories from Africa. The stories all come from a website called the African Storybook
http://www.africanstorybook.org . In this activity we read and talk about a cat story. First read the story
to the learners, and then place them in groups. Let them read the story together and then talk about it by
answering the questions.

Here are the questions:

a) How many cats does Selemeng have?
b) Have you ever been stuck in a tree like Selemeng and the cat?
c) Have you had any interesting experiences with cats? Tell them to the group in not more than five
sentences.
d) Do you feel sorry for the dog? Why?
e) Can you finish this story? What happens next?

Listening and speaking: The day the sun went away

This is another story from the African Storybook website. Read the story to the learners several times,
making sure they understand the story. Explain any difficult words as you go along. After reading the story
and asking your own questions, place the learners in pairs and let them answer the questions that you read
to them. Go over the answers for each question before proceeding to the next one.

Suggested answers:
1. Where did Sun go?
Sun went to visit her sister, the Moon, on the other side of the sky.

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 GRADE 5
2. What season did it become when Sun left?
It was probably winter, because the trees lost their leaves and the mountains put on their white scarves.
3. What happened first after Sun left?
First the mountains put on their white scarves.
4. What was the next thing that happened after Sun left?
The wind had an argument with the trees.
5. What was the third thing that happened after Sun left?
The sky started to grumble and tuned grey.
6. What did the clouds do when they saw all of this happening?
The clouds started crying.
7. What happened when Sun came back? Tell your group what the sky, clouds,
mountains, wind, trees and plants did.
The sky became bright blue, the mountains put on their pretty green dresses, the wind went to sleep,
the trees stretched their branches and smiled, the clouds went away to play and lots of little plants
popped out of the earth.
8. Do you like the way this writer tells a story about the seasons? Give a reason for your answer.
Learners’ own answers.

Speaking: Practise a poem

This activity includes the National Anthem of South Africa. The learners will probably know the National
Anthem off by heart. Let them sing it. You could play the YouTube version as a sound backing. Emphasise
that the National Anthem is sung in five languages. After this we take the English translation of the National
Anthem and that becomes our poem for the week. Let the learners work in groups and try to learn this poem
off by heart. They practise it throughout the unit and add their own actions. Let them perform it to the rest of
the class.

Reading and viewing: Mrs Maneo’s pumpkin

Introduce this week’s reading text called ‘Mrs Maneo’s pumpkin. This is another story from the African
Storybook website, and it fits in well with our unit on stories from Africa. Start off by letting the learners predict
what the text will be about by reading the heading, the images and scanning the text. Read the text to the
learners at least twice first before they read, and stop and ask questions every so often in the second reading.
Explain the meaning of difficult words. At the end of the second reading ask the learners questions to see how
much they have understood. Then let the learners read the story in groups where they take turns reading.
When then groups have finished reading the story, they discuss the questions and answer them orally. Go
through the answers with them after this.

Suggested answers to the questions:

1. What problem did Mrs Maneo have with her pumpkin?
her pumpkin was big and it blocked her garden path.
2. Can you describe the pumpkin in your own words?
Learner’s own answer.
3. Who are the characters mentioned in the story?
Mrs Maneo, the pumpkin, Mrs Mapalesa, the villagers, a worm, shepherds,shepherds’ parents
4. What is the plot in this story?
The pumpkin was very big and it only moved when a worm ate some of it. The shepherds wanted to eat
it but their parents said they must wait till it scatters its seed and gives everybody food.
5. What is the setting of this story?
The countryside

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 GRADE 5
6. Here are some scenes in the story – the pumpkin spreads its seeds, the villagers push the pumpkin, the
shepherds tell their parents, the villagers thank Mrs Maneo, the worm eats the pumpkin, Mrs Maneo
tries to push the pumpkin. Put these in the right order, and say what happens in each scene.
Learner’s own answer.

7. Make up three more questions of your own about this story.
Learners’ own answers.

Reading and viewing: Discuss and learn new vocabulary

The learners match the words in the table below which are from the reading text with their meanings.

Suggested answers:

block make the movement of something difficult or impossible.

nibble take small bites of something
tickle lightly touch or prod someone so that they laugh
shepherds people who look after sheep
delicious very pleasant to taste
special better and different from what is usual.
scatter to throw in different directions

Reading and viewing: Read a book review

The learners work with a partner and read a book review that is placed inside a template.

Independent reading: Give an oral book review

The learners choose a storybook from the reading corner or library. They give their partner an oral book
review using the same categories as the one above.

Writing: Write a book review

The learners recall a story from the book they read during their Independent reading. In a previous activity
they read a book review written using this frame and they gave an oral book review of the book or story
they had read. In this activity, the learners write down their book review using the provided frame.

Writing: Write an African story using a frame

In this activity the learners discuss what is required – an African ‘How’ story that has mainly animals in it.
They look at the provided headings.

• How the zebra got his stripes

• How the leopard got his spots
• How tortoise got a crooked nose
• How the giraffe got such a long neck.
Or choose your own animal ‘How the…’

Show the learners how to take as heading and plan a story with it that has a beginning, a middle and an
end. They use a mindmap for the planning. Use the example given of ‘How the toad got its rough skin.’
Let them read through this example, which comes from the African Storybook, and let them not the three
paragraphs. Remind them that an interesting story always has a problem to solve. When the learners are
finished writing, let them swap with a partner and read the partner’s story. Ask them to give an oral opinion
on their partner’s story – something they like and something that can be improved.

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 GRADE 5
Language structures: The 40 common words spelling game
Let the learners read through the 40 common words with a partner. When they are finished, they write out
the 40 words on small individual cards. They spread them out face down. When the game starts, they take it in
turns to play. They take a word and say it out loud. Their partner spells it aloud. If the partner spells it correctly,
he or she he keeps the card.
If the partner is not correct, he or she replaces the card face down. The player who has the most cards when all
of them have been picked up is the winner.

When the learners have finished the game, they put the words in alphabetical order.
Suggested answers:

about, above, across, afraid, again, always, became, because, before, better, bring, can’t, careful, change,
could, discover, don’t, dream, enough, everyone, friend, good, great, have, here, how, know, make, name,
once, people, quite, talk, there, time, were, what, where, why, young

Language structures: Countable and uncountable nouns

Make two columns in your book: Countable nouns and Uncountable nouns, and write the following nouns in
the correct column. Make a sentence with each word.

Countable nouns Uncountable nouns

book, chair, door money, sugar, coffee, sand, rain, salt

Language structures: Adjectives
Write out the sentences and underline the adjectives.

1. The huge pumpkin blocked the path.

2. The little worm nibbled at the large pumpkin.
3. The pumpkin landed in a small field at the bottom of the hill.
4. The shepherds took a big stone and tried to break open the pumpkin.
5. The pumpkin scattered tiny seeds all over the village.

Language structures: Comparison of adjectives

Make a table as shown. Copy each adjective below and write its comparative and superlative form. After that,
make a sentence with each adjective.

quick smart strong heavy large old

tiny lazy pretty big
Adjective Comparative (-er) Superlative (-est)
quick quicker quickest
smart smarter smartest
strong stronger strongest
heavy heavier heaviest
large larger largest
old older oldest
tiny tinier tiniest
lazy lazier laziest
pretty prettier prettiest
big bigger biggest

Sentences are the learner’s own choice.

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 GRADE 5
It’s time for revision

Suggested answers:

A. Countable and uncountable nouns

Make two columns in your book, Countable nouns and Uncountable nouns, and write the following
nouns in the correct column. Make a sentence with each word.

Countable nouns Uncountable nouns

pumpkin, dog, cat, friend cheese, water, bread, milk, money

Sentences are the learners’ choice.

B. Adjectives
Read the following sentences. Write out the sentences and underline the adjectives.
1. The mountains put on their white scarves.
2. The whole world began to sink under water.
3. The bright, blue sky smiled at the sun.
4. The trees stretched out their leafy branches.
5. Lots of little plants popped out of the earth.

C: Comparison of adjectives
Make a table as shown. Copy each adjective below and write its comparative and superlative form. After
that, make a sentence with each adjective.

angry kind long thin quiet happy brave

noisy wide high
Adjective Comparative (-er) Superlative (-est)
angry angrier angriest
kind kinder kindest
long longer longest
thin thinner thinnest
quiet quieter quietest
happy happier happiest
brave braver bravest
noisy noisier noisiest
wide wider widest
high higher highest

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