That was when the shot rang out. The hyenas bolted into the long grass and were gone. When Bertie turned around, he saw his mother in her night gown, rifle in hand, running towards him down the hill. He had never seen her run before. Between them, they gathered up the mud-matted cub and brought him home." Wales - Progression Step 2/3 Languages, Literacy and Communication: Literature fires imagination and inspires creativity. and between the lion cub and the hyenas, shouting at them to go away. They didn't. They stood and watched, uncertain for a while, then they began to circle again. Closer. Closer. The lion cub is sold to Monsieur Merlot to be the star of his circus. In music and dance, explore The Carnival of the Animals by Saint-Saens (can the children work out which animals are being portrayed in the different sections?). Create a dance for the majestic lion by splitting his music into sections which tell a story – his entrance, embodying the animal through static shapes; looking around; moving as the animal using different pathways; coming together into a larger group. Extend this approach so that groups work on different animals.

Guided Reading: The Butterfly Lion | Teaching Resources Guided Reading: The Butterfly Lion | Teaching Resources

England - KS1/KS2 English: Develop positive attitudes to reading and understanding of what they read. Well, you've probably never seen a lion live in a house before, but that's what he ends up doing. He even sleeps at the end of Bertie's bed. Roger McGough’s poems based on the Carnival of the Animals will provide a starting point for children’s own writing, whilst in art, works by Chagall, Miro and Seurat referencing the circus will support discussion of style and developing mixed media work.

When Michael Morpurgo was asked to name his favourite of the books he’s written, he named The Butterfly Lion (along with Kensuke’s Kingdom, War Horse and Private Peaceful). Natalie Cassidy named The Butterfly Lion as her favourite book on the BBC Bringing Books to Life feature. I’m the English Coordinator at a small little school and I took on the task last year of developing a guided reading programme for KS2 as I noticed this was missing from the school. We are kept wondering about the fate of the lion, whilst following Bertie’s journey from boyhood to life as a soldier in the French trenches during WWI. It is in this foreign land that Bertie discovers what has become of the lion cub or ‘Le Prince Blanc’ as he is also known. 3. Writing opportunities Some books make you laugh, don't they? And other books make you hold your breath, because you can't believe what's about to happen next. Other books make you feel sad, because, the writer has made you care for the characters so much. Well, I have to tell you, that this book has all of that. I'm never going to forget reading this book.

Michael Morpurgo | All Saints Catholic Primary School

Why not involve the children in making ‘afternoon tea’ as served by Millie? As part of this mini project, design and build a cake stand (cardboard versions available online could be used as part of research); write and send invites; make sandwiches and bake scones. You could extend this further by charging people to attend and getting the children to work out the costs involved and therefore how much to charge to break even or make a profit. This book, The Butterfly Lion, is such a wonderful story. It's about a boy called Bertie. He lives with his parents, on a remote farm in the wild countryside of South Africa. I am sharing this guided reading resource with you in the hopes that it will save you some bit of time and enhance your guided reading lesson. I know I lose countless hours looking up resources, creating resources and copying resources myself, so if this helps you in any way, then I count that as a small victory for our educating community. The children use this plot outline in a new setting (safari park, school, park etc.) ‘stealing’ some of the language features from the model to retell their own story, initially orally and then in writing. Clare Pearson is deputy headteacher at Summerbank Primary School in Stoke. Previously, Clare was the Primary Advisory English Teacher for Stoke-on-Trent. Share your best topicActress Natalie Cassidy reads extracts from 'The Butterfly Lion' by Michael Morpurgo, and illustrated by Christian Birmingham.

The Butterfly Lion - Teaching Resources - Michael Morpurgo

After five baths, he was finally clean, and completely white. Have you ever seen a white lion before? No? Emotion/Emoji Word Bank: Create a word bank of emotion-related words (e.g., joyful, worried, excited) on the board, linking them to corresponding emojis. Ask children to rate the books they read based on their emotions. Sitting high up in a tree, or looking out of his window, Bertie watches the beautiful elephants, giraffes and zebras come down to the water hole. But it's the lions, Bertie likes best of all. And when, one morning, he sees a baby lion cub trying to escape from some hungry hyenas, Bertie rushes out to rescue it. I can do things you cannot, you can do things I cannot, together we can do great things" Mother TeresaA helpful way to introduce children to the human impact of the war would be to use One Boy’s War by Lynn Huggins-Cooper. This picture book tells the story of 16-year-old Sydney’s decision to join-up in 1914 and the effect it has on him and his family. The children could create a scrapbook for Bertie (or Sydney from this story) as they research the War further and learn about recruitment, training and life in the trenches. 5. Roll-up roll-up! The Butterfly Lion is not the only one of Michael Morpurgo’s books to feature a cat. Kaspar – Prince of Cats, Tom’s Sausage Lion, Mossop’s Last Chance, Adolphus Tips and The Nine Lives of Montezuma are also about cats. Friendship, war and separation are some of the big themes that children can explore while reading Michael Morpurgo's The Butterfly Lion... As the plot begins to unfold, our young runaway meetsa mysterious, but kindly old lady who (over tea and scones) draws him and the reader into the story of another child, Bertie. We learn he grew up on a remote farm in South Africa living in a closed compound with little company. One day, looking beyond the walls, he is entranced at the sight of a white lion cub and his mother drinking at the waterhole.