The Ant and the Grasshopper
Grade Level
Grades 1 to 3
Subject
English, Reading, Writing
Topic
• The Ant and the Grasshopper
• Sequencing
Objectives
At the end of this lesson, pupils will be able to:
• Given -ing cards, place –ing words in sequence to show what activities Ant did to
prepare for winter.
• Given Events Card, draw the events of the story in order.
• Retell the story of The Ant and the Grasshopper – verbally.
• Retell the story by authoring and illustrating a The Ant and the Grasshopper book.
Materials
• The Ant and the Grasshopper story
• Events Card of the story
• -ing words on 3 x 5 cards
• Word Wall words
• Grasshopper shape and Ant shape
Introductory Questions for Discussion
1. What kinds of food do we harvest?
2. What kinds of food do you think an ant eats?
3. What kinds of food do you thing a grasshopper eats?
4. What do you eat when you are hungry?
5. Why is food stored?
6. When you are storing food, what do you do first, second, next, after that, …?
Introduction Activity
• Show pupils the first Events Card from The Ant and Grasshopper.
• Ask pupils to predict what is going to happen.
• Read the story and discuss what happened.
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Body
• After reading and briefly discussing the story, discuss what the words sequential
order mean.
• Begin by asking the pupils questions (What season did the story start? What did Ant
do first, second, after that, and so on to the end of the story).
• The teacher then shows pupils the word cards containing words form the word wall
which were taken directly from the story text.
• Pupils read the word cards and place them in the order they appear in the story.
• The teacher then informs pupils that they will be divided into groups.
• Each group will be given a set of –ing word cards and asked to place the –ing words
in sequential order.
• The groups will be given a blank Events Cards (with six spaces) and asked to draw
what happened first, second, after that, etc. according to the story.
• Each group will then use their Events Card to verbally retell the story in their own
words.
• After completing this activity, the pupils will be given an ant or a grasshopper shape
pattern. Each group member will trace the pattern and the group will then author and
illustrate their own version of the story. (An idea might be to have the sentences
written on the board for students to copy and fill in the correct words.
For example: First ant __________, then ant ________________.
Vocabulary Terms
• Sequential order
• -ing words
Evaluation
• The teacher monitors the work of the groups while they are completing the
sequencing tasks.
• The teacher monitors participation during all activities.
• The teacher will use the ant and grasshopper books (retold versions) to evaluate
understanding of the topic.
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Word Wall Words
hopping
chirping
singing
bearing
taking
toiling
moiling
helping
distributing
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-ing Cards
hopping chirping singing
bearing taking toiling
moiling helping distributing
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Events Cards
THE END
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Ant Shape Book
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Grasshopper Shape Book
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