About half an hour’s train ride out of the big city is a town called Burbington. It’s a quiet place best known for the pleasant walks in the nearby woods. There are a few other things you can do there. On Mondays and Thursdays in the church hall Miss Du Pont holds her ballet class, and on Tuesdays and Fridays, Sifu Stan runs his Martial Arts School.
One evening the wood’s news resident peeped in through the window of the hall. He saw a line of young people dressed in white pajamas with belts of various colors. They were moving back and forth practicing kicks, punches, and turns.
Theo thought: “I don’t like violence but there are times when a few of those moves would come in handy for a vigilante monkey.”
One of the Kung Fu students was a ten-year-old boy who had recently won his green belt with a white stripe. His name was Neet and he lived in a flat above the village shop that was owned by his parents. That night as he lay awake in bed he heard a shrieking noise that came from the direction of the woods. Neet liked to watch nature films on TV and he thought:
“I am sure that is the voice of a monkey.”
Near the top of a tall tree in Burbington Woods, Theo held his radio close to his furry ear and listened to the midnight news.
“City Park will be closed to the public while police conduct a massive hunt for the fugitive monkey, Theo, who escaped from prison last week.”
You might think that Theo would be pleased to hear that he was one step ahead of the law. It had been a wise move to quit the city for the suburbs. But in fact, he shook the radio saying: “You stupid humans, when will you learn to tell one monkey from another, and see that good and evil are two different things?”
To understand Theo’s fury, you need to know that the monkey who escaped from prison was another monkey – a thief whom the police had got mixed up with Theo.
And now the treetops of Burbington Woods were filled with a loud chattering and screaming:
“It’s a conspiracy!” raged Theo. “They are all in it together – Mr. Grabber, The Mayor, The Chief of Police, The Prison Governor… all of them know the truth, and they are all as corrupt as each other. They are sharing the loot.”
Mr Grabber was the evil zookeeper who trained animals to carry out crimes. He was good friends with people in high up places, but he was Theo’s sworn enemy.
As it was so late at night, few people heard the unfamiliar sounds of a monkey ranting and raving. A poacher setting a snare for rabbits looked up and shuddered. A couple of teenagers who were out for a romantic walk ran back to their car. And of course, Neet turned over in bed and heard him too.
Towards morning, Theo went foraging for food. Often he could get by on leaves, roots, and ants, but today he fancied a full breakfast and that meant fruit. He longed for some crunchy apples but for now, he had to make do with the half-rotten fruit. He hopped over a fence and jumped up onto a wheelie bin.
“Paw, what a pong!” he thought as he lifted up the lid of the neighboring bin. He clawed open one of the black sacks. He could see bits of cardboard and plastic but no fruit. The shop was doing a good job of selling its apples and bananas before they went off. He would have to dig deeper into the refuse. While he was pondering this, a voice said:
“Hey monkey, fancy a banana?”
Theo had one thought: “Help it’s the cops!”
In a flash, he leaped onto the fence. He glanced around and saw a boy who tossed the fruit at him. Theo caught the gift and ran off into the woods.
Theo wondered if he should return for breakfast the following morning.
A sensible voice in his head said: “It’s bad security to go back to the same place every morning. It makes it only too easy for my enemies to set a trap.”
But a more monkeyish voice told him: “The banana feels so much better in my tummy than a worm. He’s just a boy who gave it me, and he seems kind.”
And funnily enough, the boy was pondering a similar question: “I wonder if I’ll see the monkey tomorrow?”
The question was answered when Theo woke up craving for bananas. He might be smart, but in the end, we all have instincts, and a monkey feels the pull of a good meal. He sat on the fence and waited. The boy came out and threw him a banana and an apple.
And the following day, the same thing happened again.
Theo was starting to feel comfortable in his new woodland home. But on the radio, he was hearing disturbing reports of criminal goings-on in the city.
“The animal gang has struck again. Police are examining CCTV footage showing a group of chimps and monkeys using heavy cutting equipment to break into a jewelry store. They escaped over rooftops with valuables worth over £3 million.”
It always made Theo angry to hear about crimes being committed, but he also thought: “It is too much for me to fight this on my own.”
Not all the daily news interests children, but when crimes are being carried out by animals, that gets talked about at school. A boy called Giles said that his mum was too scared to go to the city in case she was robbed by monkeys. A girl called Lisa claimed that the animals were already burgling houses in Burbington.
“That’s nonsense,” said Neet. “All the crimes are in the city.”
“My dad saw a monkey in the woods,” claimed Lisa. “The police aren’t saying anything because they don’t want to scare people.”
“He just imagined he saw one,” insisted Neet. “There are no monkeys in Burbington Woods.”
“How do you know?” asked Giles. “There might be a thousand monkeys hiding among the trees and they will come out one day and riot through the town burning cars and smashing windows. They will be sure to break into your shop and steal all the bananas.”
“I’m not scared,” said Neet. But he began to wonder if perhaps he was doing a silly thing by helping the monkey. Maybe he was a criminal after all, though he just looked cute, hungry and in need of help. Who could he talk to? If he told his secret to his parents he knew that they would call the police. After his mum and dad, the person he most looked up to was Sifu Stan, his Kung Fu teacher. He decided to consult him.
“You did well to tell me,” said Sifu when he had heard Neet’s story. “Your friend the monkey is a criminal who is wanted by the police.”
But Neet shook his head and said: “Sifu, I know he’s not bad. If he’s done all those big crimes like they say he has, why is he stealing bananas from the bins? He should be rich and living a life of luxury.”
“I see your point,” said Sifu. “I would like to talk to this monkey.”
“Can you really talk to animals?” asked the boy.
“Anyone can say anything to anybody,” said Sifu. “The clever part is to understand.”
Sifu usually began his day at 5.30 am with half an hour of exercise and half an hour of meditation. On Saturday morning he had to cut his routine short to be in position behind Neet’s house before the monkey arrived. He hid behind a big pile of twigs and did not have to wait long. Theo sat on the fence for a few seconds before Neet threw the fruit at him and he was off back into the woods.
Sifu leaped up and tried to follow him. He jumped over a thicket of brambles and ducked under branches, but even he could not keep up with a monkey swinging from tree to tree. Sifu was not one to give up easily. He followed in the general direction of the fugitive, listening out for chattering or shrieking. Eventually, his keen ears caught the sound of a human voice.
“This is the news on the morning of Saturday 28th of June.”
“That’s strange,” thought Sifu, “the radio seems to be playing at the top of that silver birch tree.”
Next to the silver birch stood a pine tree with nicely spaced branches that were good for climbing. He began to scale the tree so stealthily and silently that even Theo’s keen ears did not catch any untoward sound. Indeed his thoughts were focused on the reports of a series of street robberies carried out by monkeys on motorbikes.
When Sifu reached the top of the tree he said: “ooh ooh ah ah,” and Theo looked around and stared at the tall bald man dressed in white, loose-fitting clothes. He replied: “That’s a very poor impression of a monkey,” though of course what he said came out as: “Ah ah ooh ooh.” Meanwhile, he was thinking: “Shall I make a break for it now or hang around and see what this crazy, tree climbing human is doing up here?”
The strange guy said: “I did not mean any lack of respect. I came to see if you might need anything. I teach Kung Fu and one of my pupils says he has been feeding you.”
Theo realized that he had seen this man before, through the window of the church hall. He stood up on the branch and bowed, and then made a kick to show that he understood.
“You would like me to teach you Kung Fu?”
Theo nodded and chattered excitedly.
“I can give you and Neet a special class for free, and maybe you can show me some monkey moves, but first I have to know that you are not a criminal like they say on that radio of yours.”
Theo shook his head.
“I don’t believe you are,” said Sifu. “I have taught martial arts for enough years to develop some strong instincts. I almost always know if somebody is going to misuse what I teach them.”
Theo nodded.
“You understand every word I say, don’t you?”
And Theo nodded some more.
“Well, come to the church hall at 6 o’clock this evening and we shall start our training,” said Sifu. He thought for a moment and added: “You don’t have a watch do you?” Theo pointed to the radio to show that was how he found out the time. “Right then,” said Sifu, “I will be expecting you.”
And that’s where we leave our hero, Theo the crime-fighting monkey, for now.
Questions
Waar gaat het verhaal over?
Hoe ziet de hoofdpersoon eruit?
At the beginning of the story, _____.
In the middle of the story, _____.
At the end of the story, _____.
Haal 10 woorden uit de tekst die je niet kent. Schrijf ze op in je schrift en maak er kloppende zinnen bij.
Story 2 'Picture Perfect'
Aims
I can read for specific information.
Instructions
Read the story 'Picture Perfect'.
You can also listen to the audio whilst reading.
Answer the questions in your notebook.
Discuss your answers with one of your classmates.
Write your own questions on the story.
Swap your questions with a classmate and try to answer their questions.
Check each other's answers.
Audio
Picture Perfect
Jenny loved to draw and paint. She drew on anything and everything. When she was a little girl, her mother often found drawings on the walls and floor, in books, and on Jenny’s toys. If there were pencils, pens or paints around, Jenny drew a picture.
One day, Jenny was taking her first art class at school. She was very excited.
The art teacher, Mrs. Minton, told the children to paint the flowers in a vase at the front of the class.
‘Don’t worry if your painting doesn’t look exactly like the painting by the person next to you,’ she said. ‘The important thing is to paint what you see.’
Jenny worked very hard. She spent so long painting that her hand began to hurt from holding the brush.
She put the brush down for a moment to rest and looked at the painting next to hers.
‘That’s really good,’ she said to Carrie. Carrie’s painting was small and neat. Every flower was exactly like the real flowers in the vase.
‘Thanks,’ said Carrie. She looked over at Jenny’s painting. ‘Oh! What happened to yours?’
‘What do you mean?’ asked Jenny. She looked at her own painting. It was very different from Carrie’s. It covered the whole page and the colors were brighter than the real flowers.
‘It looks like a big mess,’ said Carrie. ‘Did you spill the paint?’
‘No,’ said Jenny, upset. ‘I painted what I saw, just like Mrs Minton said.’
‘It’s OK, you know,’ said Carrie. ‘Not everyone is good at art.’
Mrs Minton was walking through the class looking at all the paintings. When she
heard what Carrie said, she came over to look at Jenny’s work.‘Oh my,’ she said.
Jenny felt as though she might cry. She loved painting so much and now it seemed she wasn’t very good at it. ‘Is it really bad?’ she asked.
‘Bad?’ said Mrs Minton. ‘Oh no! I think it’s wonderful, Jenny. It’s so full of color and happiness.’Jenny was very surprised.
‘But Mrs Minton, it doesn’t look anything like the flowers you told us to draw.’ Carrie said.
‘Maybe not to you, Carrie. Everyone sees different things when they look at the world.
I have something I want to show you,’ Mrs Minton answered gently.
She showed them a picture in a book of a painting. ‘This is a picture an artist painted of his own face. This is how he saw himself.’
‘But … but … it’s just a few lines,’ said Carrie. ‘It doesn’t look anything like a real person.’
Mrs Minton turned to Jenny. ‘You should read this book, Jenny. It’s all about famous artists and their paintings. There are a lot of different kinds of paintings and one isn’t better than the other.’
‘Thank you,’ said Jenny. She took the book from Mrs Minton.
That evening, Jenny read all about the famous artists. Some of their paintings were very strange, but she liked to look at them all.
‘I’m going to be an artist when I grow up,’ she said to her mother.
Her mother smiled as she looked at the painting Jenny had brought home from school. ‘I think that’s a very good idea, Jenny. Let’s have your first ever painting hanging on the living room wall,’ she said.
Questions:
Why do you think Jenny liked drawing and painting?
What kind of things do you think she liked drawing or painting?
What do you think Mrs Minton meant by this?
What do you think Carrie meant?
What do you think Jenny’s painting looked like?
Why do you think Carrie said this?
How do you think Jenny felt?
Why was Jenny surprised?
How do you think she felt now?
What do you think she did next?
Why do you think Jenny enjoyed reading the book so much?
How do you think Jenny felt?
Do you think she will become a famous artist?
Story 3 'Izzy the Inventor'
Aims
I can read for specific information.
Instructions
Read the story 'Izzy the Inventor'.
You can also listen to the audio while reading.
Answer the questions in your notebook.
Check your answers with the key.
Audio
Izzy the Inventor
One morning, Izzy came down to breakfast with a big smile on her face. Her mom was making coffee and her dad was reading the paper at the table. ‘I have good news,’ said Izzy happily. ‘I invented the breakfast-making machine!’ Izzy’s mom and dad looked at her.
They did not look happy. ‘Where is it, dear?’ asked her dad nervously.
‘It’s right here,’ said Izzy pulling a huge machine into the Izzy The Inventor kitchen. Izzy’s mom and dad hid under the table. The machine made loud noises as it moved and smoke came out of it in two or three places.
‘Isn’t it wonderful?’ said Izzy. ‘This will save you a lot of work every morning, Mom.’ She looked around, puzzled. ‘Mom? Dad?’
Her parents looked out from under the table. ‘How do you know it works?’ asked her dad. ‘Of course, it works,’ said Izzy.
‘You said that about the dishwashing machine you invented. It broke all my best china,’ said her mom. ‘You said that about the car washing machine too. All the paint came off,’ said her dad.
‘This one works,’ said Izzy. ‘Now, what would you like for breakfast, Dad?’
‘Cereal,’ said her dad quickly.
‘You can have sausage and eggs,’ said Izzy.
Izzy pushed some buttons on the machine. She fed it some sausages and some
eggs. There were some loud, very strange noises from deep inside the machine, then silence.
‘Hmm,’ said Izzy. Then she pressed some more buttons. The machine went BANG!
Izzy’s mom jumped.‘What would you like, Mom?’ Izzy asked brightly.
‘Umm, I’ll just have fruit, thank you, darling,’ her mom said.
‘You can have pancakes. You love pancakes,’ said Izzy. She pressed some more buttons and added flour, eggs, and water to the machine.
There was a strange noise as the machine mixed, whisked, fried and stirred. It began to shake. Izzy’s mom and dad put their heads back under the table.
There was a huge BANG and then a cloud of green smoke filled the kitchen. The machine was quiet and still.
‘Oh no! I think it’s broken,’ Izzy said sadly. Her parents came out from under the table. ‘Really?’ they said together.
Izzy’s hair had clouds of smoke coming out of it and one of her eyebrows was
gone. Her face was black.
‘But look! It did work,’ she said. ‘It made your breakfast.’
The smoke cleared a little and there on the table was a large plate. On the plate was a big round ball of pancake with a perfect fried egg on top. When they looked closer they saw bits of broken eggshell in the pancake ball and two very burnt sausages sticking out of it.
‘Oh!’ said Izzy sadly. ‘It didn’t work at all.’ ‘Never mind, darling,’ said her dad.
‘Your next machine will be OK.’ ‘Maybe you should start with something easier,’ said her mom.
‘Something that doesn’t explode!’
‘Well, I have an idea for a machine that makes bubblegum,’ said Izzy.
‘NO!’ both her parents shouted together.
Questions
Q1. Why was Izzy’s dad nervous when Izzy said, “I invented the breakfast-making machine!”?
Q2. Why were Izzy’s mom and dad hiding under the table?
Q3. Was the dishwashing machine a success?Why (not)?
Q4. What damage did the car washing machine do?
Q5. What did Izzy’s mom and dad want for breakfast?
Q6. What did Izzy offer her mom and dad for breakfast?
Q7. Why was Izzy’s face black?
Q8. What did Izzy’s breakfast machine make?
Q9. Do you think her parents are happy with her new idea? How do you know?
I can compare myself to a character in a story or poem.
I can find specific information in a text.
Instructions
Read the Poem 'It's a disaster, I tell you!'.
Task 1 Answer the questions in your notebook.
Check your answers with the key.
Task 2 Answer the question in Dutch.
It's a disaster, I tell you!
I woke up this morning and what did I find?
A mouse in my shoe and another behind!
I got out of bed and fell on the floor,
Then hit my head on the wall and the door.
It’s a disaster, I tell you, a disaster, I say!
I just want to stay in my bed today!
I sat down for breakfast and what did I see?
A piece of burned toast – just staring at me!
I chewed it real slow but then my front tooth
Dropped into my plate and that is the truth!
It’s a disaster, I tell you, a disaster, I say!
I just want to stay in my bed today!
I picked up my backpack and got on the bus,
Forgetting my money with all of the fuss.
The ticket was eight cents but I had only five.
The driver said ‘Sorry, you walk and I’ll drive.’
It’s a disaster, I tell you, a disaster, I say!
I just want to stay in my bed today!
I walked down the street and what did I see?
Three hippos all dancing straight toward me!
Today is a day when the world’s upside down.
It’s a day for the bedroom and not for the town.
It’s a disaster, I tell you, a disaster, I say!
I just want to stay in my bed today!
Task 1 - Questions
1.What did the boy see behind his shoe?
2.What did he hit his head on?
3.What did he have for breakfast?
4.What happened to his tooth?
5.What did the boy forget?
6.How much money did he have?
7.How many hippos did he see dancing in the street?
8.Where did he want to be?
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there. On Mondays and Thursdays in the church hall Miss Du Pont holds her ballet class, and on Tuesdays and Fridays, Sifu Stan runs his Martial Arts School.
her dad was reading the paper at the table. ‘I have good news,’ said Izzy happily. ‘I invented the breakfast-making machine!’ Izzy’s mom and dad looked at her.
