Notes
| Synopsis | Leonard is a lion who loves poetry and daydreaming, and his best friend is Marianne, a duck. But the other lions insist that Leonard should be fierce. |
| Lesson access | via url-link or QR-Code |
| Equipment | tablet, phone / laptop, internet connection, headphones |
| Materials | dictionary (online or paper), craft materials |
| Language Skills | listening, vocabulary (verbs), speaking (read aloud) |
| Cross-curricular Links | drama, dance, history, natural science |
| Values | Courage, individuality, friendship, being true to your own beliefs |
| World Event Day | World Lion Day World Poetry Day |
STEP 1: Look at the Cover
| Look and describe | What do you see on the front cover? Describe the colours, the lion, his posture, his expression. |
| Read and think | Read the title. How do you think a lion should be? Is there just one way to be a lion? What do you think? |
| Predict | How do you think the lion on the cover page is going to be? |
| Research | Find out what noise lions make, how lions walk, how lions act |
| Personalise | When you have your own ideas during the day, how would you describe them? |
| Personalise | Do you like reading poems? Do you have a favourite poem (in English or your own language)? Have you ever written your own poem? Describe the process. |
| Check | Look up the opposite of: big, good, fierce, stuck, right. |
| Check | Look up the meaning of these verbs: to daydream, to prowl, to chomp, to growl, to roar. |
Step 2 and Step 3: Listen and Watch
| Part A | Listen and watch for general understanding and enjoyment. |
| Part B | Listen and watch again and answer the questions, pause and replay when you need to. |
| What do the lions say is the way to be a lion? | |
| What do lions do if they catch an animal? | |
| What does Leonard love to do? | |
| What does Leonard do on his thinking hill? | |
| What does Leonard do with words? | |
| Pause the video when Leonard meets a duck. Look at the duck’s expression. How does she feel? What do you think is going to happen? | |
| What is the duck’s name? What does Leonard say to her? | |
| What do Leonard and Marianne do together? | |
| What do the other lions say Leonard must be? | |
| How does Leonard feel? What does Marianne say? | |
| What do Leonard and Marianne do with their thoughts and ideas? | |
| What does Leonard say words can do? Do you agree? |
Step 4: Add your Voice
| Review & Join in | Watch the story again and join in with Ed Vere when he says: Crunch, Crunch, Chomp. |
| Review | Can you remember the things Leonard loves to do and the things he and Marianne do together? |
| Act out | Act out the part of the story when Leonard introduces himself to Marianne. Play Leonard introducing himself to another creature. |
| Think | Do you think words can change the world? Do you think Leonard’s words made the other lions think? How do you know? (Look carefully at the illustration). |
| Create | Write or say your own Leonard and Marianne poem. |
| Describe & Compare | Describe Leonard’s strengths. What about you? What are your strengths? |
| Personal response | Leonard and Marianne go to a thinking hill when they want to think. Do you have a special place you like to go to think or daydream? |
| Translanguage | You may know the word simba from The Lion King which is the name for lion in Swahili. How do you say lion in your language? |
| Think | What do you think is the message of this story? |
| Your opinion | Which is your favourite part of the story? Why? |
Step 5: Share and Evaluate your work
| Share | Send your work to your teacher or share in your virtual classroom. |
| Evaluate | Complete the evaluation sheet to reflect on your learning. |
Need Help ?
Part A: Read and complete. You can write or say your answers. You can do this on your own, in pairs or in a class discussion.
Part B: Think about how well you did. Choose and draw the smiley face that fits best.
Want More?
| 1 | Draw along with Ed Vere and learn how to draw Leonard. (continue viewing video) |
| 2 | Find and read the poems Leonard and Marianne are reading: The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost and Hope is the thing with feathers by Emily Dickinson. If you cannot read them in English, can you find translations in your language? |
| 3 | Enjoy watching and listening to the song, Circle of Life, from The Lion King, performed at the Gare de Lyon in Paris in June 2019. Link |
Learn Sign Language
If you enjoyed the read aloud, why not learn some Sign Language. Watch Leanne sign How to be a Lion and learn how to sign: lion, duck, poem and words.
©Ellis, G. & Gruenbaum, T. for PEPELT 2020
How to be a Lion by Ed Vere, published by Puffin, 2018
Video ©Puffin Time for Stories
Picturebooks in European Primary English Language Teaching 