The Butterfly Lion by Michael Morpurgo - Cover Sheet (KS2)

presents

The Butterfly Lion This is one of 16 activities to try during Michael Morpurgo Month, each of which explores an extract from a different book written by the world famous author.

The books are grouped into four themes: natural world, animal adventures, tales retold, and times of war. All the activities can be used as either a quick starter or a longer lesson and provide a great opportunity to develop children’s comprehension and vocabulary - not to mention a love of Michael Morpurgo’s books.

The Butterfly Lion

‘All my life I’ll think of you, I promise I will. I won’t ever forget you.’

Michael escapes from his strict boarding school and meets an old lady who lives nearby. She tells a remarkable story.

Bertie rescues an orphaned white lion cub from the African veld. They are inseparable until Bertie is sent to boarding school far away in England and the lion is sold to a circus. Bertie swears that one day they will see one another again, but it is the butterfly lion which ensures that their friendship will never be forgotten.

Using the resource

This resource shares a scene where Michael has run away from his strict boarding school and got lost. He meets an old lady and her dog.

After reading the text, there are suggested discussion activities considering: • Reading a text closely and making inferences • Author’s craft, showing information about characters through their actions rather than telling the reader • Specific vocabulary choices made by an author, using precise language to share an idea Depending on time and the needs of your class, you may want to work through all of

these interrelated activities or focus on just one.

There is also a sheet with a writing challenge based on the extract. For The Butterfly Lion it focuses on narrative writing and dialogue. This could be used as a short classroom activity or as homework to consolidate the learning in the teaching session.

After reading and discussing the extract some children may be inspired to read the book itself. You could read it aloud as a class novel or direct children to where they can find a copy to read themselves: the book corner, school library, local library or a local bookshop.

Teacher’s notes for the PowerPoint Slide 2 • Share the front cover and blurb to introduce the book and give context.

• Ask children if anyone has read the book before. Does the blurb make them want to read on?

Slide 3 • Tell the children that Michael, age ten, has run away from his strict boarding school.

• Read aloud together (either with the

teacher reading aloud and children following, children reading together as a class or children reading together in pairs).

• Ask the children to work with a partner

to list what they know after reading the extract. Remind them that some things will be stated, but for others they may need to make inferences (reading between the lines of the text).

• Ask the children to share their ideas. If it doesn’t come out of the discussion, ask:

- Does Michael have a plan for escaping from school? (probably not as he is still deciding where to go) - What is the weather like? How do you know? (raining – her dripping straw hat) - Is the lady really angry? (perhaps not, as her voice grows gentler)

• Discuss again that some information is stated explicitly and some needs to be inferred.

Slide 4 • Tell the children that this is the next part of the story.

• Ask pupils to work with a partner to

make some inferences from the extract, this time independently without your

guidance. Ask the children to share their ideas.

• What sign is there here that the old lady might be friendly after all?

Slide 5 • Ask the children to share their ideas for a definition of ominous.

• Share this definition: ‘threatening or

giving the impression something bad will happen’.

• Ask the children to try using ominous in a sentence.

• Display the word ominous in the

classroom – either on a working wall or near the whiteboard. Set the class the challenge of using the word in their conversation or writing this week.

Slide 6 • Return to the front cover and blurb.

• Ask the children if they would like to

read The Butterfly Lion having looked at this extract in detail and thought about Michael Morpurgo’s skillful writing.

• Point children to where they can find a

copy (either any copies you have in the classroom, the school library, or suggest the local library or a bookshop).