The Goose that Laid the Golden Egg

One day a farmer was collecting eggs from the nests of his geese. In one of the nests, he found a heavy, yellow egg. He took it home and tried to break it open, but it wouldn’t break. He took it to the market where he learned that it was gold.
The next day, the same thing happened, but he observed very carefully and saw which goose had laid the egg. For the next several days, this wonderful goose continued to produce golden eggs; and the farmer sold them, becoming richer and richer.
However, as he steadily grew richer, he became greedier; and he thought that if he could get all the eggs inside the goose in one day, he could then retire and would never have to work again. So he killed the goose by opening it up, yet he found nothing.
The moral of this story is this: He who is greedy is never satisfied.
VOCABULARY
1. “he observed very carefully” “observed” means
a) watched b) listened c) killed

2. “For the next several days” “several” means
a) one more day b) three or four days c) seven days

3. “he steadily grew richer. . . .” “steadily” means
a) slowly b) quickly c) little by little

GRAMMAR

A. Find all the subjects and past-tense verbs. Then write the infinitives.
1. a farmer was collecting (past continuous) to collect
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
19.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.


B. Find any verbs that are used with modals (would, could, can, will, may, might, must or the negatives wouldn’t, couldn’t can’t won’t may not, might not, must not)

1.
2.
3.
4.



C. There is one sentence that uses the past perfect tense:
“The next day, the same thing happened, but he observed very carefully and saw which goose had laid the egg.



__________to lay__________________
present past present perfect past perfect
I lay laid have/has laid had laid
You lay
He/She/It lays
We lay
You lay
They lay

“ to lay” takes an object Look at these examples.

a. I always lay my keys on the table.
b. He laid his jacket on the bed.
c. That chicken has never laid a brown egg.

d. Please write your own sentence using lay.
__________________________________________________

past perfect tense
expresses an activity that was completed before a particular time in the past
e.g. I had eaten when Bob came.
1 2
two things happened in the past, one before the other.
the first one that happened is in the past perfect.

He saw the goose that had laid the golden egg.
2 1

e. Please try writing a sentence using the past perfect of any verb.

____________________________________________________

D. IF introduces conditional clauses [what would or could be possible.]
“If he could get all the eggs inside the goose in one day,
he could then retire and (he) would never have to work again.

f. Is there something your could do IF something else could or would be different?
If I could . . .
or
If my husband/wife/mother/sister etc. could ______, then what would or could happen?

Please write your own sentence:

E. “In one of the nests. . .” The prepositional phrase that follows ONE is always plural. For example One of the students, one of my books, one of her classes
and if these phrases are used as the subject of a sentence, such as this:
One (of the students) has a cold today.

Please write your own sentence using ONE and a phrase that follows.


F. Find all the descriptive adjectives in the story and tell what nouns they modify.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.

CONVERSATION
1. What kind of eggs was the farmer collecting?
_______________________________________________________________

2. What was so unusual about one of the eggs?
_______________________________________________________________
3. What did the farmer do to get more eggs? and Why did he do this?
_______________________________________________________________
4. How would you describe this farmer?
_______________________________________________________________
5. What does “He who is greedy is never satisfied.” mean?

_______________________________________________________________

Little Red Riding Hood

Once upon a time, there was a little girl who lived in a village near a forest. Whenever she went out, the little girl wore a red riding cloak, so everyone in the village called her Little Red Riding Hood.

One morning, Little Red Riding Hood asked her mother if she could go to visit her 1. grandmother as it had been awhile since they'd seen each other.

"That's a good idea," her mother said. So they packed a nice basket for Little Red Riding Hood to take to her grandmother.

When the basket was ready, the little girl put on her red cloak and kissed her mother good-bye.

"Remember, go straight to Grandma's house," her mother cautioned. "Don't
2. dawdle along the way and please don't talk to strangers! The woods are dangerous."

"Don't worry, Mommy," said Little Red Riding Hood, "I'll be careful."
But when Little Red Riding Hood noticed some lovely flowers in the woods, she 3. forgot her promise to her mother. She picked a few, watched the butterflies flit 4. about for awhile, listened to the frogs croaking and then picked a few more.

Little Red Riding Hood was enjoying the warm summer day so much, that she
5. didn't notice a dark shadow approaching out of the forest behind her...
Suddenly, the wolf appeared beside her.

"What are you doing out here, little girl?" the wolf asked in a voice as friendly as 6. he could muster.

"I'm on my way to see my grandma who lives through the forest, near the
7. brook," Little Red Riding Hood replied.

Then she realized how late it was and quickly excused herself, rushing down the 8. path to her grandma's house.

9. The wolf, in the meantime, took a shortcut...

10. The wolf, a little out of breath from running, arrived at Grandma's and knocked lightly at the door.

11. "Oh thank goodness, dear! Come in, come in! I was worried sick that something had happened to you in the forest," said Grandma thinking that the knock was her granddaughter.

12. The wolf let himself in. 13. Poor Granny did not have time to say another
14. word, before the wolf gobbled her up!

15. The wolf let out a satisfied burp, and then
16 . poked through Granny's 17. wardrobe to find a nightgown that he liked. He 17..added a frilly sleeping cap, and for good measure, 18. dabbed some of Granny's perfume behind his pointy ears.

A few minutes later, Red Riding Hood knocked on the door. The wolf jumped
20. into bed and pulled the covers over his nose. "Who is it?" he called in a cackly voice.

"It's me, Little Red Riding Hood."

"Oh how lovely! Do come in, my dear," croaked the wolf.

21. When Little Red Riding Hood entered the little cottage, she could scarcely recognize her grandmother.

22. "Grandmother! Your voice sounds so odd. Is something the matter?" she asked.

23. "Oh, I just have a touch of a cold," squeaked the wolf adding a cough at the 24. end to prove the point.

"But Grandmother! What big ears you have," said Little Red Riding Hood as she edged closer to the bed.

"The better to hear you with, my dear," replied the wolf.

"But Grandmother! What big eyes you have," said Little Red Riding Hood.

"The better to see you with, my dear," replied the wolf.

"But Grandmother! What big teeth you have," said Little Red Riding Hood her 25. voice quivering slightly.

26. "The better to eat you with, my dear," roared the wolf, and he leapt out of the bed and began to chase the little girl.

Almost too late, Little Red Riding Hood realized that the person in the bed was not her grandmother, but a hungry wolf.

She ran across the room and through the door, shouting, "Help! Wolf!" as loudly as she could.

27. A woodsman who was chopping logs nearby heard her cry and ran towards the cottage as fast as he could.

28. He grabbed the wolf and made him 29. spit out the poor grandmother who 30. was a bit frazzled by the whole experience, but still in one piece.

31. "Oh Grandma, I was so scared!" sobbed Little Red Riding Hood. "I'll never speak to strangers or dawdle in the forest again."

"There, there, child. You've learned an important lesson. Thank goodness you shouted loud enough for this kind woodsman to hear you!"

The woodsman knocked out the wolf and carried him deep into the forest where he wouldn't bother people any longer.

32. Little Red Riding Hood and her grandmother had a nice lunch and a long chat.





VOCABULARY
1. awhile a. a short time b. a few weeks c. a long time

2. dawdle a. to walk in a line b. to stop and spend time wastefully c. to run away

3. flit about a. moved quickly from place to place b. landed on flowers c. flew

4. croaking a. eating b. jumping c. frog talk

5. shadow a. a reflected image b. an old man c. an animal

6. muster a. to shout b. to make happen c. to talk

7. brook a. a tree b. a big river c. a small stream

8. path a. a way or track to walk on b. a hike c. a forest

9. a shortcut a. a short haircut b. a quick way to get somewhere c. a small apple

10. “a little out of breath”
a. having bad breath b. having a difficult time c. very tired and breathing heavily

11. “thank goodness”
a. thank you b. another way to say “Thank God” c. thank Little Red Riding Hood

12. “The wolf let himself in.”
a. He opened the door himself. b. The grandmother opened the door.
c. Little Red Riding Hood opened the door.

13. “Poor Granny.”
a. Grandmother had no money b. We feel sorry for the grandmother
c. Grandmother’s first name is “Poor.”

14. “gobbled her up” a. made a turkey noise b. ate her up c. jumped on her

15. a burp
a. a big sneeze b. a big yawn c. a release of air making a sound from the mouth

16. “poked through” a. looked b. grabbed c. separated

17. wardrobe a. friends b. books c. clothes

18. frilly a. ornamental addition b. special c. ugly

19. “dabbed some perfume” a. bought b. put a small amount c. dropped
20. the covers a. sheets and blankets b. pillows c. hats

21. the little cottage a. a small house b. a small dog c. a small car

22. “odd” a. even b. different and strange c. low

23. “I just have a touch of a cold.”
a. I’m a little sick. b. I have the flu. c. Don’t touch me.

24. “to prove the point”
a. to point with your finger
b. to make certain you know why
c. to do a cross-word puzzle

25. quivering a. walking b. staying quiet c. shaking

26. leapt (leaped) a. lived b. jumped c. stayed

27. a woodsman
a. a wooden puppet b. a person who cuts trees c. a man who likes wooden furniture

28. grabbed a. ate him b. took him with his hands c. chopped his head off

29. “spit it out” a. to eject from the mouth b. to sit alone c. to go outside

30. frazzled a. freed b. frozen c. worn out or in a nervous condition

31. sobbed a. cried b. laughed c. yelled

32. a chat a. a computer b. a talk c. the Internet

GRAMMAR

When two people are talking, this is called a dialogue. Their real words are quoted.
For example,

a. Sally told her class, “Please sit down so we can talk. Take out your pens and pencils
and listen carefully.”
b. The class began on time. Then Sally said, “Don’t smoke and only eat healthy food.”

In the two sentences above, SIT DOWN, TAKE OUT, DON’T SMOKE and EAT are all commands – when someone tells others what to do.

In reporting these commands without quotation marks, the two sentences would read like this:

aa. Sally told her class TO SIT DOWN so they could talk. She told them TO TAKE OUT their pens and pencils and (TO) LISTEN carefully.

bb. Then Sally told them NOT TO SMOKE and TO ONLY EAT healthy food.

Find all the commands in the LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD story.
page 1 1. Go straight
2.
3.
4.
page 2 5.
page 3 6.
page 4 7.

Now you write these commands in reported speech. For example:

1. Little Red Riding Hood’s mother cautioned her daughter TO GO STRAIGHT to Grandma’s house.

2. __________________________________________________________________________

3. __________________________________________________________________________

4. __________________________________________________________________________

5. __________________________________________________________________________

6. __________________________________________________________________________

7. __________________________________________________________________________


8. From the story when Little Red Riding Hood is talking to the wolf, she uses a statement of surprise, GRANDMOTHER, WHAT BIG EARS YOU HAVE.
WHAT BIG EYES YOU HAVE.
WHAT BIG TEETH YOU HAVE.

Using WHAT with plural nouns is NOT a question, but a statement of fact, surprise, or a compliment.

You try to write a sentence using WHAT (+ plural noun).


9. Do the same with a singular noun, such as WHAT A BEAUTIFUL HOUSE this is.

You try writing a sentence with WHAT A (+ singular noun) .

_____________________________________________________________________________
10. Here’s a rule to follow when WRITING family member names.
Capitalize the family member names EXCEPT when they are preceeded by possessive adjectives.
Mother my mother
Father her father
Grandma your grandmother your grandma
Grandpa his grandfather his grandpa
Uncle Bob our uncle
Aunt Sue their aunt
Cousin Leonard my cousin

Example:
Mother came to visit last week. My mother came to visit last week.

You write two sentences like the example.



11. HOW late is it? “Then she realized HOW late it was.
If your sentence has a “WH” word in the middle, make certain your subject and verb are in regular order. WHAT time is it? I don’t know WHAT time it is.
WHO is she? I know WHO she is.
WHERE does he live? She doesn’t know WHERE he lives.

You write two sentences: One sentence, a question.


Second sentence using I know, I don’t know, I understand, I don’t understand and a WH word.

______________________________

CONVERSATION Talk to your partner. Then write your answers.

1. Who are the five characters in this story?


2. Where was Little Red Riding Hood going?


3. What did she take to her grandmother’s house?



4. What do you think was in the basket?


5. How did the wolf try to fool Little Red Riding Hood? What did he do to make her think that he was the grandmother? (Tell me at least three thing.)



6. Who saved Little Red Riding Hood?



7. What was the important lesson that Little Red Riding Hood learned?



8. Who can you trust?



Gati©2008
______________________________________________

The Fox and the Crow

One day a hungry fox was walking through the woods. He saw a crow sitting in a tree enjoying a tasty piece of cheese.
“Ah, my dear crow,” said the fox. “What a magnificent bird you are! I can see that your body is beautiful, your feathers are fine, and your color is wonderful. I only wish I could listen to your lovely voice.”
Hearing such talk, the crow felt very proud. She opened her mouth and cawed in her loudest voice. As she opened her mouth to sing, the cheese fell to the ground where the fox was waiting under the tree.
“You tricked me,” said the crow angrily.
“I did, indeed, silly crow. Thank you, thank you for this delicious cheese. You have the worst voice I’ve ever heard and you are the most stupid bird I’ve ever met. Remember something,” said the fox. “I said many things about your shiny feathers and your singing voice, but I never said anything about your brain.”
The moral of the story is this: Don’t trust flatterers.

VOCABULARY
1. “What a magnificent bird you are! “magnificent” means
a. wonderful b. marvelous c. beautiful

2. From this list of adjectives, what are the nouns?
a. happy happiness
b. proud ______________
c. beautiful ______________
d. shiny ______________
e. tasty ______________
f, silly ______________

3. “You tricked me.” “tricked” means
a. made me laugh b. fooled me c. told me the truth

4. “I did indeed. . . “ “indeed means
a. the right thing b. a funny thing c. for sure; certainly

5. “brain” is a synonym for what word? _____________________

6. What is a “flatterer”
a. someone with a flat head
b. someone who overpraises you
c. someone who is really fat

7. “trust” means a. to believe b. to trick c. to feel good

GRAMMAR

1. WISH + that clause with WOULD or COULD
or WOULD/COULD HAVE + past participle
[Don’t use WILL/WON’t or CAN/CAN’t.]
“I wish I could listen to your lovely voice.”
I wish that we could have gone to Disneyland.
Please write your own sentences
a. I wish______________________________________________________________

b. He wishes __________________________________________________________

c. When I was young, I wished ___________________________________________

2. WHAT A (noun). . . ! tells others your are excited about something.
“What a magnificent bird you are! Note the order of the subject and verb.
Try writing your own WHAT A . . . sentence.
_____________________________________________________________________
3. Find all the ADJECTIVES used in this story and tell what NOUNS they modify.

article adjectives (the a)
1. the fox
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
descriptive adjectives
1. hungry fox
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.

demonstrative adjectives (this, that, these, those)

1.





possessive adjectives
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.

SUPERLATIVES

12. a. single-syllable adjectives
loud soft big cold
add THE or possessive adjectives MY, YOUR, HIS, HER, OUR, THEIR

her loudest voice the softest bed the biggest ball the coldest weather

Please write your own sentence:


13. adjectives ending in “y”
add THE and change the “y” to “i” and add “est

the craziest man in town my happiest moment the laziest person in the class

Please write your own sentence:


14. 2+ more syllables
add THE + MOST + adjective

the most stupid mistake I ever made the most beautiful dress in the world

Please write your own sentence:


CONVERSATION (Please talk to your partner. Then write your answer in a complete sentence.)
1. Who are the two characters in this story? _________________________________________
2. Why did the crow drop her cheese? ___________________________________________
3. What does the moral mean: “Don’t trust flatterers.”
____________________________________________________________________________

The Peacock and the Crane

A peacock was teasing a crane about the dullness of her plumage. “Look at my brilliant colors” she said, “and see how much finer they are than your ugly feathers.”

The crane replied, “I am not denying that yours are far brighter than mine; but when it comes to flying, I can soar into the clouds whereas you are confined to the earth like any plain chicken.

The moral of the story is this: Looks aren’t everything.



VOCABULARY
In the first paragraph . . .
1. “A peacock was teasing a crane” “tease” is a verb, and it means
(a) was talking to (b) was making fun of (c) was testing
2. “the dullness of her plumage” “dullness” is a noun and means
(a) beauty (b) fluffiness (c) lacking in color
3. “plumage” means
(a) feathers (b) plums (c) body
4. “see how much finer they are. . .” “finer” is an adjective and means (a) more beautiful (b) very thin (c) much thinner

In the second paragraph. . .
5. “I am not denying” “deny” is a verb and it means
(a) not saying “no” (b) not doing anything (c) not telling the truth
6. “I can soar” “soar” is a verb and it means
(a) I am sour (b) I can fly (c) I can swear
7. “you are confined” “confined” means
(a) confused (b) foolish (c) cannot leave
8. “like any plain chicken” “like” means
(a) The peacock likes chicken. (b) Both the peacock and the chicken can’t fly. (c) The crane likes the peacock.
In the moral .
9. “Looks aren’t everything.” “Looks” is a noun and means
(a) Your appearance (b) Your eyes (c) You’re good-looking


GRAMMAR
A. Read the story again and identify the subjects, verbs, and tenses.
SUBJECTS VERBS TENSES INFINITIVE
1. peacock was teasing past progressive to tease
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
B. Comparisons of adjectives using MUCH
single-syllable adjectives big bigger than bright brighter than
fast faster than
small smaller than
I have a bigger apartment than you do.
I have a MUCH BIGGER apartment than you do.
She runs FASTER THAN her brother.
She runs MUCH FASTER THAN her brother.
14. Please write a sentence using MUCH + a single-syllable adjective



15. Comparison of MUCH + adjectives ending in y
Mary is much prettier than Brenda.
Her father was much angrier with his daughter than his mother was.
Please write a sentence using MUCH + an adjective ending in y

16. more beautiful than
more unusual than
Mary is much more beautiful than her sister
Her wedding dress is much more unusual than any I have ever seen.
Please write a sentence using MUCH MORE + a 2- or-more-syllable adjective

17. POSSESSIVE ADJECTIVES
MY book or books OUR apartment
YOUR pen or pens YOUR keys
HIS car/s Her jacket/s Its leg/s THEIR child or children
MY OUR
YOUR YOUR
HIS / HER / ITS THEIR
Now, please write a sentence showing you can use a possessive adjective
____________________________________________________________
18. POSSESSIVE PRONOUNS take the place of possessive adjectives and their nouns. For example: Your book is harder than my book.
YOURS is harder than MINE.
MINE OURS
YOURS YOURS
HIS/HERS/ITS THEIRS
Now please re-write the same sentence as you did above but replace the possessive adjective and noun with a possessive pronoun.
______________________________________________________________
CONVERSATION
1. What two kinds of birds were talking in this story?


2. Which of the two birds has the most beautiful feathers?


3. Which of the two birds cannot fly?


4. Please explain what “Looks aren’t everything” means.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________