The Butterfly Lion: Michael Morpurgo

Product Information

After five baths, he was finally clean, and completely white. Have you ever seen a white lion before? No? Northern, Ireland - KS1/KS2 Language and Literacy: Extend the range of their reading and develop their own preferences. Well, you've probably never seen a lion live in a house before, but that's what he ends up doing. He even sleeps at the end of Bertie's bed. Natalie Cassidy named The Butterfly Lion as her favourite book on the BBC Bringing Books to Life feature. Invite into school a representative from a local animal rescue centre to talk his/her work on returning animals to the wild.

Butterfly Lion Michael Morpurgo - Collaborative Learning Butterfly Lion Michael Morpurgo - Collaborative Learning

I created this for a high ability guided reading group for Year 4. Please notice the pictures example I added at the end. I’m the English Coordinator at a small little school and I took on the task last year of developing a guided reading programme for KS2 as I noticed this was missing from the school.This book, The Butterfly Lion, is such a wonderful story. It's about a boy called Bertie. He lives with his parents, on a remote farm in the wild countryside of South Africa. Emotion/Emoji Word Bank: Create a word bank of emotion-related words (e.g., joyful, worried, excited) on the board, linking them to corresponding emojis. Ask children to rate the books they read based on their emotions. Wales - Progression Step 2/3 Languages, Literacy and Communication: Literature fires imagination and inspires creativity. That was when the shot rang out. The hyenas bolted into the long grass and were gone. When Bertie turned around, he saw his mother in her night gown, rifle in hand, running towards him down the hill. He had never seen her run before. Between them, they gathered up the mud-matted cub and brought him home."

The Butterfly Lion by Michael Morpurgo, Christian Birmingham The Butterfly Lion by Michael Morpurgo, Christian Birmingham

The lion cub is sold to Monsieur Merlot to be the star of his circus. In music and dance, explore The Carnival of the Animals by Saint-Saens (can the children work out which animals are being portrayed in the different sections?). Create a dance for the majestic lion by splitting his music into sections which tell a story – his entrance, embodying the animal through static shapes; looking around; moving as the animal using different pathways; coming together into a larger group. Extend this approach so that groups work on different animals. Before he leaves South Africa, Bertie promises, that one day, no matter what it takes, he will find his lion again. Do you think he does? Well... Many years later, a school-boy discovers the answer, when he sees another lion, on the side of a hill in England. When Michael Morpurgo was asked to name his favourite of the books he’s written, he named The Butterfly Lion (along with Kensuke’s Kingdom, War Horse and Private Peaceful). The story begins in the present, with a boy running away from school. As readers, we never learn the name of this boy, whose main role is to be our advocate inside the narrative, asking the questions we would like to ask and delving further into Bertie’s life. The Butterfly Lion by Michael Morpurgo is a classic children's tale suited for use in KS2. Bertie rescues an orphaned white lion cub and 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.Michael Morpurgo was unhappy at boarding school, and, when he was seven, he ran away. These experiences made it into The Butterfly Lion. She explains why it’s her favourite children’s book, how it captured her imagination and why she loves to read. Sitting high up in a tree, or looking out of his window, Bertie watches the beautiful elephants, giraffes and zebras come down to the water hole. But it's the lions, Bertie likes best of all. And when, one morning, he sees a baby lion cub trying to escape from some hungry hyenas, Bertie rushes out to rescue it.

The Butterfly Lion by Michael Morpurgo (9780006751038

He threw open the gate, and charged down the hill towards the water hole, yelling and screaming, and waving his arms like a wild thing. Startled at this sudden intrusion, the hyenas turned-tail and ran. But not far. Once within range, Bertie hurled a broadside of pebbles at them, and they ran off again. But again, not far. Then he was at the water hole, The Butterfly Lion is not the only one of Michael Morpurgo’s books to feature a cat. Kaspar – Prince of Cats, Tom’s Sausage Lion, Mossop’s Last Chance, Adolphus Tips and The Nine Lives of Montezuma are also about cats.We are kept wondering about the fate of the lion, whilst following Bertie’s journey from boyhood to life as a soldier in the French trenches during WWI. It is in this foreign land that Bertie discovers what has become of the lion cub or ‘Le Prince Blanc’ as he is also known. 3. Writing opportunities I am sharing this guided reading resource with you in the hopes that it will save you some bit of time and enhance your guided reading lesson. I know I lose countless hours looking up resources, creating resources and copying resources myself, so if this helps you in any way, then I count that as a small victory for our educating community. There was impala meat, whenever he wanted it. And as he grew, and he grew fast, he wanted more and more of it. For the first time in his life, Bertie was totally happy." But... it doesn't last. Soon, Bertie is sent away to a school in England, and the lion cub is sold, to a circus in France. England - KS1/KS2 English: Develop positive attitudes to reading and understanding of what they read. Roger McGough’s poems based on the Carnival of the Animals will provide a starting point for children’s own writing, whilst in art, works by Chagall, Miro and Seurat referencing the circus will support discussion of style and developing mixed media work.

Michael Morpurgo - Newdale Primary and Nursery School

Great planning but do you have the cards that you mentioned for lesson 2. I can't seem to find them in the resources folder. I was hoping to teach this lesson tomorrow.Some books make you laugh, don't they? And other books make you hold your breath, because you can't believe what's about to happen next. Other books make you feel sad, because, the writer has made you care for the characters so much. Well, I have to tell you, that this book has all of that. I'm never going to forget reading this book. What predictions or connections can you make between the lion in South Africa and the lion that Bertie sees on the hillside in England based on what Natalie said? Clare Pearson is deputy headteacher at Summerbank Primary School in Stoke. Previously, Clare was the Primary Advisory English Teacher for Stoke-on-Trent. Share your best topic