UNIT 9: ON THE FARM

LESSON ONE

Activity 1
Directions: Listen as your teacher names and describes
each of the animals and insect that live on a farm. Match
the words in the Word Bank to the pictures and write them
in the correct order in your exercise book.

1 2

3 4

163
 5 6

7 8

Word Bank – Farm Animals

oxen goat bees cow donkey
cat dog sheep chickens

164
Activity 2
Directions: Practise animal and insect sounds with your teacher.
Sing the song.

Animal and Insect Sounds

What’s this, what is that?

It’s a cat, meow, meow.
What’s this, what is that?
It’s a sheep, baa, baa.
What’s this, what is that?
It’s a dog, woof, woof.
What’s this, what is that?
It’s a donkey, hee haw, hee haw.

What are these, what are those?

They are chickens, cluck, cluck.
What are these, what are those?
They are cows, moo, moo.
What are these, what are those?
They are goats, meh, meh.
What are these, what are those?
They are bees, buzz, buzz.

Activity 3
Directions: With a partner take turns asking the following
questions and answering them with either: Yes, it can. or
No, it can’t.
1. Can a goat run? 4. Can a cow climb?
2. Can a cat dance? 5. Can a chicken fly?
3. Can a dog jump? 6. Can a donkey carry?

165
 LESSON TWO
Activity 1
Directions: Write four sentences in your exercise book
about what different animals can do. Use the following
language pattern: A _____ can __________ .
Example: A cat can catch rats.

Activity 2
Directions: Share your sentences from Lesson Two, Activity
1 in a small group.

Activity 3
Directions: Match the beginnings and endings of sentences
from the table below and write them in your exercise book.
Share your sentences with your partner.
Example: 1. A cat kills rats.

Sentence Beginnings Sentence Endings

1. A cat pulls the plough.

2. A cow gives us meat and wool.
3. An ox give us eggs.
4. Chickens carries things.
5. A donkey give us honey.
6. A dog guards the house.
7. Bees kills rats.
8. A sheep gives us milk, meat and
leather.

166
Activity 4
Directions: Read each animal word with a partner in singular
and plural forms using correct pronunciation.
-Z sound - S sound
dog - dogs cat - cats
chicken - chickens goat – goats
cow - cows rat - rats
bee - bees
donkey -donkeys

LESSON THREE
Activity 1
Directions: Write numbers 1-10 in your exercise book.
Listen to your teacher read plural words. Write z if the
ending sounds like z and s if the ending sounds like s.

Activity 2
Directions: Make six sentences from the Substitution Table
and write them in your exercise book. Remember to make the
name of the animal plural when you write about more than one.
Example: He has seven goats.

Substitution Table
I have a cow
We has one chicken
You two sheep
He three goat
She four cat
They etc… ox

167
Activity 3
Directions: Read the words in the Word Bank. Study the
pictures. With a partner match the words to the pictures.
Write the words in your exercise book.

3
4
1
6
5
Word Bank – Matching Words
grass flower seed
plant leaf meat

Activity 4
Directions: Your teacher will give you the name of an
animal about which to write. Answer the following ques-
tions in complete sentences:
1. What is the name of the animal?
2. What sound does it make?
3. What does it eat?
4. Where does it live?
5. What does it give us?/What does it do for us?

168
Activity 5
Directions: Share your sentences with your group and
discuss all of the animals.

LESSON FOUR
Activity 1
Directions: Copy the T-chart into your exercise book.
Write the names of four animals in each column.

Animals That Give Us Food Animals That Help Us

Activity 2
Directions: Write numbers 1-10 in your exercise book.
Read each of the sentences about animals. Write true in
your exercise book if the sentence is true and false if the
sentence is false. Example: 1. true
1. Goats drink water. 6. Donkeys give us wool.
2. Cows eat meat. 7. Chickens eat eggs.
3. Cats kill rats. 8. Oxen pull ploughs.
4. Dogs eat leaves. 9. All animals drink water.
5. Bees give us honey. 10. All animals give us products.

169
Activity 3
Directions: Compare your answers to Lesson Four, Activity 2
in a small group. Decide how to correct the sentences you
marked as false to become true statements. Write the
corrected true sentences in your exercise book.

LESSON FIVE

Activity 1
Directions: Read the words in the Word Bank. Write in
your exercise book the words you think are in the story, “A
Farmer and his Animals.”

Word Bank – A Farmer and his Animals

cat rat soldier market boat family
cow airplane wife children dog Addis Ababa

Activity 2
Directions: Read the story, “A Farmer and His Animals,”
silently as your teacher reads it out loud.

170
 A Farmer and His Animals

Ato Sembeto is a farmer in a village near Addis

Ababa. He lives with his wife Kibitu and their five
children, Marga, Marta, Biritu, Jarra and Nasise. Ato
Sembeto has ten cows, three donkeys, thirty chickens
and five bee hives. The family also has a dog and a cat.

The cat is the only animal that lives in the house with
the family. The other animals and the bees have their
own homes. The cows live in a barn, the chickens in a
cage, and the donkeys in a shed. The dog lives in the
compound outside the house. The bees live in hives in
the trees in or near the compound.

The dog does not sleep at night. It guards the animals

and the family from harm. When the dog hears a
strange sound or smells a wild animal, it barks to wake
the farmer. The cat always stays in the house and hunts
for rats. When the cat sees a rat, it chases it, catches it
and eats it.

Ato Sembeto works all day on his farm. His wife milks
the cows. The youngest daughter, Nasise, collects the
eggs from their chickens; and the oldest son, Marga,
cuts honey from the bee hives. The donkeys help the
family to carry wood and other products to and from
the market. They also carry harvested crops such as
teff, barley and beans from Ato Sembeto’s farm.

171
Activity 3
Directions: Read the questions with a partner and write
their answers in your exercise book. Share your answers
with the class.

1. How many people are in Ato Sembeto’s family?

2. Who is Kibitu and what does she do?
3. Who is Nasise and what does she do?
4. Who is Marga and what does he do?
5. Why does the cat chase and catch rats and where
does it live?
6. Where does the dog live and what is its job on the
farm?
7. How are the donkeys helpful and where do they live?
8. Which animals carry crops?
9. Which animals live in a cage and what do they do for
the farmer and his family?
10. Which animals live in a barn and what do they do for
the farmer and his family?

Activity 4
Directions: List the names of the animals that your family
owns. Next to each animal’s name, write the place where
it lives. If your family does not have any animals, list the
animals you would like your family to have.

172
 LESSON SIX
Activity 1
Directions: Read the substitution table. Write five
sentences about the animals in the story, “A Farmer and
his Animals.”
Example: The cows produce milk.

Substitution Table
the family
in a barn
cow(s)
in a cage
chicken(s) produce(s)
in a hive
bee(s) carry/carries
eggs
The cat(s) live(s)
wood
donkey(s) kill(s)
teff
dog(s) guard(s)
rats
milk
honey

Activity 2
Directions: Listen to your teacher reading about a farmer
and the seasons. In your exercise book, write numbers 1-7.
Copy the verbs from the Word Bank in the order that a
farmer does them.

Word Bank - Verbs

sow hoe thresh winnow
plough store harvest

173
Activity 3
Directions: Copy the T-chart into your exercise book.
Use the verbs in your list to show the farmer’s activities
during each season.

Rainy Season Dry Season

LESSON SEVEN

Activity 1
Directions: With a partner practise the dialogue between a
farmer and a student.
Student Good morning.
Farmer Good Morning.
Student For what do you use a plough?
Farmer I use a plough to turn over or dig the soil in the
fields.
Student For what do you use a spade?
Farmer I use a spade to dig in the garden.
Student When do you use a sickle?
Farmer I use a sickle when I cut grass, teff and corn.
Student When do you use an axe?
Farmer I use an axe when I cut wood.
Student For what do you use a hoe?
Farmer I use a hoe to remove weeds around the plants.

174
Activity 2
Directions: Study the pictures below of the farmer’s tools.
With a partner point to the tools and make sentences
about what they are used for.

Example: Partner A: (Points to the plough.) What is this

and for what is it used?
Partner B: That is a plough. It is used to turn over the soil.

Activity 3
Directions: Follow your teacher’s directions as you play a
miming game about tools.

175
 LESSON EIGHT
Activity 1
Directions: Read the story, “Samira’s Visit – Part I,” silently
as your teacher reads it out loud.
Samira’s Visit – Part I

Haminat and Samira are friends. Haminat lives on a farm

in the countryside and Samira lives in the town. Samira has
never been to a farm. Haminat likes to tell Samira about the
animals her father has.

One day Haminat takes Samira to visit her home in the

ountryside. On their way they see many farm animals
grazing and shepherds playing. They also see farmers
ploughing fields using oxen.

When they arrive at Haminat’s home, Haminat’s

parents welcome them and feed them a meal. The food
is prepared from cabbage, potatoes and onions which are
grown in their garden. After their meal Haminat’s father
takes them outside to see the animals.

Samira watches the sheep, the donkeys, the oxen and the
cows grazing in the field while the goats eat leaves. She
watches the bees buzzing around the hives. Samira goes with
the herders and the animals to the river so that the animals
can drink as much water as they need.

When they return from the river, Samira asks the farmer
why he needs all these animals in his farm. Haminat’s father
tells her that the cows give him milk; the oxen pull the plough;
the donkeys carry things; and the sheep and goats give meat.
176
The farmer takes good care of his animals. Samira
learns many things on her visit to Haminat’s home in the
countryside.

Activity 2
Directions: In complete sentences write answers to the
questions below in your exercise book. Look back in the
story to find any answers you do not remember. Share your
sentences with a partner.

1. In which season does the story take place? (Look for

the clues in the story.)
2. What do Samira and Haminat see on their way to the
countryside?
3. Where do the herders take the animals? Why?
4. What does the farmer do when they return home from
the field?
5. Do you think that Samira is enjoying her visit? Explain
why or why not.

Activity 3
Directions: Predict what you think will happen in Part Two
of the story, “Samira’s Visit.” Share your prediction with a
partner. In your exercise book write three words you think
you will find in this part of the story.

177
 LESSON NINE
Activity 1
Directions: Read the story, “Samira’s Visit – Part Two,”
silently as your teacher reads it out loud.

Samira’s Visit – Part Two

Before dark, the herders take the oxen and cows to

their barn, the donkeys to their shed and the goats and
sheep to the small barn. Haminat’s mother puts the
chickens in their cage. Then she starts milking the cows
and Haminat helps by holding the calf. Samira watches
how the cow is milked. The milk is so white and hot. She
sees steam coming from the container, called chocho.

After all the cows are milked, Haminat and Samira go

into the house. The room is warm and glows with the light
from the fire. While they are sitting around the fire,
Samira watches the cat chasing a rat. She is excited by
the new things she is seeing in the countryside.

As they sit around the fire, Haminat’s father tells Samira

how living in the countryside is full of hard work and how
the fields and the animals need the family’s attention
every single day. “Hard work always pays you back
double,” he says with pride.

The next morning, Haminat’s mother takes Samira to the

garden where they grow many different vegetables to
eat. Haminat’s mother gives Samira some vegetables to
take to her parents in the town.

178
 Samira feels happy to have such an unforgettable visit
in the countryside. She can’t wait to tell her family and
friends all about it.

Activity 2
Directions: Think about the story, “Samira’s Visit.” Answer
the questions below in your exercise book in complete
sentences. Look back in the story to find any answers you
do not remember. Share your answers with a partner.

1. Which animals do the herders take to the barn

before dark?
2. Which animals do they take to the small barn before
dark?
3. Where do the chickens go before dark?
4. How does Samira know that the milk is hot?
5. What does the cat do in the evening?
6. Does Samira enjoy watching the cat?
7. How does Samira feel about her visit to the farm in
the countryside?
8. Which of the words on your list from Lesson Eight,
Activity 3 are in the story?

Activity 3
Directions: Choose your favourite part of the story,
“Samira’s Visit – Parts 1 and 2.” Tell your partner if it
happens at the beginning, the middle or the end of the
story and why it is your favourite.

179
 LESSON TEN
Activity 1
Directions: Copy the table below into your exercise book.
Then sort and write the words from the Word Bank under
the correct heading. Two are already done for you.

Fruit Vegetables Crops Farm Animals

carrot barley

Word Bank – On the Farm

pineapple cotton barley banana

teff cow pumpkin sheep

watermelon maize goat wheat

cat avocado onion bee

carrot chicken donkey cabbage

orange potato dog ox

180
Activity 2
Directions: Read silently as your teacher sings the song,
“I Want to be a Farmer.”

I Want to Be a Farmer

I want to be a farmer to plant fruits,

Pineapples, avocadoes, watermelon, oranges and bananas.

I want to be a farmer to plant crops.

Cotton, wheat, maize, teff, and barley.

I want to be a farmer to plant vegetables,

Pumpkins, cabbages, onions, potatoes and carrots.

I want to be a farmer to own animals,

Cows, goats, sheep and chickens.

I want to be a farmer to own animals,

Cats, dogs, donkeys, oxen and bees.

I want to be a farmer to listen to the sweet sounds they make,

Meow, neigh, woof, hee-haw, cluck, moo, buzz.

Activity 3
Directions: Follow the words and sing the song, “I Want to
be a Farmer,” as your teacher directs you.

181
 LESSON ELEVEN
Activity 1
Directions: Read silently as your teacher reads “An Ethiopian
Folk Tale” out loud. It is a story from long, long ago.
An Ethiopian Folk Tale

In the southwest of Ethiopia in an area called Kaffa near

Jimma, in a small village lives a young goatherd.

One afternoon as the goatherd is herding his goats in the

field near the river, he grows tired and decides to take a
nap. He sleeps under a tree. When he wakes up, he sees
that many of his goats are dancing happily in the field. He
wonders why they are dancing. Are they sick?

He sees one of the goats eating the leaves of a bush that

has small red fruit. The goat begins to dance. The goatherd
eats some of the red fruit and soon he too is dancing in the
field with his goats.

A monk comes walking past and sees the goatherd and his
goats dancing in the field. He asks why they are dancing
happily, and the goatherd tells him about the leaves and the
red fruit. The monk thanks the goatherd and takes some of
the fruit back to the monastery to try.

The monk makes a drink with the fruit for the other monks in
the monastery. The drink tastes good, and it helps the monks
to stay awake while they are praying at night. The monk
gives this tasty drink to people who visit the monastery, and
soon people are drinking it all around the world.

182
Activity 2
Directions: Talk about the story with your partner and answer
the questions below.
1. Do you know this folktale?
2. Do you know the name of the goatherd?
3. Do you know the name of the drink?
Activity 3
Directions: Find five new words in the story. Copy the words
into your exercise book. Read the story again with a partner
and try to find the meanings of the new words.
Activity 4
Directions: Look carefully at the pictures. With your partner
decide how to put the pictures in order to tell the story.
Write the numbers in story order in your exercise book.
Talk about the pictures in a small group.

1 2

3 4

183
5 6

7 8

184
 LESSON TWELVE
Activity 1
Directions: The six sentences in the table below are based
on “An Ethiopian Folk Tale.” Decide what happens first,
second, third, fourth, fifth and sixth (last) in the story.
Write the sentences in the correct sequence in your
exercise book.

Story Sentences

The monk makes coffee.

The goats eat leaves from a bush with small red fruit.

The goatherd sleeps.

The monk takes the fruit to the monastery.

The goatherd is herding the goats.

The monk sees goats dancing.

185
Activity 2
Directions: Copy the sentences below into your exercise
book. Fill in the gaps with words from the Word Bank.
1. I like to listen to my grandmother when she tells me a
_____ tale.
2. In the afternoon I sometimes take a _____ under a tree.
3. Children like to pick _____ from the trees to eat.
4. We can make a very good _____ with the coffee
beans.
5. My mother always cooks _____ food for us to eat.
6. Usually families _____ the church or the mosque on
holidays.
7. In my garden I have a coffee _____.
8. The children go to bed early when they grow _____.
9. My brother is out in the field. He is _____ the goats.
10. Aren’t you _____? It’s time to get out of bed.

Word Bank
nap awake drink fruit bush
herding tasty folk visit tired

186
 LESSON THIRTEEN

Activity 1
Directions: Correct the incorrect sentences your teacher
says about the animals in the pictures.

Activity 2
Directions: Study the pictures in Lesson One, Actvity 1
and listen as your teacher says the sounds of animals.
Tell your teacher which animal makes each sound. Then
tell everything you know about each animal.

Activity 3
Directions: In a small group make a list from memory of
the things Samira sees and does while she is visiting the farm
in Lessons Eight and Nine. Compare your list with the other
groups’ lists. Which group’s list is longer?

187
188