English text of Turkish and Kurdish stories

KS2 LITERACY

English text of Turkish and Kurdish stories

KS2 LITERACY & HISTORY


PRECIOUS SALT

Then she told him who she really was and that she had ordered the cook to prepare the food without salt so that he would understand the value of salt.

Once upon a time, there was a Sultan and his three daughters. One day, the Sultan gathered his daughters and asked them how much they loved him. The oldest daughter said, ‘As much as worlds’. The middle daughter said, ‘As much as this hug’. The youngest said that she loved him as much as salt.

The Sultan was very ashamed and hugged his daughter, glad that she was still alive.

A Kurdish story

They lived happily from then on.

The Sultan got angry with this answer asking, ‘How can a person be loved as much as salt?’ He ordered his executioner to take her to the mountain and kill her. The girl begged the executioner, ‘You are a father too. Don’t kill me.’ So the executioner killed an animal instead. He put some of its blood on her shirt and took it to the Sultan. The young girl started walking until she came to a village. She became the servant to a rich man, and grew up to become a beautiful woman. Her beauty was known far and wide. She married the son of another sultan. After a long time, she told her husband her story and said, ‘Let’s invite my father to dinner.’ Her husband agreed and preparations were made for a feast. The Sultan and his friends arrived and sat down for dinner. Earlier, the girl had told her cook that all the food must be served without salt. The Sultan took a mouthful and said he could not eat it. Why was there no salt? The girl said she had heard that he had killed his daughter because she had told him she loved him as much as salt. The Sultan sighed and said that sadly, it was true.

A teaching resource pack for Key Stages 1 to 3

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THE CAT AND THE RABBIT A Kurdish story

Once in a forest there lived Tekir the cat and Tavşan the rabbit. They were very good friends. One day, when they were walking together through the forest they found a big piece of cheese. They were very pleased and agreed to share it. They decided that Tavşan the rabbit should divide it into two equal shares. Tavşan tried hard to divide it equally but could not. One piece was a little bigger than the other. They began to quarrel over the pieces, since each wanted to have the bigger piece for himself. Just then a fox came along and asked them what the quarrel was about. They explained the matter to the fox and he replied that he could solve their problem since he could make the pieces equal. The fox took a bite off the bigger piece to make it equal to the smaller one. But the bite was too big. Now the other piece was bigger. He bit the other piece, but again the bite was too big. One piece was still bigger than the other. So he continued in the way until both pieces of cheese were finished. ‘Well,’ said the fox as the last crumb of cheese disappeared. ’I wasn’t able to solve your problem after all. But thanks anyway for the cheese!’ and he trotted off through the forest. Tekir and Tavşan looked after him as he went. ‘Next time,’ the cat decided, ‘we’ll solve our problems ourselves.’ ‘And after all,’ added the rabbit, ‘the smaller piece would have been better than none at all.’

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the learning trust

A journey into Turkish, Kurdish and Turkish Cypriot cultures



THE SELFISH SPARROW

how pleased she was to see her go. When the other trees heard her story, they understood and made sure that the sparrow didn’t build her nest in their branches.

There was once a sparrow who built her nest in a big mulberry tree. Every day, when the sparrow returned, instead of saying, ‘Good evening,’ to the friendly tree, she would tidy her nest and throw her rubbish all over its branches. At first the tree was very patient, but after a while she said to herself, ’Oh dear! This sparrow is so selfish. Perhaps one day she will learn that I shelter her from the wind and the rain and feed her babies with my sweet fruit.’ But the selfish sparrow didn’t change her ways and paid no attention to the tree.

As for the sparrow, we hope she has learned to change her ways!

A Kurdish folk tale retold by Edward Korel

What do you think?

The years passed by and still the sparrow carried on in the same selfish way. ‘I can’t believe it,’ said the tree. ’This sparrow never thinks of anyone but herself. And she always makes such a mess!’ ‘My dear sparrow,’ the tree said to her politely one day, ‘I give you shelter and feed you, yet you always make such a mess. And you never, ever speak to me when we meet.’ But the sparrow flew off without taking the slightest notice. Later she returned to the tree to feed her babies and soon afterwards there was a big storm. There was thunder and lightning and very strong winds. The branches of the tree shook and twisted dangerously. The sparrow and her babies became very frightened indeed. Their nest was thrown to the ground and the birds had to shelter under a large rock. The other trees felt very sorry for the sparrow and her babies and said to the mulberry tree, ‘How can you treat them in this cruel way?’ The tree replied, ‘You’ve no idea what I’ve had to put up with!’ Then the tree told them all about the selfish sparrow and


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NOTES FOR TEACHERS

• ‘The Hungry Coat’ by Demi is a wonderful Hodja Story with beautiful illustrations. It is available from good bookshops and online at Amazon.

Scheme includes 1. Lesson plans (10 sessions plus performance) 2. English texts of ‘The Lonely Tree’ and ‘The Selfish Sparrow’ linked to plans 3. English texts of five other Turkish/ Kurdish stories for storytelling 4. Six activity worksheets to support pupils. The aim of this work plan is to: • show that we live in a multilingual society • introduce pupils to Turkish and Kurdish folktales • encourage Turkish speakers in the role of experts • encourage pupils to tell stories in other languages • teach all pupils a few key words in Turkish • use the example of the success of ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ which, while a third of it is in Hindi, has won eight Oscars • focus on telling stories because folk tales are part of an oral tradition • show that if pupils can tell a story well, they are more likely to write it well too.

• Resources in English and Turkish, including copies of ‘The Selfish Sparrow’ and other Kurdish tales, are available to schools from the EMA Resource Centre which is open on Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 2.30pm–5pm at Sir Thomas Abney School, Bethune Road, London N16 5ED. To find out more, call 020 8802 2314 or email [email protected].

Other resources • Look at the storytelling DVD in the pack of materials ‘Developing a Culturally Inclusive Curriculum’ produced by Newham which was sent to all schools. In it, a group of parents tell folk tales in their home languages. See how many of the languages pupils can recognise and whether they can identify the stories?

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Lesson 1 Learning intention for main activity Introduction to topic. Predicting how a story will end Success criteria • I can predict how a story will end • I can give reasons for my choices • I can make notes Context Turkish, Kurdish, Turkish Cypriot Week Stories from other cultures: Turkey Organisation Initial activity: Pupils (in pairs) do Stories You Tell worksheet on Page 57. Class feedback. Teacher input and key questions: From earliest times people have told and listened to stories. Even before people could write they told one another stories. Parents told stories to their children, who went on to tell stories to their children. When people moved from one place to another they took their stories with them. Some stories have traveled thousands of miles, such as the Anancy stories from Africa and the Caribbean to England and many other countries. We are going to look at a story from Turkey. Read the first half of ‘The Lonely Tree’ in English on Page 63 and Turkish on Page 65 (or some of both). What do you think will happen in the rest of the story? How will it end? Independent and guided work: In pairs, work out an ending for the story and make notes about it. Plenary: Pairs to outline their endings. Why do they think it will end like this? Do they know what kind of story this is? Ask at home if your family has any stories they were told as children and bring them in. Learning outcome (reading, speaking and listening): Reading text, predicting text, discussion and listening. Notes for future planning Create a space for collecting folk tales in various languages; invite in a story teller/interested parent. Look at the story telling DVD from the Developing a Culturally Inclusive Curriculum Pack. Display world map to plot how stories travel.


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Lesson 2 Learning intention for main activity: Text structure and organisation To show understanding of the main points of the story I understand Story Mapping Success criteria • I can identify the main events in the story • I can sequence the story as a map using words and images Context Turkish, Kurdish, Turkish Cypriot Week Stories from other cultures: Turkey Organisation Teacher input and key questions: Read rest of story in English on Page 64 with some Turkish on Page 65 (if there is a Turkish speaker in the class). Does the story go the way they predicted? How did they know it would end like that? What happens in this story? Who’s in it? What are the main events? What’s strange about it? How does it end? Teacher to model doing a story map using stick figures and key words/phrases Independent and guided work: In pairs/mixed ability groups using A3 paper do a visual map of the main events of the story. Plenary: Use maps as a prop to retell the story. Class to give constructive feedback. Learning outcome (reading, speaking and listening): Discussion of story in groups. Outline of main events. Constructive feedback. Learning outcome (writing) Notes for future planning Keep story maps to aid storytelling and Fortune Lines later on in Lesson 5.

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Lesson 3 Learning intention for main activity: text structure and organisation To understand the dilemma within the story using Conscience Alley Success Criteria • I can express the dilemma in the story • I can use persuasive language Context Turkish, Kurdish, Turkish Cypriot Week Stories from other cultures: Turkey Organisation Teacher input and key questions: Conscience Alley: In ‘The Lonely Tree’ the boy just wants to have fun while the tree is looking at what is good for the environment. Divide the class into two equal lines facing each other. Teacher to model Conscience Alley. The ‘boy’ walks slowly down the line as the rest of the class whispers advice to him. One side tells him to ignore the tree, to have fun, to carry on as before. The other side gives reasons why he should listen to the tree. At the end he reports back on what was heard and makes a decision. Pupils take turns to be the boy. Independent and guided work: Why does the boy make the decision he does? What makes him change? Write the story from the boy’s point of view – in the first person – to show how he changes in the story. Use ideas generated in Conscience Alley to help you see both sides of the dilemma. Plenary: Sharing the work, supportive discussion Learning outcome (reading, speaking and listening): Group discussion; listening/ discussing other views; using persuasive language Learning outcome (writing): Writing the story from the boy’s point of view.

Notes for future planning


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Lesson 4 Learning intention for main activity To create roles showing how behaviour can be interpreted from different viewpoints using Hot-seating Success criteria • I can work in role • I can formulate questions • I can recount the stories in different ways Context Turkish, Kurdish, Turkish Cypriot Week Stories from other cultures: Turkey Organisation Teacher input and key questions: Identify two main characters. What is the boy like? Where might we find a talking tree? In folk tales, fairy stories or pantomimes, animals and objects can often talk. Start a list – lamp in ‘Aladdin’, mirror in ‘Sleeping Beauty’, Three Bears etc. Hot-seating: Teacher models hot-seating of the tree. Children to ask questions. Independent and guided work: Work in pairs with the two characters (one pupil as the boy, another as the tree) hot-seating each other. Plenary: Choose two children to be the boy and the tree to be hot-seated by the class. Learning outcome (reading, speaking and listening): Questioning; acting in role from a different viewpoint. Learning outcome (writing): Notes for future planning

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Lesson 5 Learning intention for main activity: text structure To look at the emotional highs and lows in a story through doing a Fortune Line Success criteria • I can understand how a character may be feeling • I can plot the highs and lows in their experience Context Turkish, Kurdish, Turkish Cypriot Week Stories from other cultures: Turkey Organisation Teacher input and key questions: Teacher to model a Fortune Line (see Pages 58 and 59) using ‘Red Riding Hood’ or any other story pupils know well. A fortune line plots the feelings and emotions of a particular character rather than the action. Plotting these on a graph show that a story needs to have ups and downs to make it interesting. What would a story be like if it was just a continuous straight line? For some pupils, an approach that uses a graph rather than writing or talking, helps them to look at the text. Independent and guided work: Pupils (in pairs/individually) plot their own graphs for the story using the pupil worksheet on Fortune Lines. Plenary: Class share their work. Are they all showing the same pattern? How are they different and why? Learning outcome (reading, speaking and listening): Discussion of concept of Fortune Lines. Learning outcome (writing): Extension activity: do a Fortune Line of a day in their week. Notes for future planning


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Lesson 6 Learning intention for main activity: To show an understanding of the message of the story To write a letter to the future about the environment Success criteria • I understand the message of the story • I can present the case for something I feel strongly about • I can write an informal letter Context Turkish, Kurdish, Turkish Cypriot Week Stories from other cultures: Turkey Organisation Teacher input and key questions: Reread the ending of the story (Page 64) where the children decide to help the tree. What is the meaning of the tree’s last remarks? How has the tree done the children a favour? Pupils to discuss in pairs first, then as whole class. How long has the tree been there? What are other reasons why trees are important? (improving the environment). What kind of world would you hope to leave to your children and grandchildren? Is it a choice between having fun and saving the environment? Independent and guided work: Pupils to write a letter to their children/grandchildren describing the kind of environment and world they hope to leave behind. Or as a letter to themselves in ten years time about what kind of environment they hope to live in. Plenary: Read some of the letters, and class to comment. Learning outcome (reading, speaking and listening): Discussion Learning outcome (writing): Informal letter writing Extension activity: Design a poster to encourage people to look after/save the environment. Notes for future planning

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Lesson 7 Learning intention for main activity: Understanding aspects of folk tales Telling a story Success criteria • I can tell an interesting story • I understand aspects of folk tales Context Turkish, Kurdish, Turkish Cypriot Week Stories from other cultures: Turkey Organisation: Activity: Pupils (in groups) do the diamond ranking activity. What do you think? Feedback discussion. Teacher input and key questions: Folk tales and fairy stories have been passed on from generation to generation, often told to children by their grandparents. Every storyteller tells the story in their own way. How can we make ‘The Lonely Tree’ more interesting? (Description/dialogue/humour. We don’t know what the boy looked like. When the tree tells his story the boy could ask questions. Can you make the opening scene funny?) We are going to practise telling this story. Independent and guided work: Working in pairs, one tells the first half of the story and the other finishes it off trying to make it as interesting as possible. (See separate sheet on telling a story). Plenary: Pairs to tell the story to the class, who give feedback. Learning outcome (reading, speaking and listening): Pupils speaking and listening. Learning outcome (writing): Notes for future planning Class now working towards a storytelling performance or telling stories to younger pupils in Lesson 11.


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Lesson 8 Learning intention for main activity: ‘The Selfish Sparrow’ To develop a story using drama Success criteria • I can develop a story Context Turkish, Kurdish, Turkish Cypriot Week Stories from other cultures: Turkey Organisation Teacher input and key questions: Look at the story on Page 41, ‘The Selfish Sparrow’, a Kurdish folk tale also about a tree. Here are two different characters – a tree and a bird. What are they like? How is it different from ‘The Lonely Tree’? Activity: Conscience Alley: Does the selfish sparrow change her ways? Independent and guided work: In pairs, improvise an ending that shows whether the sparrow changes or not. Plenary: Pairs to act their version to the class, who give feedback. Learning outcome (reading, speaking and listening): Groups perform. Others listen and comment. Learning outcome (writing): Notes for future planning

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Lesson 9 Learning intention for main activity: story telling Success criteria • I can tell an interesting story from memory • I can add description and dialogue Context Turkish, Kurdish, Turkish Cypriot Week Stories from other cultures: Turkey Organisation Teacher input and key questions: If I say ‘Once upon a time’ what kind of story are you expecting? There are many other ways folk tales can start – Turkish folk tales often begin ‘Bir varmish bir yokmush’ – Once there was and once there wasn’t’. What other ways do folk tales/fairy stories begin? Crick crack story jump out; Long ago and far away; In ancient days when wishes still had legs. Pupils to choose a story to tell, either ‘The Lonely Tree’ or ‘The Selfish Sparrow’ or one from the story unit or one they already know (some have key points listed to support pupils). Use frames to show how they could be made more interesting; adding description, dialogue, repetition. Independent and guided work: Groups to work on one of the short tales in pairs. Then regroup so that each pair has a different story to tell. (Use Pass It On worksheet on Pages 62.) Plenary: Pairs to tell the story to the class or other classes, who give feedback. Learning outcome (reading, speaking and listening): Class to visit another class to tell the story to them. Learning outcome (writing): Notes for future planning


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Lesson 10 Learning intention for main activity: A wider look at folk tales; the genre of folk tales and fairy stories Success criteria • I can make links to other stories • I can recognise aspects of folk tales Context Turkish, Kurdish, Turkish Cypriot Week Stories from other cultures: Turkey Organisation: Activity: What do you think? Diamond ranking activity (do in groups and discuss). Teacher input and key questions: Even before they could write, people told stories. When people moved from place to place they took their stories with them. Do you have stories from your family? Share stories collected from the class. What folk tales do you know? Who told you stories? Do you know other stories where animals talk? A story often has different versions in different countries and languages. Independent and guided work: Share a story someone has brought in from another country or look at the other stories in the story unit. Some have key points listed to support pupils in telling. Pupils to practise their stories using Pass it On Checklist on Page 61. Use the What are Folk Tales? sheet on Page 60 to support pupils. Plenary: Share more retelling of the stories. Learning outcome (reading, speaking and listening): Reading, listening and commenting constructively Learning outcome (writing): Notes for future planning

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Lesson 11 Learning intention for main activity Storytelling performance and celebration of the work done on Turkish stories Bringing together all the work done in T/K /C Week Audience: Parents/other classes/assembly. Success criteria • I can tell an interesting story • I can perform to an audience • I am proud of my work Context Turkish, Kurdish, Turkish Cypriot Week Stories from other cultures: Turkey Organisation Teacher input and key questions: Independent and guided work: Planning a storytelling performance/ a storytelling market place. Each table is set up for telling one of the stories (with props) while another class/ parents invited to listen to the stories. Storytellers could have storyteller badges or a storyteller’s special chair. Plenary: Performance and discussion of what they have learned and feel proud of in their work Learning outcome (reading, speaking and listening): Performance to an audience and listening to others Learning outcome (writing): Extension activity: to write the stories they have worked on. Notes for future planning Writing up the stories they have discussed, changed and rehearsed. NB: A good way to test out how well a story works, is to read it aloud.


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English text of Turkish and Kurdish stories

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