A Story Like the Wind / During Reading / First Encounters /
The White Foal
Learning about allegory
Lesson length: 1 session
Lesson from A Story Like the Wind series
Required reading: Pages 22-37
Text potential
- Literary features: Allegory
- Vocabulary: Semantic field landscape
Strategies used
- Close Reading
- Vocabulary: Blended Approach
Purpose
In this section, Rami tells the first part of the story of the White Stallion. We learn how Suke discovers the foal beside his dead mother buried underneath a drift of snow. Against all the odds, the foal survives the night.
The initial discussion asks the children to consider whether there are any parallels between the story of the small foal and Rami’s situation. There is an opportunity to develop vocabulary, looking specifically at the words used to describe the setting.
Preparation
- Download the Mongolian Steppes slideshow.
Process
Before reading the next section, share the Mongolian Steppes slideshow, introducing the vocabulary that the children will encounter.
- Slide 1
- Slide 2 Map of Mongolia – locate Mongolia using a globe or Google Earth
- Slide 3 Mongolian Steppes – grasslands used for grazing sheep and horses
- Slide 4 – shows horses against a mountain background. Ask the children to describe what they see.
- Slide 5 shows the snowy mountain peaks and the valley. There’s a yurt in the valley
- Slide 6 shows a rocky ravine and large boulders. Running across the top is a steep slope that forms the edge of an extended area of high land. Make the point that ‘edge’ is a specific geographical term as well as having more general usage.
Read pages 22 – 37. Read aloud with the children following the text.
If you need to develop fluency, Have the children read key passages aloud to each other a second time in pairs.
Briefly share responses to the story of the white foal.
Discuss the illustrations on pages 34 – 35.
- What do we learn about the foal from these illustrations? (Suggestions might include the foal looks playful, free, healthy, lively, proud, active.)
Consider how showing the foal in six different positions rather than a single image enhances understanding.
Final reflection
Ask:
- Can you see any connection between the story of the white foal and Rami’s present situation?
If the children don’t see any connections at this point, you can return to the question later, rather than trying to force the link.
Key vocabulary
peaks, boulders, ravines, gullies, edge, mountain, ravine, valley, Mongolia, yurt
Additional vocabulary
allegory
Resources
Mongolian Steppes slideshow
Contributors
Nikki Gamble
Director, Just Imagine
Nikki has worked extensively in schools across the UK and internationally. She is the author of Exploring Children’s Literature (4th edit) (2019) and co-author of Guiding Readers (2016) which was awarded the UKLA Academic Book of the Year Award 2017. Nikki is KS2 reading advisor and series consultant for Oxford University Press and content creator for the Oxford School Improvement and Oxford Owl websites. Nikki is Associate Consultant at the University of London, Institute of Education and Honorary Fellow at the University of Winchester