Holiday Activities
Senior 1 · English
Holiday Activities
Lesson 5 of 5
25 min
Let's begin
Every story has a cast, like a play: a few people the story is really about, and others who appear for a moment and then leave. In this African Storybook tale by Violet Otieno, two city children spend their holidays with their grandmother in a fishing village by a large lake. As you read, list every person who appears, even for one line.
The second half of the lesson trains the sounds at the end of English words, such as the -ed of packed and counted and the consonants at the end of next and friends.
Odongo and Apiyo lived in the city with their father.
They looked forward to the holidays. Not just because school was closed, but because they went to visit their grandmother. She lived in a fishing village near a large lake.
Odongo and Apiyo were excited because it was time to visit their grandmother again.
The night before, they packed their bags and got ready for the long journey to her village. They could not sleep and talked the whole night about the holiday.
Early the next morning, they left for the village in their father’s car.
They drove past mountains, wild animals and tea plantations. They counted cars and sang songs.
After a while, the children were tired and fell asleep.
Father woke up Odongo and Apiyo as they arrived in the village.
They found Nyar-Kanyada, their grandmother, resting on a mat under a tree.
Nyar-Kanyada in Luo, means ‘daughter of the people of Kanyada’. She was a strong and beautiful woman.
Nyar-Kanyada welcomed them into the house and danced around the room singing with joy.
Her grandchildren were excited to give her the presents they brought from the city.
“First open my gift,” said Odongo.
“No, my gift first!” said Apiyo.
After she opened the presents, Nyar-Kanyada blessed her grandchildren in a traditional way.
Then Odongo and Apiyo went outside. They chased butterflies and birds.
They climbed trees and splashed in the water of the lake.
When it was dark they returned to the house for dinner. Before they could finish eating, they were falling asleep!
The next day, the children’s father drove back to the city leaving them with Nyar-Kanyada.
Odongo and Apiyo helped their grandmother with household chores. They fetched water and firewood. They collected eggs from the chickens and picked greens from the garden.
Nyar-Kanyada taught her grandchildren to make soft ugali to eat with stew. She showed them how to make coconut rice to eat with roast fish.
One morning, Odongo took his grandmother’s cows to graze. They ran onto a neighbour’s farm.
The farmer was angry with Odongo. He threatened to keep the cows for eating his crops. After that day, the boy made sure that the cows did not get into trouble again.
On another day, the children went to the marketplace with Nyar-Kanyada. She had a stall selling vegetables, sugar and soap.
Apiyo liked to tell customers the price of items. Odongo would pack the items that customers bought.
At the end of the day they drank chai tea together. They helped grandmother to count the money she earned.
But too soon the holidays were over and the children had to go back to the city.
Nyar-Kanyada gave Odongo a cap and Apiyo a sweater. She packed food for their journey.
When their father came to fetch them, they did not want to leave. The children begged Nyar-Kanyada to go with them to the city.
She smiled and said, “I am too old for the city. I will be waiting for you to come to my village again.”
Odongo and Apiyo both hugged her tightly and said goodbye.
When Odongo and Apiyo went back to school they told their friends about life in the village. Some children felt that life in the city was good. Others felt that the village was better.
But most of all, everyone agreed that Odongo and Apiyo had a wonderful grandmother!
| Word or phrase | Meaning | Example sentence |
|---|---|---|
| look forward to | to feel happy about something that is going to happen | They looked forward to the holidays. |
| plantation | a large farm where one crop, such as tea, is grown | They drove past tea plantations. |
| bless | to ask God to protect someone; to wish them well | Grandmother blessed her grandchildren. |
| chores | small jobs that must be done regularly at home | They helped with the household chores. |
| graze | (of animals) to eat grass in a field | Odongo took the cows to graze. |
| threaten | to say you will do something bad to someone | The farmer threatened to keep the cows. |
| stall | a table or small shop in a market | She had a stall selling vegetables. |
| beg | to ask for something very strongly | The children begged her to come to the city. |
Definition
Character: a person, animal or creature who takes part in a story.
Main character: a character the story is mainly about. Main characters appear in most scenes, we learn their thoughts and feelings, and they often change or learn something.
Minor character: a character who appears only briefly. Minor characters help the story move forward or show us something about the main characters, but we learn little about them.
| Character | Main or minor? | Evidence from the story |
|---|---|---|
| Odongo | Main | In almost every scene; he has his own problem (the cows) and learns from it. |
| Apiyo | Main | In almost every scene; we see her excitement ("No, my gift first!") and her work at the stall. |
| Nyar-Kanyada | Main | The story is about the holiday with her; she is described in detail ("a strong and beautiful woman"), and the last line is about her. |
| The children's father | Minor | He drives them there and back but never speaks; we learn nothing about his thoughts. |
| The neighbouring farmer | Minor | He appears in one scene, has no name, and is only described as angry. |
| Customers and school friends | Minor | They appear in one scene each, as a group, with no names. |
Readers sometimes disagree about whether a character is main or minor. That is fine, as long as you support your view with evidence.
Worked example
Decide whether the farmer is a main or a minor character.
Tip
Ask: whose story is it? Cover a character's scenes with your hand. If the story still makes sense and nothing important changes, the character is minor. If the story falls apart, the character is main.
Definition
Consonant cluster: two or more consonant sounds together, with no vowel between them: -st in last, -nd in hand, -kst in next, -ndz in friends.
Syllable: a part of a word with one vowel sound: walked has one syllable, vis-it-ed has three.
| Sound | When | Examples from the story | Extra syllable? |
|---|---|---|---|
| /t/ | after the voiceless sounds p, k, f, s, sh, ch | packed, talked, chased, splashed, helped, fetched, danced | No: packed = one syllable |
| /d/ | after vowels and other voiced sounds | climbed, returned, arrived, begged, hugged, smiled, opened | No: climbed = one syllable |
| /ɪd/ | after the sounds t and d only | counted, collected (also: waited, needed) | Yes: count-ed = two syllables |
| Sound | When | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| /s/ | after voiceless sounds | gifts, cups, lakes, goats |
| /z/ | after vowels and voiced sounds | trees, cows, eggs, songs, chores |
| /ɪz/ | after s, z, sh, ch and the soft g | buses, glasses, sandwiches, oranges |
| Cluster | Words from the story | Say every sound |
|---|---|---|
| -st | first, most | fir-s-t: don't drop the t |
| -nt | went, want | we-n-t, not "wen" |
| -lt | felt | fe-l-t |
| -kst | next | ne-k-s-t: three consonant sounds in a row |
| -ndz | friends | frie-n-d-z |
Tip
Pronunciation: almost every Kinyarwanda word ends in a vowel, so Rwandan speakers are often tempted to add one to English words: "nexti", "friendi", "walkedi". Keep your mouth closed at the end of the word. The opposite mistake is to drop the last consonant: "nex" for next, "wen" for went. Say the cluster slowly, then faster.
Spelling: the three sounds of -ed are all spelled -ed. Never write the sound: walked, not "walkt".
English In A Minute: three ways to pronounce -ed, BBC Learning English (1 minute). Answer the presenter's question at the end: which pair of words ends with the same sound?
Retell part of the story from the point of view of a minor character: the angry farmer, the father, or a customer at the stall. Speak in the first person and the past tense for about one minute. Pronounce every -ed ending clearly.
I worked hard on my farm all season. One morning I looked up and saw three cows in my maize! I shouted and chased them, and then I noticed a boy running after them: Nyar-Kanyada's grandson from the city. I was angry, and I told him I wanted to keep the cows. He looked so frightened that I changed my mind. After that day, I watched him carefully. He never let the cows near my field again. I think he learned something that holiday.
Write a profile (80–100 words) of one main character. Say who the character is, describe two qualities, and support each quality with evidence from the story.
Nyar-Kanyada is the grandmother of Odongo and Apiyo, and she is a main character in Holidays with grandmother. First, she is joyful and loving: when the children arrive, she "danced around the room singing with joy" and blessed them in the traditional way. Second, she is hard-working and independent. She runs a stall at the market, teaches the children to cook, and refuses to move to the city, saying, "I am too old for the city." By the end, even the children's school friends agree that she is "a wonderful grandmother".
Practice
Further reading
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