cambridge english | activities for teachers | frozen february

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Frozen February

The Snow Queen - B1 B2 Reading into Speaking

Ask your students whether they knew that Disneys animation

Frozen was loosely inspired on Hans Christian Andersens The

Snow Queen. Then, read this beautiful tale of courage, friendship

and love below.

Once upon a time, an evil goblin lived in the mountains, far, far away. He built a magic mirror in

which anything that was beautiful or good was reflected as ugly and bad. One day, the goblin got

very angry and broke the mirror, making tiny pieces of it fall all over the earth. These pieces of

mirror got into some peoples hearts and eyes, making them see only the ugly and bad in everyone

and freezing their hearts to the point that they were no longer capable of loving each other.

In a tiny village in the mountains there lived a little boy and girl, Kay and Gerda, who were best

friends. They were inseparable, and played together every day. One day, two small pieces of the

goblins mirror got into Kays heart and eyes, transforming him completely. He stopped playing with

Gerda and made fun of her. This made Gerda very sad. She couldnt understand how someone who

was once her best friend suddenly treated her like an enemy.

One wonderful snowy day, Kay and his friends decided to go on a sledge ride in the nearby

mountains. While they were playing, a huge sleigh appeared from behind them. A beautiful, tall

woman with curly pale blonde hair cascading down her back sat comfortably in the sleigh. She was

wearing a long silver gown that was sparkling like a diamond and a snowy white fur coat. Kay eyed

her with astonishment. She turned to him, saying, I am the Snow Queen and I am taking you to my

Kingdom.

Back in the village, Kays family started to get worried, as he had been missing all day and all night.

Gerda decided to go looking for her dearest friend and so, she set off by herself into the wintery

mountains. After having walked many hours in the heavy snow, Gerda reached a forest. There, a

reindeer approached her, saying that he could take her to the Snow Queens Palace. You should be

careful though, because if she kisses you, your heart will freeze. This is what has happened to Kay,

said the reindeer. Gerda was so wanted to find Kay so much that she decided to take that risk. When

she reached the frozen Palace, she found that the icy door was locked shut. She pushed it as hard as

she could, and the door opened slowly. She entered a huge hall entirely made of ice. The wide

windows were decorated with sparkling snowflakes. In the middle of the hall lay Kay. His eyes were

closed. Behind him, the Snow Queen was sitting on a shining diamond throne.

Gerda ran up to Kay and hugged him. The boys face was freezing cold. Ignoring the Snow Queens

evil laugh, Gerda kissed the boys icy cheeks, tears falling down her face. One of her hot tears

dropped onto his eyes, and another rolled down his chest and touched his heart. The boy opened his

eyes and, for the first time in many weeks, he smiled at his best friend. The Snow Queen screamed

with anger, as she disappeared and her Kingdom melted away.

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Now test your vocabulary by matching the picture with the correct word!

Goblin

Mirror

Village

Diamond

Sledge

Sleigh

Gown

Throne

Snowflake

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Snow

Tear

Match the following words from the story with its correct synonym:

Evil Embrace To freeze Comprehend

Understand Surprise Sparkling To make cold

Astonishment Bad To hug Shining

Read The Snow Queen again and decide which sentence is TRUE or FALSE:

1. The goblin lived near the beach. T F

2. The magical mirror reflected all bad things as good. T F

3. Kay and Gerda were close friends. T F

4. Gerda met a bear in the forest, who told her where Kay was. T F

5. The Snow Queens throne was made of diamonds. T F

6. Gerdas tears broke the evil spell cast upon Kay. T F

Did you know?

1. The author of The Snow Queen was the Danish writer, Hans Christian Andersen.

2. Hans Christian Andersens fairy tales include famous stories such as: The Little

Mermaid, The Ugly Duckling, The Emperors New Clothes, Thumbelina and many

more.

3. Andersens fairy tales have been translated into over 125 languages!

4. International Childrens Book Day (on the 2nd of April) is in fact Hans Christian

Andersens birthday!

5. Hans Christian Andersen travelled to England and met the famous English writer,

Charles Dickens, at a party.

Irregular verbs read the fairy tale one more time and underline the verbs. Which ones are

irregular?

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Answer the following questions as a written exercise or a speaking activity:

1. What did the broken pieces of magical mirror do to people it touched?

2. Why did Kay stop being Gerdas friend?

3. What was the Snow Queen wearing?

4. How did Gerda find Kay?

5. What was the Snow Queens Palace made of? Try to describe it in as much detail as

possible.

6. Why do you think Gerdas tears broke the spell cast on Kay?

Will you be my Valentine? A1 A2 Writing

Write the names of your students on small pieces of paper, fold them, place them in a large

hat or plastic container, and ask your pupils to pick one piece of paper each. The person

whose name they take out of the hat/container will be their Valentine. Remind them that

they should keep the identity of their Valentine a secret! Then, ask them to create a

Valentines day card. However, instead of the content being a love letter, ask them to write

why they like this person by describing their best qualities, their personality and their

appearance in as much detail as they can, e.g. You are good at maths, and you wear a nice

hat, you walk to school with a smile on your face. Your hair is long and brown, you live in

Segovia town, Im so happy that you are my friend. From: Toby. The text doesnt have to be

a poem, but if they can find rhymes for some of the words, this would make the game even

more entertaining! When your students have finished and signed their Valentines Day

cards, collect them all and together, try guessing who each card was written for.

Historical figures in love! B2 C1 Reading into Speaking

Here is a selection of love letters written by authors and important political figures from the

past: http://www.theromantic.com/LoveLetters/main.htm

Read and discuss the ones you like most in the classroom. What do your students think?

Are they funny, romantic, pathetic, sad?

How has love changed over the years?

Do people still write love letters?

How has the internet and instant communication changed our love lives?

Which letter is their favourite and why?

Which words are dated and arent used anymore?

http://www.theromantic.com/LoveLetters/main.htm

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Your song

A2 B1 Listening It's a little bit ______________________

This ______________________ inside

I'm not one of those

Who can easily hide

I don't have much __________________

But boy if I did

I'd buy a big __________________ where

We both could live

If I was a ___________, but then again, no

Or a man who makes

__________________ in a travelling show

I know it's not much

But it's the best I can do

My gift is my ______________________

And this one's for you

And you can tell everybody

This is your song

It may be quite ___________________

But now that it's done

I hope you don't mind

I hope you don't mind

That I put down in words

How _______________________ life is

While you're in the world

I sat on the ______________________

And kicked off the __________________

Well a few of the verses

Well they've got me quite _____________

But the sun's been quite kin

While I wrote this song

It's for people like you that

Keep it turned on

So excuse me forgetting

But these things I do

You see I've forgotten

If they're _______________

Or they're ______________________

Anyway the thing is what I really mean

Yours are the ___________________ eyes

I've ever seen

And you can tell _____________________

This is your song

It may be quite simple

But now that it's done

I hope you don't mind

I hope you don't mind that

I put down in words

How wonderful life is

While you're in the ______________ (x 2)

Translate the words in BOLD into your language to help with comprehension: Hide

Show

Kicked

Forgotten

1. Ask your students to listen to the song. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ydPaDCG1z34 Have them guess (without the word bank on page 6) what they think goes in each gap.

2. Play the song again. This time, allow

your students to use the word bank on

page 6 to help them guess.

3. Listen one more time. Did your

students guess correctly?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ydPaDCG1z34https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ydPaDCG1z34

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Is Music indescribably beautiful? - Speaking and Vocabulary - B2

1. Read the adjectives below with your students. First, ask them what they think each w