PRUNELLA THE ELEPHANT

By Ana Zambrano
"I want to be special; I want to be sweet,
I want to look different, unique, and petite."
Prunella the Elephant saw her mirror and frowned,
"Instead I am big, wide, and gray all around."
"My trunk is too big and my ears are too long,
My tail is not curly, and I can't sing a song."
"If I had stripes like a tiger or wings like a bee,
I would be the best elephant you ever did see."
"I want a mane like a lion, a beak like a bird,
I want to hop like a frog and make myself heard."
"You are the best you are already," said the giraffe to her friend,
"You are Prunella the Elephant, that's the best in the end."
But Prunella wouldn't listen, Prunella didn't care,
She was sure if she changed, she would be the best elephant there.
She grabbed her friend's neck and gave it a tug,
Then stuck it on hard and fast with a hug.
"I have a long neck," said Prunella with glee,
"Now everyone come and admire what's me."
She ran past the mirror and into the street
She called out to all to come, see, and meet.
As the animals came and stared at her look,
Prunella grabbed what she wanted, stole and just took.
She took the frog's hop; she took the bird's beak,
She took the bee's wings, lion's mane and physique.
"You don't need what's hers, what's mine, or what's his.
You're already the best that you were, will be, or are."
But Prunella wouldn't listen to her friend the giraffe,
She hopped down the road with a big hearty laugh.
"Give it all back," the animals shouted,
"You took all our best, we can't live without it."
Said her friend the giraffe, "Give the neck back to me.
I need my long neck to eat leaves on a tree."

"And I need my beak," said the bird in dismay,

Without it how will I ever eat seeds every day?"
"And I need my hop," said the frog with a shout,
"Without it how will I jump through the pond in and out?"
"And I want my mane," the lion then roared,
"How else will the animals know I am king and their lord?"
But Prunella wouldn't listen, Prunella didn't care.
She hopped down the road and fluffed up her hair.
"I want stripes like a tiger, and claws like a bear."
But the bear and the tiger were not ready to share.
They lunged at Prunella and bared their big teeth,
And Prunella was frightened and ran off like a thief.
She hopped up a tree and looked all around,
She was very high up and far off the ground.
The tree caught Prunella, the branches held tight,
Prunella was crying and sobbed out in fright.
"What have I done," said Prunella in fear,
"How will I ever get down from here?"
"My wings are too little to let me fly high.
My mane will not help me get down from the sky."
"My hop got me up, but it won't get me down.
My neck is too long and is tangled around."
"If only I'd listened. They were right, I was wrong.
If I had stayed as I was, I would be safe, big and strong."
"Prunella, my dear," said her friend the giraffe,
You look silly up there," and the animals laughed.
"Please take back your neck, I don't want it, you see.
It has me all tangled and caught in this tree."
"And take back your wings," she said to the bee
"They are too tiny and little for an elephant like me."
The frog got his hop; the bird got her beak,
Prunella looked down and tried to look meek.
The lion was angry, the lion was mad,

"I am going to eat you Prunella, what you did was bad."
"Please take your mane back," Prunella did say,
"Though it made me look pretty when I wore it today."
The great lion frowned, then grabbed at his hair,
He plucked it back on and stomped out of there.
Prunella was crying as she had a great fall,
"I am sorry I did what I did to you all."
The animals circled, they grabbed and they held,
Prunella was safe in their arms as she fell.
Her friend the giraffe, her neck back in place, said,
"Prunella, you have an elephant's charm and its grace."
"You are the best there is, or ever will be.
Prunella the Elephant, you are the best you can be."
Prunella had learned, Prunella now knew
If you want to be happy, then it is best to be you.

Marikina Polytechnic College

Sta. Elena, Marikina City

LESSON PLAN ON PRUNELLA THE ELEPHANT BY ANA ZAMBRANO

GLR-CT Approach
Developed by Isaac Moises G. Veracruz
S.Y 2014-2015
________________________________________________________________________________
I. OBJECTIVES
At the end of the lesson, the kinder students must be able to:
A. Realize that
1. being yourself is the best person you could be.
2. everyone is special in their own little way
B. Acknowledge aspects of humor in the story
Form a semantic map for ELEPHANT
Understand word meanings through their antonyms
Understand the concepts of outlining through making a wish list
Respond to the story through the following group engagement activities:
1. Drawing an image of Prunella the Elephant having different animal parts
2. Dramatizing Prunella having different animal parts
3. Writing a dialogue for Prunella in the story
4. Make an advice letter for Prunella the Elephant
II. SUBJECT MATTER AND MATERIALS
Selection: Prunella the Elephant by Ana Zambrano
(2012, 07). Prunella the Elephant by Ana Zambrano. childrens-stories.net. Retrieved
07, 2012, from http://www.childrens-stories.net/childrens-stories-contacts/childrensstories-contacts.html
Materials:
Flash cards of pictures showing contrasting meaning
Poster of Prunella the Elephant
Poster of Prunella the Elephant on top of a tree
Cartolina, pencil and coloring materals
Masks of animals

Head bands
Sticker paper
III. PROCEDURE
A. PREREADING
1. Developing concepts/vocabulary
A. Post the following pairs of pictures on the board having contrasting meaning. Pictures
must be presented side by side. The words to be defined must be underlined.

B. Ask the students to read the following pair of words and give their meanings based on
their opposite meaning seen on the pictures. (You can also provide questions that would
help them further understand the word meaning. e.g Frown- When does a person frown?)
C. Say: (raise petite and huge) which among the two would you like to be? Would you like
to be huge? Or would you like to be petite? What if you dont get what you want? How
would you feel?
2. Developing a purpose for reading
a. Develop a semantic map for ELEPHANT. Guide the students in categorizing the words
they have generated.

b. Based on the semantic map, list down the words that describe an elephant. From the
following words, ask the students questions that would be used as basis in giving them an
idea of the story to be read.
Say: You said that elephants are big, tall and gray? How would you compare its looks to
other animals? Birds? Lions? Frogs? Giraffes? In the story we are going to read,
Prunella the Elephant doesnt feel good about her appearance? Why do you think so?
What do you could be the problems she might encounter being an elephant?

B. READING

(The format used here is read-aloud by the teacher)

"I want to be special; I want to be sweet, I want to look different, unique, and petite." () "You are
the best you are already," said the giraffe to her friend, "You are Prunella the Elephant, that's the
best in the end." (STOP)
Do you think Prunella would listen to the Giraffe? What do you think will happen next?
But Prunella wouldn't listen, Prunella didn't care, She was sure if she changed, she would be the
best elephant there. She grabbed her friend's neck and gave it a tug, Then stuck it on hard and fast
with a hug. ()"And I need my hop," said the frog with a shout, "Without it how will I jump
through the pond in and out?" "And I want my mane," the lion then roared,"How else will the
animals know I am king and their lord?" (STOP)
Do you think that Prunella would listen this time to the animals? What do you think will
happen next?
But Prunella wouldn't listen, Prunella didn't care. She hopped down the road and fluffed up her
hair. "I want stripes like a tiger, and claws like a bear. "But the bear and the tiger were not ready
to share. ()She hopped up a tree and looked all around, She was very high up and far off the
ground. The tree caught Prunella, the branches held tight, Prunella was crying and sobbed out in
fright. (STOP)
What was the result of Prunellas disobedience? What do you think will happen next?
"If only I'd listened. They were right, I was wrong. If I had stayed as I was, I would be safe, big
and strong." "Prunella, my dear," said her friend the giraffe, You look silly up there," and the
animals laughed. ()"You are the best there is, or ever will be. Prunella the Elephant, you are the
best you can be." Prunella had learned, Prunella now knew. If you want to be happy, then it is best
to be you. (STOP)
What happened to Prunella? What did she do about it?
(FINISH READING THE STORY)
C. POST READING
1. Engagement Activities I (Whole Class)
Put up a note board in to be filled out in class showing Prunellas wishlist. As each wish is
discussed, ask the students to put cutouts of animal parts on Prunellas body.

PRUNELLAS
WISHLIST
Stripes like a ____________________________________
Wings like a _____________________________________
Beak like a _____________________________________
Legs like a ______________________________________
Neck like a _____________________________________
Mane like a ____________________________________

How was Prunella described when she looked in the mirror?

What did she feel after looking in the mirror? Why do you think so?
What animal parts did Prunella wished to have? Can you name one?
(Write Prunellas wishlist one-by-one on the note board)
If you were Prunella, would you also wish to have those body parts? Why?
What did his friend Giraffe say to her?
Did Prunella listen? What did she do?
(Students stick the body parts to Prunellas body)
What do you think did the other animals feel after Prunella took their body parts?
What did they do to Prunella?
How did Prunella feel when the animals ran to get her? Where did she go?
Did she encounter any problem when she reached the tree? What is it? What did she do?
Why do you think did Prunella cry?
Do you think what Prunella did to the other animals is good? Why not?
What happened to Prunella after? Did the other animals help her? What did they do?
(Ask students to remove the animal parts on Prunellas body)
What did the Giraffe say to Prunella? Did she now listen to him?
Is the Giraffe a good friend to Prunella?
What was Prunellas biggest problem in the story? Was it solved?

What did Prunella learn in the story? Should she change herself?
What do you think is special about Prunella being an elephant?
2. Engagement Activities II: Discussion (Small groups)
Divide the class into four groups. Assign each group to one of these tasks. Provide directions
and guidelines
a. (Provide cartolina and coloring materials) What do you think is the appearance of Prunella
having different animal parts? Draw it in this cartolina.
b. Heres a poster of Prunella on top of the tree. What do you think is she saying while shes in
there? Fill in the speech bubbles
c. Dramatize how Prunella does things having the parts of the different animals. How does she
look like when she walks? When she eats? When she dances? Wear masks and costumes for
this activity. (Provide materials)
d. When Prunella went up to the tree, she realized that she did something wrong to the other
animals. How did she feel about it? What advice can you give to help her? Write it on this
cartolina.
3. Enrichment/Extending the Literary Experience
a. ELE-FONT- Write your name on a bond paper. Make it as big as possible. Out of the
letters of your name, make a doodle or a cartoon.
b. STICKY FOR MY BESTIE. Create your own sticker for your best friend in the class
saying You are so special
c. MIX AND MATCH. Combine parts of different animals and create a unique pet you wish
to have
d. WISHLIST. Come up with your own wish list.
e. ANIMAL HEAD BAND. Design your own animal headdress using a head band as base.

IV. EVALUATION

I. What did the following characters say on the following events in the story? Fill in the speech
bubbles.

II. Encircle the happy elephant

elephant

if you think it is good thing to do and encircle the sad

if you think that it is a bad thing to do.

STEAL OTHERS
BELONGINGS
LOVING YOURSELF

HELPING YOUR FRIENDS

LIE TO OTHER PEOPLE

SAYING SORRY IF YOU DID

SOMETHING WRONG
FORGIVING OTHERS

V. ASSIGNMENT
(Teacher gives worksheet) Draw in this paper everything you love about yourself. Make sure to color
your work.

WORKSHEETS:
Dialogue for Prunella the Elephant

Advice Letter for Prunella

DEAR PRUNELLA
We just want to say that
________________________________________________
________________________________________________
________________________________________________
Love,
Names of Students

Homework

I LOVE MYSELF
Name: _________________________________________________________

Section: Kinder- Joy

A.

What did the following characters say on the following events in the story? Fill in the
speech bubbles.

II. Encircle the happy elephant

elephant

if you think it is good thing to do and encircle the sad

if you think that it is a bad thing to do.

STEAL OTHERS
BELONGINGS
LOVING YOURSELF

HELPING YOUR FRIENDS

LIE TO OTHER PEOPLE

SAYING SORRY IF YOU DID

SOMETHING WRONG
FORGIVING OTHERS