Analyzing an

English Text
Book
Ensino e Aprendizaxe de Competencias
Comunicativas (Inglés)

Paula Rodríguez González

Grao en Mestre de Educación Primaria

Curso 2016/2017
 ANALYZING AN ENGLISH TEXTBOOK
1. TITLE

Tiger Tales 1. This is the first level from the new MacMillan collection. The title
is because precisely it´s a tiger the character that accompanies the student
throughout the course. In each unit he teaches him the different contents
through small stories in which he is the protagonist.

The pupil course components are:

- Pupil´s Book
- Progress Journal
- Skills Trainer
- Pupil´s Online Materials

I could only access the Pupil´s Book and the Skills Trainer. I'm going to explain
what each one contains:

Pupil´s Book:

A 96 – page, full – colour, write – in book with a starter unit and six story –
based units, each with its own cut – out, three review units, three festivals
(Halloween, Christmas and Easter), a Picture Dictionary, and a double page of
picture and word stickers.

Also I had the opportunity to access to the Pupil´s Online Materials because
inside the text – book there is an access code. These are a pupil´s resource for
independent home or school use designed to promote autonomy and pleasure
in studying English. The stories and songs that children encounter in the Pupil´s
Book can be found here, together with a range of varied accompanying
activities to provide enjoyable extra practice and consolidation of vocabulary.

Skills Trainer:

It´s a six topic – based modules present and practice authentic language in
authentic contexts. Skills and competences are developed within real – life and
collaborative projects.

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 2. IMAGE

The color chosen for the first level of Primary Education has been red. On the
textbook´s cover we can see that the words of the title are made with the colors
of the tiger, the protagonist of this book, and we can find an image of this animal
next to the title. At the bottom appears the image of three children manipulating
school material and surrounded by some toys and animals. Inside the book the
pages of each unit are of a different color, so the pages of unit 1 are blue,
those of unit 2 are orange…

Tiger Tales 1 presents colorful illustrations. Most illustrations are cartoons and
real pictures of humans, animals, things and places. All pictures are based on
real action and some reading and conversation parts are stories to suit learners´
interest. Every illustration has a clear view and is easy to understand. The most
specific details of the contents are explained and blank spaces are left to rest
the user´s eyesight.

3. SYLLABUS

As I said at the beginning this book contains six units. Furthermore it includes
an introductory unit at the beginning and a extra content at the end that includes
some festivals(Halloween, Christmas and Easter). Each unit features
vocabulary practice, a double – page story, story activities, phonics, speaking
activities, two CLIL lessons including personalization, and a unit review. At the
end of each unit there is also a section called Kids´Culture, which comprises a
traditional song, rhyme or game, and an activity in which children compare an
aspect of British culture with their own.

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The units are as follows:

Unit 0 Hello, Tiger!

Unit 1 Back to School

Unit 2 The Gingerbread Man

Tiger review
1

Unit 3 Tiger is Lost

Unit 4 Dinner Time

Tiger review
2

Unit 5 The Sore Paw

Unit 6 The Missing

Skateboard
Tiger review
3

Festivals - Halloween
- Christmas
- Easter

Each unit is divided in seven lessons:

 Lesson 1. Vocabulary

Lively opening routines for every unit engage children in participating form the
outset, which gives them a clear idea of what to expect along the unit. In this
part Tiger´s word chant is a recurring feature. The lively rhythm of the chant
motivates students to interact with Tiger and new words in context.

“Stick and Say”: Vocabulary is introduced using photographic flashcards. Each

unit includes photographic stickers for the key vocabulary. Children recognize
the written form of new vocabulary and play an enjoyable interactive game.

The main vocabulary for the lessons appears at the bottom of the page.

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  Lesson 2. Story

Each unit features an attractively illustrated story with an engaging, humorous

theme, based on the adventures of Tiger. Clear pictures and audio support
children´s understanding of the narrative.

A global listening activity is followed by children identifying key language in the

story. The main language input in the story appears at the bottom of the page.

This lesson also includes “Tiger values” , a regular feature which highlights
values and attitudes relevant to the story.

 Lesson 3 and 4. Story and speaking activities

A wide range of story activities, including a song, encourage children to use key
language from the story. Children recall the story and identify key words. They
also include activities which involve drawing and colouring as well as cut – outs
activities.

Tiger Phonics is a recurring feature in every unit in which children learn to

recognise and produce key sounds of English in a natural and enjoyable way.

 Lesson 5 and 6: CLIL

Key CLIL vocabulary is introduced using photos. Content input is provided in an

engaging and humorous way through the adventures of Ping, a clever and
knowledgeable cat, and Pong, a loveable dog, who’s got a lot to learn.

Lively action songs feature, which allow children to participate in CLIL lessons.
These lessons also include a varied range of enjoyable activities with attractive
photos get children to relate the CLIL content to their own lives.

 Lesson 7: Unit review

A double page review at the end of every unit checks and reinforces key
language and CLIL. - Word stickers for the main vocabulary items provide an
enjoyable and effective way of checking word recognition. In early units,
children match the words on the stickers with the words on the Pupil’s Book

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page. As Tiger Tales 1 progresses, the level of challenge increases. Children
read the words on the stickers and identify the photos they refer to.

Lesson 7 includes “Learning to Learn”. At the end of each unit, children check
their learning in an independent way using their Picture Dictionary.

 Kids´Culture

Kids’ Culture is a regular feature after each unit. This section introduces
children to authentic songs, rhymes and games from the UK. It also develops
children’s interest and curiosity in a culture which is different from their own.

4. LINKING WIRE

The Tiger Tales 1 Linking wire is the Social Science competence. For example
in unit 1 the CLIL content is “What we do at school”, in unit 2 is “Our five
senses”, in unit 3 “Different families”, etc.

Apart from the CLIL content, Tiger Tales integrates values into the learning
process. Thus in one way or another, either in the topic of the unit or the
specific tasks, all units deal with the themes of moral and civic education,
environmental education, education for tolerance, education for sexual equality,
health education, consumer education and education for leisure.

5. UNITS

I´m going to analyze the unit 5.

- Title: The Sore Paw.

- Vocabulary:
 Related to the unit:
 Jungle Animals: parrot, snake, elephant, monkey, giraffe, frog, crocodile,
mouse.
 CLIL vocabulary:
 How we move: walk, run, climb, jump, swim, fly

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- Grammar structures:
 I´ve got a sore (paw)
 Can you help me, please? No, sorry. I can´t/ Yes, of course. I can
 A (giraffe) can (run)
 I can (jump)
 Can you (fly)? Yes, I can/ No, I can´t.
 I can see a (mouse). It´s (brown)
- Topics:
 Ask for help
 Jungle Animals
 Possibilities of body movement
- Activities:
 Lesson 1. Vocabulary
 Tiger´s word chant. Students interact with Tiger and the vocabulary
input (parrot, snake, elephant, monkey, giraffe, frog, crocodile,
mouse).
 Word or number game: interactive game using photographic stickers
for the key vocabulary.
 Lesson 2. Story
 Listen to the story and answer the questions.
 Tiger values. Education for tolerance: “Be kind to your friends”.
 Lesson 3. Story activities
 Listen and say the missing words
 Tick the animals in the story and circle the animal that helps Tiger
 Song: “Can you help me, please?”
 Order the pictures
 Lesson 4. Speaking
 Tiger phonics: mouse/ monkey
 Cut – out activity: act out the story
 Role play

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  Lesson 5. CLIL
 Listening, speaking and mimicry activity with actions about how we
move (walk, run, climb, jump, swim, fly)
 Listening Ping and Pong story and answer the questions.
 Lesson 6. CLIL
 Song: “A frog can jump”
 Tick the actions you can do
 Game: “A parrot can fly!”
 Lesson 7. Unit review
 Listen, number and repeat. Read, stick and write. Students have to
match the words on the stickers with the words on the Pupil´s Book
page.
 Match activity. Students have to relate the action of animals to the
action of people.
 Learning to learn: Picture Dictionary
 Kids´ Culture
- Traditional Rhyme: “Eeny meeny miny moe”
- Listen and number the animal pictures

I couldn´t get the activity book but I found out that it offers practice exercises
and reinforcement of all the contents of the unit. As well as the Pupil's Book
includes listening, speaking and reading activities, the Activity Book collects
fundamentally exercises destined to develop writing skills.